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Best Preamp for under $1000????

Best Preamp for under $1000????

lollygagger8

16 years ago

I have a Presonus Firepod and some pretty decent mics. I would prefer to get a preamp with multiple inputs, but if I have to get a single channel I will.
1) Which one should I get that will get me the best bang for the buck? (that sounds the best/features/etc
2) Are there any good preamps that hook up through SPDIF? <- cuz that would give me 2 more channels to work with.
Thanks

May 10, 2007 @03:16pm

aitikin

16 years ago

I'm pretty interested in this myself and have heard good things about the Focusrite Octopre, so there's my $.02. If you spend a lil more you can get the card that plugs in and lets you spdif over. Also available is the octopre LE. Basically pick you poison there.

May 11, 2007 @05:43am

Audioholic

16 years ago

If you are looking for a higher end pre, then a single channel is what you will get for this price range mostly. If its multiple pre's, then they will be decent, but maybe not as high end as the single if you have descerning ears.
Great River offers a single channel pre for about a grand Great River ME-1NV
Universal audio has their solo series
if multiple channels, then the digimax is decent
in the mid entries, you have the focustrites platinum series, though I have found them to not be as nice as their blue and red series, obviously.
good single channel pres with digital cards will be closer to 1500 probally

May 11, 2007 @06:07am

lollygagger8

16 years ago

Has anyone used the Apogee Mini Me?? I know that Apogee make great converters, how are their preamps?

May 11, 2007 @01:10pm

DAS

16 years ago

In my opinion they are very good, transparent preamps. It's important to remember that one of the most important parts of good converter design is good analog design, as the signal is analog for part of that journey. If a company builds good sounding converters then clearly they are able to build good sounding analog electronics. I get that this doesn't necessarily mean they can build a great preamp, but it's a start.

May 11, 2007 @03:40pm

lollygagger8

16 years ago

Got the Mini Me.....anybody looking for a AWESOME sounding preamp....GET THIS ONE!!!!

May 14, 2007 @12:49pm

michaelhoddy

16 years ago

I like the Sytek MPX-4. It's certainly the best sub-$1000 4-channel preamp I've heard. Very clean.

May 14, 2007 @10:57pm

xstatic

16 years ago

Like I mentioned in another thread a minute ago, have a look at the D&R two channel preamp that sells for around $500 for two channels. Very nice transparent preamp. The sytek that Michael mentioned is also a sweet deal. I don't think i would really consider it "clean". Words are certainly subjective, but it too has a "neutral" character overall to me with a nice little touch of warmth:) Personally, I do not care much for the Apogee preamps. The converters are decent on the mini-me though and when you factor in all the features it is a pretty good buy.

May 15, 2007 @08:53pm