[dangeorge6]

Hey all,

Over the last week or so, I've been agonizing over which mic pre I should purchase. I was wondering if anyone could offer me some advice. As of know my setup consists of an Mbox into a G4 laptop running protools. I recently bought an AT4047 condenser mic and I have a variety of dynamics. I figure the next step for me is to get a mic pre.

The problem is that I can't really spend over 1000 bucks. In fact, it would be nice to only spend 500 or so. I'd very much prefer a two channel mic pre because I often record acoustics in stereo, and run an amped bass guitar along with the bass guitar DIed. Ultimately, I'd appreciate product suggestions, but I also have a few questions:

-Should I go for a tube or solid state preamp? Are solid states so bad?
-Would a preamp with a built in A/D converter with S/PDIF out vastly improve my sound if I plugged into the Mbox's digital in?
-are there preamps out there with exceptional EQs and Compressors so I wouldn't have to buy additional hardware?

Right now, I'm looking at the Focusrite Twin Trax Pro and the ART DPS II. The Focusrite doesn't have built in SPDIF out but the ART does. The ART is tube but the focusrite is not. The focusrite has some EQ and a decent compressor. What would you go with? Are there better products that meet my needs you know of? Thanks so much!

Danny