Dual mic pre.... SM Audio TC02...

Hmm, SM stuff has been hit or miss from what I've read, and I've always kinda shyed away from inexpensive tube mic pres because of the aforementioned "starved plate" hooha (once again I'd love for someone to actually explain what that means besides "the tube doesn't have much effect" :lol: ) - I really think the M Audio DMP3 is your best bet Mark, but on the other hand, if you've found good reviews of this one that make it not such an unknown, then the 1 RU config. is certainly handy!
 
damnit!! thought i was onto something there! im actually after a dual mic pre ive decided now, mainly caus of the convenience of it being a single rackmounted unit (fits nice n snug in my setup. but its just finding something that works well :-/ not having much luck here am i?!! id be tempted to up my budget to a max of £180-£200 for a dual mic pre, but what could i get for that?
 
DMP3 is two channels dawg ;) And I'm not saying I've heard anything bad about the SM (I haven't heard anything good either ;)), it's just an unknown factor from a company that I only have limited confidence in
 
oh yer it is, lol and i was reading up on it too the other day, but something put me off it... maybe caus it isnt rack mountable :D

that thing sells for around £100 in the uk, you know of anything thats a step up from it? or u rekon i aint gnna get anything better for the extra £80?
 
Ooh, here's a thought - the price of the Mackie Onyx Satellite has nosedove (?) recently, and the removable Satellite module can function simply as a small wall-powered two-channel mic pre; I got mine brand new for $160 on ebay this past summer, and since those Onyx pres have a great rep, that's a good deal even if your just planning on using it for the preamps! (of course, for the time being it's also my main interface, and works great for that too)
 
And I've heard good things about the ART MPA Gold, though that might be a bit outta your price range (and I've heard really bad things about the TPS/DPS II, so avoid those I'd say)
 
yeah the mpa gold is outta my range, id want to buy the VLA pro II compressor before i paid that much for pres at this moment in time. that mackie option is great actually, as they are £114 in the UK, which is hella cheap!! only downside is that it doesnt have the 20db pad etc that the dedicated pres have!
 
MetalJonesy said:
yeah the mpa gold is outta my range, id want to buy the VLA pro II compressor before i paid that much for pres at this moment in time. that mackie option is great actually, as they are £114 in the UK, which is hella cheap!! only downside is that it doesnt have the 20db pad etc that the dedicated pres have!
Click to expand...

Ah, but there's a good way around that - if you connect your mic to the preamp via TRS plug (which is still balanced, of course, just a different connector), the gain starts at -20db with the knob all the way down, and still goes to +40 with it all the way up! :)

EDIT: Here's a shot from the manual, notice the inner ring shows the TRS levels (-20 to +40 dB), while the outer ring shows the XLR levels (0 - +60 dB)

Onyx.jpg
 
ahhh very niceee, hmm yeah i like mackie stuff, and always liked their pres, this is deffo gnna be added to my shortlist of considerations, along with that dmp3

what you think of those single channel art stuff?
one of my lecturers, whos PT instructor qualified, and i respect his stuff, actually reccomended us those £60 odd art valve pres...
 
SM Pro Audio is hit or miss, but I think with more hits than misses. Especially if you are handy with a soldering iron. Their stuff is very DIY friendly. I really like their monitor controller and their PR-8 with some mods.

Anyway I have never used the pre-amp you are describing.

Starved plate design on the tubes basically means they run the plate voltage very low 9-24V instead of the spec'd 150-250V. What this does is basically turn the tube into a distortion generator which is often called "harmonic content." Done carefully this can add the "tubey" sound that people want/expect. When really tubes in a proper circuit are really more subtle and need to be driven hard to distort or add the harmonic content most people expect.

Of course there is a lot more argument and details than that. But that is the short of it.

With starved plate designs, in general, you are better off thinking of it as an effect than something you want in your signal path all the time.

As with the other posters, I think you would be better off in that price range going with a DMP-3. If you really need/want a tube, look at the GT Brick. Or maybe the Studio Projects VTB-1. Because then you at least get a pretty clean pre-amp and DI too. The ART MPA Gold I have heard good things about, but have never used. Even then though, most people recommend mods with those as well.
 
ok...

So I took some time to read the manual and such. Nothing in there would clearly indicate the type of design. Starved plate or not. The "high voltage" input section could really mean anything. In the price range I would "guess" starved plate. But with the 17VAC power input, they could use voltage multipliers to get it up to 150V or so. Bellari did this with a couple of their pre's/compressors.

The Class A transformerless indicates to me transistor based input. Anyway it definitely "looks" cool. Especially for the price.

From my experience with SM Pro audio, probably some swapped op-amps and capacitor changes will probably make it pretty decent.
 
Metaltastic said:
I've always kinda shyed away from inexpensive tube mic pres because of the aforementioned "starved plate" hooha (once again I'd love for someone to actually explain what that means besides "the tube doesn't have much effect"
Click to expand...

It means the tube isn't getting high voltage and is thus "starved" of tube nutrients.

I recommend the DMP3. You won't find a better preamp for the price.
 
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