But, with everything great, comes a bad... That is, my signals from my mics are too low. So, I set out to buy a microphone preamp... In April, plenty of time!
So, lets take a few I've been looking at!
- Behringer UltraGain Pro Mic2200
- M-Audio DMP3
Right well, lets start with what makes sense, the first in the list...
Behringer UltraGain Pro Mic2200
Well, I thought Behringer would be a good place to go, since they provide many studios with equipment, but as I dived into review about this particular product. It appears I have been fooled with the pretty box that encased the components and the specs...
It is a tube preamp, some reviews say it does add warmth but hardly any, and some say it does nothing and is there just for show, there is also no way to turn it off.
Another thing, is apparently there is a large amount of noise and unwanted baddies when you crank the gain... Which, to point out, is what I am buying it for. To amplify.
The other thing, the EQ. I liked this bit because it meant I didn't have to use software to tweak it, and instead use something before it even hit the audio interface. But nope, that was out of the question once again. It crackles and pop when on, and this occurs (apprently) in most of their microphone preamps, or at least their newer models.
The Behringer was a tasty option, but one I will not chew over again.
M-Audio DMP3
Well, a more familiar name. At last. A company that I know provides excellent support and products. I still have their old Ekeys49, had it for 4 years now. Not a single problem. The USB cable itself wore out before the product did. It still works, as it did new.
Recently I bought a Delta 66. Came wonderfully packaged, interesting too. Easy to install and setup, I was using it in the first 5 minutes of getting it. Nothings wrong so far. But I have only had it since 25 December ( 09 ).
I am expecting the preamps to be a more than satisfactory investment, I dived, once again, into reviews. Yes, as I thought. Not a single bad review, there were some "OK" ones, but as you would expect those are from the people who worked with pre amps costing more than a small car.
Most of the faults also with preamps, is not the preamp itself, its the bad technique in either chaining devices, wrong cables, or just a terrible mic or audio interface. I kept that in mind with all my research. But if it appears that more than 5 peoples reviews same the thing I tend to believe it.
So, the M-Audio is up there. Shining gold!
I was going to review a third, but I haven't done any research on that model at all, and it is 2:10am.
So, the prices, well. As anything music technology related, costs a fair bit.
The M-audio, costs from £110 to £130*
The Behringer, costs from £80 to £100*
* - Google price search.
The Behringer, is considerably cheaper. But as the ye old sayin' goes, you get what you pay for.
I know I haven't considered the ports, the methods of outputs and inputs. But, None of the preamps are single channel, they are all dual channel and support both XLR and 1/4 inputs and outputs.
