Best tube preamp for $400-$600

[spiritfallrecording]

What is the best tube preamp between $400-$600? I'm looking at using it mainly for vocals. Any suggestion/opinions would be cool.

[Bloux]

what mic are you using??? i dont think your gonna find a tube pre thats gonna be really worth the money in that price range.

I own an ARt Pro MPA (among others) and its ok, however I would not purchase that or any other tube piece today...

i have the FMR RNP (Real Nice Preamp) its at about $475.00. truth be told it really ranks with pre's over a grand..do some searches here and on google, dont let the size fool you, it is awesome! pick up its partner, the FMR RNC (Real Nice Compressor) for $175.00 also raved about in the pro audio world (I own it as well and its great, not for the price, for what it does) research it as well...both pieces are stereo solid state units. both great for my vocals

as far as tube...I havent heard the Aphex 207 w/built in limiters, but it is a stereo tube piece for about $500.00..

the presonus MP20 is a great stereo pre for $500.00 and is real nice as well (not tube though)

I think for the price range I'd be more concerend about the actual mic pre rather than the "tube" thing. I also have a dbx tube channel strip and again would not pay $400.00 for that piece today (or any day)

also if you dont really need a stereo pre, you should look into the Grace 101 mono pre, it has some serious reviews around here especially on vocals, $500ish

good luck!

[spiritfallrecording]

Bloux- Thanks for your input. I'm using an AKG C1000 S. What have you heard about the focusrite Platinum voicemaster pro?

[where02190]

Personally I would get a better mic first.

The HHB Radius series is decent for the money, and vast improvement over the 001 pre's.

Hope this is helpful.

[basschair]

Originally posted by where02190:
Personally I would get a better mic first.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Ouch!

Actually, I agree. If you're using the 001, the pres will be good enough for now. Get yourself a better mic to begin with. Shoot, I'll sell you a better mic, and you'll have money left over. There's a lot of decent to excellent multi-applications mics out there in that price range. Not that the C1000 is bad, but you'd do well to start with a good mic before purchasing a pre.

Good luck!

[minimoog]

mic choices aside, my advice is simply that you will not get a decent tube pre-amp in that price range.

you'd do much better with a sytec, john hardy, speck electronics pre-amp or something of that nature. avoid the focusrite platinum range and pre sonus gear and all that kind of over-priced music store crap.

[Gingley]

You may be able to find a VMP-2 in that price range, which is a pretty darn nice stereo tube mic pre (considering the price). I have one, and on my mics (TLM103 especially) I prefer the sound of the VMP-2 significantly over the 002 pres (which aren't bad, either).

[drunton]

I second that VMP-2 recommendation. Should be able to find it at the top of that range used.

If you are handy with a soldering iron and want to play around, check out the LCMP (Low Cost Mic Pre) kit from hamptone.com, it was written up in TapeOp about 4 months ago.

[spiritfallrecording]

Basically here is my situation. I'm working on a tight budget right now so i need to buy drum overheads which would also work great for vocals. I haven't actually purchased the c1000's yet, but that's what i was thinking of going with. I have used them in a live setting for drum overheads before and liked them, but i'm definitely open for suggestions. Basically i'm looking to buy the mics and a pre-amp and don't want to spend any more than $1000 for everything. I've used Rode NT-1's before and wasn't to pleased with them.

[Aussie169]

Forget the C1000's. They are generally regarded as being a bit on the harsh side, and definately not suitable for vocals.
Go for a pair of Large Diaphram condensers like the Studio Projects C1 or the Rode NT1 (I think this mic is worth another listen because it really is very good for the money.

Basically, large diaphram mics will do fine as drum overheads, but small diaphram mics will limit you in a big way for vocals.

Best wishes
Mark