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small pre-amp for recordings

M

marco1977

Sep 11, 2007
100
1
#1
Hello fellow bassists,

I'm about to go into some recording sessions, and I'd like some advice concerning a lowcost tube preamp, to warm up my DI sound.

Also I would like te tube pre to be used (sometimes) in combination with my LMII/Berg set, but this is not priority.

can anyone advise me on some tube preamps on a low budget.

I'm already looking at the Art MPhttp://www.artproaudio.com/products.asp?id=1&cat=1&type=79
but I don't now if this is any good.

Thanks in advance,

Marco
 
#9
Are you recording at a small home studio, or a pro studio? Obviously a pro place is going to have some much nicer stuff than a $25 tube mic pre for you to use.

The Avalon U5 doesn't have a tube, but it is a lovely piece of gear. Gives a beautiful fat, warm sound. Used they're $4-500 and worth every penny IMHO. After using one many times, I finally picked one up last week and can't say enough good things about it.

If you're working in a home studio that doesn't have much for gear, maybe a VT Bass pedal could warm up your tone a little? No tube, but it does a very good impression of tubes, and you could sure use it with your LMII.

Other ideas - try to borrow/rent a U5 or REDDI? Mic a tube amp? Even a small tube guitar amp with the volume very low mic'd with a 57 will give some great warmth. Mix it with your regular DI sound, or not.
 
#11
I highly recommend the Avalon U5 for tracking bass. If you want to hear your familiar amp for monitoring purposes you can run the U5 "thru" to the amp input.

Whether or not you also record other bass feeds (a mic on the amp, amp DI, effects units, etc.) I suggest also recording one "clean" bass track with just the bass and U5 in the signal chain. This keeps more options open to add EQ, compression, amp simulation, reamping or other processing after tracks are down and the mix is starting to take shape.
 
#13
I just don't understand why anybody would answer "Avalon U5" when someone asks for a low-cost tube preamp. :rollno: Bad form.

To the OP, there are many options but the Presonus gets a lot of love, especially considering the price; and the DHA pedals, though more expensive, are a great way of getting a really fat extra-tubey tone if you want more coloration than the Presonus can provide.

Also as someone else noted above, if you are going into a "real" recording studio then they will have high-quality preamps already, you probably won't need to bring one. But if you are going to a small "garage" studio then bringing your own pre is a good idea. Also do look into the idea of renting a more expensive preamp just for the recording session.
 
#14
forget tube or not tube. just listen to the preamps or direct boxes. just because a preamp has a tube doesn't meen much. some SS devices are a lot warmer than some tube devices. likewise the studio should be able to do a bunch to warm up your tone if needed. if they can't then they may be somewhat lacking. What are you playing with that it sounds so chilly?
 
#15
IvanMike said:
forget tube or not tube. just listen to the preamps or direct boxes. just because a preamp has a tube doesn't meen much. some SS devices are a lot warmer than some tube devices. likewise the studio should be able to do a bunch to warm up your tone if needed. if they can't then they may be somewhat lacking. What are you playing with that it sounds so chilly?
Click to expand...

Here is your answer ^^^^
Just because something has a tube in it does not mean it will sound "good" or "warm". Bringing cheap preamps to a studio can add noise to your recording and extra head ache for the guy at the board.
Good Luck
 
#16
IvanMike said:
forget tube or not tube. just listen to the preamps or direct boxes. just because a preamp has a tube doesn't meen much. some SS devices are a lot warmer than some tube devices. likewise the studio should be able to do a bunch to warm up your tone if needed. if they can't then they may be somewhat lacking. What are you playing with that it sounds so chilly?
Click to expand...

Another +1. I like my Peavey VMP-2 quite a bit for bass and for mics. At the same time, the solid state pre's my former Mackie VLZ-Pro (XDR pre's) worked better for things that had a lot of transients in them - acoustic guitar, shakers, cymbals, etc.

In the end there's no single pre that does it all and tubes don't necessarily make or break the deal.

KO
 
#17
Just as a footnote, I agree completely that tubes are not necessarily warmer than solid state- in fact one of the warmest DI's I've used was a transformer-based solid state DI. And many tube-containing preamps sound quite disappointing in reality.

But even at that, the U5 is like the opposite of warm.
 
#19
heck if they're a really good studio they shoudl have a UA 1176 mic preamp/compressor. my GP has two in his studio and plugging right into that has been about the warmest and coolest sound i've gotten to tape.

even if they don't have that see if you can plug into what they do have, you may be very surprised.
 

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