Frustrated... mic preamp suggestions

[Mandobass]

howdy,

i've posted a lot about starting up my barebones home studio.

i'm now looking into mic preamps, and i've learned a lot, but have become frustrated as there seem to be a lot of options. i ask yalls input and any experience you've had.

i've considered the M-audio audio buddy, which has 2 preamps and 2 1/4inch jacks to use as a DI for instruments.

i may be doing drum tracks, so two mic preamps may fall short in the future, but i'm still considering it as im on a budget(trying to keep the preamps under 400 bucks)

i've looked into mackie mixers(1202, 1402 VLZ)as they would serve several purposes(hooking up monitors, offers several mic preamps, as well as a form of pre-eq before i go into the soundcard).
i was unsure as the quality of these preamps in their mixers.

are there any soundcard interfaces(excluding pro tools products) that come with quality mic preamps?

thanks yall. as always, your input is not only helpful, but fun to read!

peas

[int]

I think it's the Aardvark Q10 - something like that - that is supposed to sound pretty good. And I think I read somewhere about the Echo Mona (4 pres) sounds pretty close to the Mackie VLZ-Pro's pres. I looked at their website (www.echoaudio.com) and they say the product is discontinued, although they will continue to support it. Maybe a new product coming out soon?

Some say the Mackie's have the best pres for under a grand. Just don't say that to my Sytek. I liked the Mackie pres until I used the Sytek - but both are really great for the money. In fact the only reason I sold my 1202 VLZ-Pro was because desperate times call for desperate measures, and we needed to pay rent. My only complaint was the EQ.

[unharmed]

Why are you excluding ProTools based products? Price? Or something else. Just curious.

[int]

...they cost 10 times more than they're worth.

[unharmed]

Fair 'nuff