Seeking quality, but affordable mic pre

[WG Plum]

Looking for recommendations for a good quality, but affordable mic pre. I'm developing a halfway decent mic locker, including nice-ish condensors, so I need a pre with phantom power and a good amount of gain available. I'd like to keep it under $500 if possible. Thanks!

 

[31HZ]

I'm pretty sure that you could find a lightly-used Focusrite ISA One for that price, I think it's a great preamp for the money.

 

[WG Plum]

That looks intetesting, though I think I'd prefer rack-mountable due to space limitations.

 

[javi_bassist]

Warm Audio WA12 sounds pretty good

 

[WG Plum]

Warm Audio WA12 sounds pretty good

That looks pretty much perfect, thanks!

 

[silky smoove]

There's more that could be helpful to narrow it down:

• Single channel or more?
• Rack format or 500-series?
• Are you looking for a transformer-based design or a design without transformers?
• Is your intent to color the signal with the preamp, or do you want the preamp to be more of a "clean wire with gain" situation?
• Are you just looking for a preamp, or would a channel strip be more appropriate?
• What's the connection to the AD stage? Is this going to be connected via line level outputs to an appropriate analog source, or does it need its own AD and an ADAT out to connect digitally to your system?

 

[WG Plum]

There's more that could be helpful to narrow it down:

• Single channel or more?
• Rack format or 500-series?
• Are you looking for a transformer-based design or a design without transformers?
• Is your intent to color the signal with the preamp, or do you want the preamp to be more of a "clean wire with gain" situation?
• Are you just looking for a preamp, or would a channel strip be more appropriate?
• What's the connection to the AD stage? Is this going to be connected via line level outputs to an appropriate analog source, or does it need its own AD and an ADAT out to connect digitally to your system?

There is a lot there that I know nothing about, but:

Rack is preferable, but not absolutely necessary.
This will be going into a Focusrite 18i20 into Sonar.
Coloration is good, I want to warm things up.
I think I'm just looking for a pre. I like things that do one thing, no menu diving, as little complexity as possible.
Two channel would be great, but it's not a deal killer.

I mean, I'd love to get a Neve 1073DPX 2-channel, but.... yeah. Money and lack of knowledge really make that a silly notion at this point.

 

[WG Plum]

Oh, yeah, I am transformer positive, yes on those.

 

[MuseChaser]

This is an out-of-the-boz suggestion, and dependent upon what you're currently using, but the best part of the classic Mackie VLZ line of small mixers is their mic preamps. I have two channels of Millenia mic pres and two channels of Great River MP2 pres, both of which are phenomenal (and expensive). When I need more, I use the individual channel direct outs on a Mackie 1402VLZPro ...

Mackie 1402VLZ

For well under $500, you get six mic pres, phantom power, plenty of gain, and they sound SURPRISINGLY good. They're not top of the line kilobuck mic pres, but are much better sounding when used this way than many of the sub-$500 standalone pres I've heard. The trick is to take the output from the TRS insert jack for an effect loop on each channel by inserting a standard TS 1/4" plug just until the first click. This is detailed as an intended use in the manual, not some hack. Yes, it's an unbalanced signal, but for small studio usage that shouldn't be an issue.

 

[And I]

my favorite option is 500 series only. the Fredenstein Artistic mic pre is out of this world as far as "add some color / warmth" mic pre. 2 great "budget" mic pres with a 500 series enclosure for under $500 new. this bundle is worth a look...

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...-with-2-artistic-micpre-se-500-series-modules

if you want to step into the world of 500 series, consider this option which is more expensive for sure, but the "plus" version of their mic pre has some nice features for adding "color", and you get some open slots to expand your analog processing world a bit down the line.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...-bento-8-pro-and-artistic-mic-pre-plus-bundle

 

[silky smoove]

There is a lot there that I know nothing about, but:

Rack is preferable, but not absolutely necessary.
This will be going into a Focusrite 18i20 into Sonar.
Coloration is good, I want to warm things up.
I think I'm just looking for a pre. I like things that do one thing, no menu diving, as little complexity as possible.
Two channel would be great, but it's not a deal killer.

I mean, I'd love to get a Neve 1073DPX 2-channel, but.... yeah. Money and lack of knowledge really make that a silly notion at this point.

Based on these I'd look into a classic transformer-based design. The two obvious candidates are the Neve 1073 and the API 312. Both are excellent and subtly different flavors of saturation. Keep in mind that these types of preamps really only sound different when the input and output stages are driven. Otherwise they just sound clean and uncolored, generally speaking. For 1073 designs I really like both Heritage and BAE. For 312 designs I really like Revive Audio. Another sleeper hit is the ART TransX. It's affordable, two channel, well-featured, and has a nice sounding Jensen transformer design. For the cost it's a really nice unit and one that I use commercially even with more expensive options available on-hand for specific tasks. It's more of a Hardy-sounding design.

Also keep in mind that you'll have to go into the front end of your 18i20 as it doesn't have line inputs that bypass the built-in preamps to my knowledge. This will be a cascading preamp setup. Given the neutral character of the Focusrite preamps this will probably be fine, but be aware that anything you don't like about the Focusrite preamps will still be in the audio path. You may consider a preamp with its own AD converter and an ADAT out to go into the Focusrite digitally and bypass their preamps entirely.

Personally, I would avoid anything made by Warm or Golden Age. They are both capable of making fine products, but they're also very inconsistent in terms of QA/QC. I've bought great examples, and I've returned bad examples. There are lots of examples of this reported online. Take it all with a grain of salt, but for my money I would only buy one if I could try it beforehand.

We're both in Seattle. If you want to come by my place and try out some of these, you're more than welcome to. Shoot me a private message if you want to coordinate.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Boom, you're welcome:

FMR Audio - RNP

 

[And I]

The RNP is not what you'd call "colored" nor would you say it "warms things up" (which is what the OP is looking for). It's a great mic pre for the money but it's quite transparent.

 

[Bob_Ross]

The RNP is not what you'd call "colored" nor would you say it "warms things up" (which is what the OP is looking for)

Ah, crap, I missed that request. Yes, the RNP is definitely not "colored".

 

[LpPT20]

That looks pretty much perfect, thanks!

Not sure if you're still looking, but here's a link with a small demo I made of the WA12 with a bass guitar, at various levels of gain:


I find the WA12 definitely has a lot of color, even at clean settings: it gives the tone a nice vintage vibe (ie: more of a mid range warm tone), and the saturation is really pleasant IMO. Its design is based on an API 312 preamp.

(I also have a similar demo up of the UA solo 610 btw)

 

[James Hart]

I love this pre for mics and direct in bass tracking. [This invalid link has been removed]

I also have this one, which is also pretty cool and sounds great Auteur DT – Versatile Single Channel Preamp/DI Box – Black Lion Audio

 

[Brian Patterson]

If you're looking to record, the USB-C audio interfaces have preamps with 48v power built-in with monitoring through your computer/headphones.
Kind of a complete loop from start to finish - just sayin'...

 

[Piper Bob]

Your Focusrite has good quality transparent pre’s built in. If you get any other good quality /transparent/ mic pre, it won’t do anything for your sound. I don’t hear any difference in sound with the ISA One, but it provides a ton of gain.

So the only kind of mic pre that isn’t a waste of money is either one that adds color (which you can do post recording too) or one that has features you want. For color, the 1076 style pre is by far the most popular.

If you want to add color you might check out the JHS Color Box 2. It’s a pedal, but it has XLR connectors and will pass the 48v from the Focusrite. It’s a pair of 1076 style Pres in series. Pushing one hard into another creates a sound you’ve heard. Check out the JHS video on YouTube.

For rack mount, check out the WA76-EQ. Being able to cut the bass out of something (prior to the AD converter) when you don’t want bass, is useful, because bass will use up a lot of bandwidth.

 

[Micha84]

This will be going into a Focusrite 18i20

I am guessing we are talking about the Scarlett series here?
In that case I honestly think you'd be wasting your 500$ on a preamp. Mic preamps in general do not have strong signature sounds (strong like, for example, an Ampeg bass amp might have), so changes will always be subtle.

If you want something to color your sound, something that adds to it and makes it "better" in your ears, you are not going to get it in your price range. Yes, a lot of products advertise some special circuit or other that, with the push of a button, polishes the signal and it does indeed often sound better at first - but in reality it is generally just some sort of high shelf, slight compression, slight boost kind of magic trick that should be and can be done way better later in the mix.
And even if you should find something adequate, it then hits the less than ideal AD converters of the Focusrite, which will cause a whole lot of other problems and which you should really be worrying about first.

Good news is that decent mic pres (not the exciting kind, but the "can later be worked with in a mix" kind) are often integrated in todays audio interfaces. If you don't need all the channels in your current interface, I strongly recommend taking those 500$ and upgrade to a smaller, but higher quality interface.

 

[Piper Bob]

Anyone who can hear the difference between A/D converters should email Mr. Winer with the answers to his test. He uses a (ca 2011) Focusrite 8i6, so it should be easy, right?

Converter Loop-Back Tests

On one excerpt I can hear a difference in one of the files, which I assume is 10 round trips through the A/D converters, but I can't hear the difference between the original and a single trip through the converters, or even five round trips. Though maybe if I set up and ABX test I could pick out the 5x.