Does the trick

We needed to connect an XLR microphone needing phantom power to a home theater amplifier to have it work as a PA system.

Plugged this into power, amp and mike into it and we were in business.

Simple to use and works like a champ.

Can't be beat for the price!

I use this mixer for one reason and one reason alone. I connect my microphone to the pre amp, and then run into various stomp boxes, to use effects with my vocals. For this use, and any other use for a preamp, this is an absolute charm of a pre amp. It's incredibly powerful, and warm.

For those leaving bad reviews, and thinking it should be as great as the $1,000 pre amps, you're crazy. It's affordable and a great bang for the buck.

Awesome tone and price

You by this thing and happiness will flow through you like prune juice with old people. just an amazing tube pre. i have the presonus one too but dosent warm up the mics like this, especialy a large condenser mic. Buy at least 2 andd just use it for fantom power or extra volume and you will know the meaning of life.

Must have for ANY start-up studio

If you are looking for a piece of gear that will warm up your vocals and acoustic guitars, then you have found it.
For the price there is nothing on the market that can touch this. I can tell you in our small studio we give this thing a work out, and it has never failed to impress or perform.
Buy the ART Tube MP you will not be disappointed.

Great Product!

I love using these for live sound. I've been using them for 6 years. They are really smooth on acoustic guitars! They compress the sound in a very natural and pleasant way. I'll use one of these over a passive direct box any day! I've been know to throw one of these even on vocals if I don't have a compressor available. This can be just enough to make the extreme dynamics tolerable and makes vocal simply sound better in the process. These small preamps have an unusual way of gluing together what goes through them. Dynamics are less extreme and subtle harsh details are pleasantly softened. At the same time all the pleasant sound are left alone or enhanced. Line outs on an acoustic guitars rarely sound anywhere near as good as the actual guitar. These make these line outs much more pleasant. I've recorded some live stuff that was just not pleasant or enjoyable sounding. Running it through one of these before I start mixing is often a life saver. I purchased a TubeFire 8 hoping to get multiple channels of the Tube MP sound, but it doesn't have it. In a live setting, perfectly transparent is often harsh and unenjoyable. These Tube MP's somehow make these kinds of things simply more enjoyable.

Good product Just saturate the tube and you should have no problems with it

well I really like this I use 2 for my overhead mics because i dont have actual overhead mics the mics i use sound much better than overhead in my opinon but the one thing i had to do like with every new tube or new tube amp turn it on leave it on for 3-4 days to saturate the tube the tube MUST be burned in its what everyone seems to neglect causing every flaw ive read in all these reviews its a great product yeah the tube could be replaced if you wanna spend the $30 to get a good tube i will replace the tube eventually but it works great and i also use one from the out on my board then into my computer its easier than recording then transfering it to a tape then back to digital but always saturate anything that has a tube when the tube is brand new

Great if used correctly!!

I really do love these actually! I own two of them. I can't think of a better pre to buy if your on a tight budget. But you do have to use them correctly. They can either sound really good or really bad depending on how you dial it up! They are super simple to operate. They really sound great as a mic-pre for vocals/acoustic guitar and it's a great direct box for bass guitar. Buy two of them!!

warm , basic , quiet , perfect !!!!

i have just bought two tube mp's over the last week and replaced the stock chinese tubes(hissy and microphonic) with a JJ 12ax7 in one, and a Groove Tubes 12ax7 in the other.Im impressed with how clean these things run even with the gain up high. Let's just say you will probably never use the 20 db gain boost. These things definetly smooth out the peaks and with enough gain you could probably forgoe using a compressor on bass and percussion.

Art tube MP

Works great for my purposes,

Very Nice

Warms the already excellent Shure SM-7B for professional broadcast & voiceover work I do. Perhaps output & gain could have be a bit more headroom. Overall good match.

A little black pepper

This is a great little spice to add to your sonic stew. Every once in a while you may want to distort something or round it out a bit... this is a cool device for that. We recorded some bass through my Avalon 737 and then ran the signal out to this to give it a little crunch. As with all spices, use sparingly.

Surprisingly...good...

I picked the ART Tube MP because (a) I wanted something to warm my vocals up and (b) I'm a hard budget. I wasn't expecting anything spectacular, so I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the sound coming out of this thing. It's obviously not an Avalon, but wow! It added warmth where I needed it.

Is this for real?

I bought two of these because I needed a couple cheap preamps to fill in for a while until I could get some better ones, but I didn't need to get better pre's after using these! I can't believe the quality of this preamp for such a great price! Very clear and subtle, even with phantom power. I recommend this to anyone looking for a good pre on a budget.

That much for that much?

Okay, this litle box is no $8000 preamp obviously, but I have used it on stage as DI to warm up my cello's/ acoustic guitar's somewhat harsh piezos, on bass (upright and electric); and in my project studio to track everything from vocals, to raps, to guitars, sax, bass...
Would I like to use an Avlon DI instead on my bass signls - sure, but i can't afford one!
This little box does more than any other under-$100- equipment-investment i have ever made and it does it well!!
Also check out their Project Series TubeMP that can be found in the Sugary H2O of Fort Wayne, IN (and on this website).

for what it cost, it works...

This is a nice little pre. I have used it as a direct box for an active EMG pick up bass with good results as long as I don't drive it to hard. It does break up when overdriven, but for the music I play, soft acoustic mostly, the initial distortion is pleasing, however, go a bit further and it quickly turn to hash. But up to that point it adds a nice degree of warmth. Not so good with my Tele, I just did not care for the sound. I have yet to try it with a microphone, and I suspect that if you don't require too much gain, it will suffice. Like all gear, I wish it had an on - off switch. Plugging and unplugging a wall wart is not my idea of user friendly design. Well built box, I'll keep it. I have not tried swapping out the tube for a name brand and I suspect ART uses cheapo tubes, but if I ever run out of things to do, I may to see if that changes the distortion characteristics.

Warm up your live sound!

I got one of these when they first came out. I was still using a cassette 4 track to record demos at home- this was the perfect addition. Now I have a small digital recording studio and I still occasionally find myself throwing this in the mix for a certain sound. But more and more I have used it live as a preamp for acoustic guitar. It does add a little warmth (and edge if you want it) and is built pretty solid, not to mention being this affordable you could buy another for almost the price of a new tube if you break it!

Think about it

If you want a really cheap mic pre maybe this is what you looking for. I recommend to just go a little bit higher and get at least the Tube Pac.
I have a Tube Pac and it's awesome the warmness you can get in the sound but this one its no good the sound isn't great and you maybe having bad noise when you turn on the +20db.

Tube MP adds nice color Sterile Digi recordings

I record a lot of hip hop, both vocals and tracking the beats out into protools and e-magic logic. This lil' pre-amp always come through. From kicks and snares, to bass lines; and from rappers to smooth backup r&b-ish vocal stacks, the Tube MP delivers. Try it out, its cheap, but worth more than its weight in gold!