Tube Preamp/Compressor help!!

Dirty Mosquito

I am looking to get a tube preamp and a compressor to warm up my recordings as well as make them sound more professional.

Does anyone know if this is a decent unit?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Nady-TMP3-Tube-Channel-with-Preamp-EQ-Compressor?sku=188714

I was also considering this unit....

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ART-Pro-Channel-Tube-Mic-Preamp?sku=180589

IDgotI

I have that ART unit. I have both their one rack and two rack channel strips. The one rack piece is crap. That two rack piece is kind of cool. For the price I'd say it's a winner. Check this review of it:

http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:IvS7bxIfP7UJ:www.webculture.net/prorec/articles.nsf/files/052CE8CB2FAAC9818625687A00752A7B+art+tube+prorec&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

I know nothing about the Nady.

Dirty Mosquito

IDgotI wrote:

I have that ART unit. I have both their one rack and two rack channel strips. The one rack piece is crap. That two rack piece is kind of cool. For the price I'd say it's a winner. Check this review of it:

http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:IvS7bxIfP7UJ:www.webculture.net/prorec/articles.nsf/files/052CE8CB2FAAC9818625687A00752A7B+art+tube+prorec&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

I know nothing about the Nady.

Thanks for the input.

lucylespian

Without knowing anything about either unit, as a general rule, you only get as much as you pay for. TYhe NAdy just sounds too cheap to be much good.
I was a bit fascinated by the optical/tube concept. Does that mean you can see it ??

Dirty Mosquito

lucylespian wrote:

Without knowing anything about either unit, as a general rule, you only get as much as you pay for. TYhe NAdy just sounds too cheap to be much good.
I was a bit fascinated by the optical/tube concept. Does that mean you can see it ??

Thanks. I think the Art one looks pretty decent. From what I've heard it has gotten some decent reviews as well.

ianvomsaal

To get anything really good (meaning pro-studio quality) you'll usually end up paying a few thousand $$$.
Anyhow, here's a few decent lower priced tube pre-amps:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/compare?g=live&base_pid=188227&base_pid=183519&base_pid=184107&base_pid=181824&base_pid=180203

For tube pre-amps and compressors I personally like PreSonus and Avalon, and some Focusrite and DBX. Do yourself a search on these and I'm sure you'll come up with some good stuff.

Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

Dirty Mosquito

ianvomsaal wrote:

To get anything really good (meaning pro-studio quality) you'll usually end up paying a few thousand $$$.
Anyhow, here's a few decent lower priced tube pre-amps:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/compare?g=live&base_pid=188227&base_pid=183519&base_pid=184107&base_pid=181824&base_pid=180203

For tube pre-amps and compressors I personally like PreSonus and Avalon, and some Focusrite and DBX. Do yourself a search on these and I'm sure you'll come up with some good stuff.

Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

Thanks a lot.

armanHammer

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/live/navigation/universal-audio-signal-processors-expansion-cards-mic-pre-amps?N=100001+202179+304639&page=1

those first two are industry standards.

Dirty Mosquito

armanHammer wrote:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/live/navigation/universal-audio-signal-processors-expansion-cards-mic-pre-amps?N=100001+202179+304639&page=1

those first two are industry standards.

Those are really nice, unfortunately a little out of my price range. I know that you get what you pay for. I think it may be in my music's best interest to hold off for something more high quality such as this. Sure, it may take me a few months to get the money, but if it's that good than it will be worth it.

Thanks for the info.

IDgotI

Dirty Mosquito wrote:

Those are really nice, unfortunately a little out of my price range. I know that you get what you pay for. I think it may be in my music's best interest to hold off for something more high quality such as this. Sure, it may take me a few months to get the money, but if it's that good than it will be worth it.

Thanks for the info.

Yep... that would be the better approach. I don't actually use that ART box too much anymore since I upgraded to a combination of out board gear by FMR and high quality pluggins. The ART box is ok... in fact I'd personally rate it as best in class, but the class it's best in is definately budget, corner-cutting ,starter territory.

Here's a link for FMR

http://www.fmraudio.com/productspage.htm

Their pre amp is solid state, but it's amazing and on par with stuff by a company called Grace which is also an industry standard. To be fair the FMR cuts some corners, but it's definately NOT in the same "starter" category as the ART, and the corners it cuts are pretty much all cosmetic. The Grace pre comes in a brushed chromed enclosure. Personally I'm more concerned with what my gear sounds like than what it looks like.

Tubes are great, but for a mic preamp you shouldn't be too quick to dismiss solid state. When it comes to guitar amps tubes pretty much win hands down, but that's because with a guitar amp one wants the tubes to compress, distort, and add harmonics.

Tubes can definately add character to a mic as well, but you might not necessarily want them to. Consider if you are planning to mic the best tube guitar amp in the world... then what you want is a mic pre that will capture THAT exact sound and not monkey with it in anyway.

To be fair the Avalon and UAD boxes above are *super* clean and transparent. But that's also part of the reason they cost so much. To get a tube to behave absolutely reliably and predictably and with neutrality requires a more complex and very well built circuit. It's tougher to mass produce something that will get a neutral sound from a tube.

The results are definately worth it, and those pieces are amazing... but all I'm saying is that when it comes to a mic pre, where the goal is neutral sound, the issue of whether it's tube or solid state becomes a lot less important.

With a guitar amp you want to hear the tubes. With a mic pre, you want to hear the mic.

Anyway... you definately won't go wrong with the Avalon or UAD... but personally I think you won't go wrong with the FMR either, and you might not have to wait as long or save up as much.

As far as compressor and eq are concerned, there you might *want* more of a tube "colored" sound... so having your mic pre in a separate box from your compressor and eq could free you up to look at a lot of other really amazing gear, and develop an even more personalized "signature" sound. Avalon, UAD and all the companies listed in the links above make dedicated compressors and EQs in addition to "All in one" channel strips.

If you are ready and willing to step up in price, don't be afraid to "mix and match" your components to build the sound that works best for you.

Good luck!

This Sh@t starts to get really amazing when you make it up above the budget stuff.

Dirty Mosquito

IDgotI wrote:

Yep... that would be the better approach. I don't actually use that ART box too much anymore since I upgraded to a combination of out board gear by FMR and high quality pluggins. The ART box is ok... in fact I'd personally rate it as best in class, but the class it's best in is definately budget, corner-cutting ,starter territory.

Here's a link for FMR

http://www.fmraudio.com/productspage.htm

Their pre amp is solid state, but it's amazing and on par with stuff by a company called Grace which is also an industry standard. To be fair the FMR cuts some corners, but it's definately NOT in the same "starter" category as the ART, and the corners it cuts are pretty much all cosmetic. The Grace pre comes in a brushed chromed enclosure. Personally I'm more concerned with what my gear sounds like than what it looks like.

Tubes are great, but for a mic preamp you shouldn't be too quick to dismiss solid state. When it comes to guitar amps tubes pretty much win hands down, but that's because with a guitar amp one wants the tubes to compress, distort, and add harmonics.

Tubes can definately add character to a mic as well, but you might not necessarily want them to. Consider if you are planning to mic the best tube guitar amp in the world... then what you want is a mic pre that will capture THAT exact sound and not monkey with it in anyway.

To be fair the Avalon and UAD boxes above are *super* clean and transparent. But that's also part of the reason they cost so much. To get a tube to behave absolutely reliably and predictably and with neutrality requires a more complex and very well built circuit. It's tougher to mass produce something that will get a neutral sound from a tube.

The results are definately worth it, and those pieces are amazing... but all I'm saying is that when it comes to a mic pre, where the goal is neutral sound, the issue of whether it's tube or solid state becomes a lot less important.

With a guitar amp you want to hear the tubes. With a mic pre, you want to hear the mic.

Anyway... you definately won't go wrong with the Avalon or UAD... but personally I think you won't go wrong with the FMR either, and you might not have to wait as long or save up as much.

As far as compressor and eq are concerned, there you might *want* more of a tube "colored" sound... so having your mic pre in a separate box from your compressor and eq could free you up to look at a lot of other really amazing gear, and develop an even more personalized "signature" sound. Avalon, UAD and all the companies listed in the links above make dedicated compressors and EQs in addition to "All in one" channel strips.

If you are ready and willing to step up in price, don't be afraid to "mix and match" your components to build the sound that works best for you.

Good luck!

This Sh@t starts to get really amazing when you make it up above the budget stuff.

Thanks a lot for all the info. Cheers!!

samquigley

I sold my ART TubePAC to help pay for my Focusrite TwinTrak Pro and Voicemaster Pro, neither of which perform anywhere near as well on vocals or acoustic guitar as the ART unit did. They do, however, have astonishingly good-sounding D/A converters incorporated.