Sansamp RPM & Demeter VTPB 201

[Tim Craig]

Can I get some feedback from users of the Sanamp RPM and Demeter VTPB users? I am not asking for a comparison in that they are two completely different animals. Just looking for likes/dislikes on both units. Thanks in advance.

Tim C.

[rpsands]

I can't say if it applies to the RPM, but I am not a huge fan of the RBI. It's not got a lot of juice and often cannot drive a power amp fully without adding too much gain (and noise). It's also got a pretty good amount of noise.

If I were in the market for a budget preamp I would get a Bmax or a PB-1, or a BBE 383, or similar. All excellent pres.

The Demeter is hands down a better preamp, period, IF it resembles the HBP-1 at all. The HBP-1 is without a doubt my favorite over-all pre so far. Fantastic pre. Super flexible.

That said, I would highly consider a PB-1 if you're in the market for a demeter. It's a great backup and can do some similar tones.

[johnk_10]

my experience with the RPM is that its not noisey at all and has ALOT of output. that said, i didn't care for its 'overdrive' sound. its distortion sounded artificial to me, which was a surprise, since my PSA-1's distortion is great, but other than that, i think that its a great sounding preamp.

i prefer the Ashly BP41 and the Yamaha PB-1 over it though. never had a Demeter VTPB 201, but do love my HPB-1J, which i think is in another league than all of those previously mentioned. IMO, Alembic's F2B and F1-X are also on par with the Demeter.

[synaesthesia]

I have the Demeter VTBP 201, the old 1.5 rackspace one. Had two at one point in fact when I was working heavily. Have the F1-X too, and had a spare F1-X at one point. I'd use either of these at any time. I use the F1-X more for live work as I use the crossover and prefer the 1U spacing. The Demeter is number one in my studio. I also use the Rane AP13 for upright, but the Demeter has given excellent results with upright and electric guitar.

Have the Read purity, which is nice in some ways but the XLR out sounds tonally different to the 1/4 out. Like night and day, not something you can EQ to fix. I now use it for guitar work . I've also had the Trace V type and used it a lot; but sold it for the rarer Read. Had the Groove tubes studio preamp, the one that is similar to the SWR - never could get a sound I liked out of it.

Have never thought of acquiring the Sansamp stuff.

[lennysj]

My sansamp Rackmount was great but two problems. It is very warm. Maybe too warm (if that is possible) and my other complaint is the DI is VERY sensitive. So much that I could not use pedals on any time of AC power. I had to switch to batteries only.

Oh, and my biggest complaint, no ground lift on the DI. Any buzz is terminal. So I actually had to buy a separate DI to run my sound in to the main mix. This happened at EVERY gig with a built-in PA