Recommend me a decent preamp for less than 150€

[Pingu]

So my shitty Behringer mixer, which I was basically using as a preamp, broke down a few weeks ago. I'm planning to record some vocals with a friend next week, but I'm sort of strapped for cash at the moment. Right now I'm leaning towards the Art Tube V3 or the Presonus Tubepre.

[diversionends]

It may be pushing your budget slightly...



Joe Meek threeQ

They are extremely good. Really pristine sounding and it has more than adequate gain to drive an SM57/58. That will be the main issue with the preamps you listed. They will be fine for condenser mics but suffer on dynamics unless it's a loud source (like snare). They seem to sell new on ebay for around £150, which obviously exceeds your 150 euro limit. You could maybe get a second hand one within budget. Not something you'd be rushing to upgrade 

[mezcalhead]

Art Tube V3

I have one of those .. it's OK, I guess you could say it's a good preamp as cheap preamps go.

I think Rob has one which he used for the latest Idiotbear album, which sounds more than decent to me.

[idiotbear]

Thanks, Jon. 

I actually have the Art Tube Project MP with USB (bit of a mouthful). It rules, although you have to ensure the source you're recording is quite loud to get a decent signal-to-noise ratio. It doesn't really love being cranked. Hissy.

[Pingu]

Thanks, Jon. 

I actually have the Art Tube Project MP with USB (bit of a mouthful). It rules, although you have to ensure the source you're recording is quite loud to get a decent signal-to-noise ratio. It doesn't really love being cranked. Hissy.

Uhm, isn't the main purpose of a preamp to boost the signal?

[northern_dirt]

It may be pushing your budget slightly...



Joe Meek threeQ

They are extremely good. Really pristine sounding and it has more than adequate gain to drive an SM57/58. That will be the main issue with the preamps you listed. They will be fine for condenser mics but suffer on dynamics unless it's a loud source (like snare). They seem to sell new on ebay for around £150, which obviously exceeds your 150 euro limit. You could maybe get a second hand one within budget. Not something you'd be rushing to upgrade 

I have the dual channel meek EQ... the Mq5 or whatecver EQ
But I have to say, its a pretty colourful and most meek stuff seems to be device..

Not shitting on it, just saying, its kinda a corner one might not want to back themselves into
when they don't have other options available.

[idiotbear]

Thanks, Jon. 

I actually have the Art Tube Project MP with USB (bit of a mouthful). It rules, although you have to ensure the source you're recording is quite loud to get a decent signal-to-noise ratio. It doesn't really love being cranked. Hissy.

Uhm, isn't the main purpose of a preamp to boost the signal?

Sure, but not THAT much. I'm talking about REALLY cranking. See my old 'mic hiss' thread. Brad explained it all, like a very specialist Clarissa.

[Orang Goreng]

Brad explained it all, like a very specialist Clarissa.

[the older brother]

I have a Studio Projects VTB1 - a one channel valve (12AX7) pre amp with a variable blend of tube in the mix.



It's really great, but I haven't actually used it for some time due to lack of space on my desk and the pre amp/trim in my UA25 is OK for quick demo recordings (I used it for the vocals on the track called Breaking the Jaw on the last recording done with my old band)

It's in your price range I suppose (I cought mine for five years ago for 1600SEK), but it's only one channel. A good sounding one though.

[Orang Goreng]

Given how you probably want to replace your mixer, eventually... I got this a while ago, which is well-under € 150.

I used the Behringer version of that Art pre-amp before. Oddly enough, the Behringer one is more expensive, for some reason. When I found out they, and Art, and some other makers, put fucking LEDs behind the tube to make it seem like it actually does something, I got annoyed, so when my Behringer broke down (well, it didn't, it was my recording software playing up, but anyway) I got the Soundcraft. Sounds nicer as well, i.e. a bit less coloured.

[Pingu]

Given how you probably want to replace your mixer, eventually... I got this a while ago, which is well-under € 150.

I used the Behringer version of that Art pre-amp before. Oddly enough, the Behringer one is more expensive, for some reason. When I found out they, and Art, and some other makers, put fucking LEDs behind the tube to make it seem like it actually does something, I got annoyed, so when my Behringer broke down (well, it didn't, it was my recording software playing up, but anyway) I got the Soundcraft. Sounds nicer as well, i.e. a bit less coloured.

Actually, I don't need a mixer at all.

[diversionends]

It may be pushing your budget slightly...

Joe Meek threeQ

They are extremely good. Really pristine sounding and it has more than adequate gain to drive an SM57/58. That will be the main issue with the preamps you listed. They will be fine for condenser mics but suffer on dynamics unless it's a loud source (like snare). They seem to sell new on ebay for around £150, which obviously exceeds your 150 euro limit. You could maybe get a second hand one within budget. Not something you'd be rushing to upgrade 

I have the dual channel meek EQ... the Mq5 or whatecver EQ
But I have to say, its a pretty colourful and most meek stuff seems to be device..

Not shitting on it, just saying, its kinda a corner one might not want to back themselves into
when they don't have other options available.

What does your second sentence mean? I kind of know what you mean about the colouration, although I use the eq to help attune the preamp to different mics. I might be wrong but I think low used one for drums & guns... probably with pretty excellent mics though... sorry... off topic rambling...

[northern_dirt]

It may be pushing your budget slightly...

Joe Meek threeQ

They are extremely good. Really pristine sounding and it has more than adequate gain to drive an SM57/58. That will be the main issue with the preamps you listed. They will be fine for condenser mics but suffer on dynamics unless it's a loud source (like snare). They seem to sell new on ebay for around £150, which obviously exceeds your 150 euro limit. You could maybe get a second hand one within budget. Not something you'd be rushing to upgrade 

I have the dual channel meek EQ... the Mq5 or whatecver EQ
But I have to say, its a pretty colourful and most meek stuff seems to be device..

Not shitting on it, just saying, its kinda a corner one might not want to back themselves into
when they don't have other options available.

What does your second sentence mean? I kind of know what you mean about the colouration, although I use the eq to help attune the preamp to different mics. I might be wrong but I think low used one for drums & guns... probably with pretty excellent mics though... sorry... off topic rambling...

Its a very musical Preamp.. which means it colours the sound..
If you are going to get just one preamp, it should be something as clean as possible..
This will allow for more control of the sound as it will be more true to source..

That all said, if you have room for more than one preamp, then colour can come into play..

[fuzzjunkie]

Its a very musical Preamp.. which means it colours the sound..

true color:

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way out of your price range! mine too! sorry for the thread hi-jack, I just can't use cheap pres and comps anymore.

[soundhack]

here's a very nice pro-quality clean preamp under 150  - but obviously you'll need more than this pre!

http://www.seventhcircleaudio.com/T15/T ... _about.htm