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indravayu · 25th August 2006, 07:56 PM

Hi guys,
I am looking for a cheap (under $500) tube mic preamp and have been leaning towards the ART MPA Gold of Digital MPA. There is about a $100 difference in price, and some slight difference in the specs (noted below), and I am wondering if anyone can give me some advice on which one might better serve me. I am mainly going to use this for recording vocals, electric & acoustic guitar and bass in my home studio (for mics I will be variably using SM57's, an Aphex 460 tube condenser and a ShinyBox ribbon) - I am ditching my current audio interface (Aardvark Direct Pro Q10) for an RME Fireface 400 in the next month or so. I guess my big question is, do I really need to spend the extra $100 for the DMPA's digital connectors, or will I be fine the the MPA GOLD's analog connectors (and put $100 towards an EQ, or something)?

- Chris

MPA Gold

CMRR: >90dB (typical @ 1kHz)
Analog Connections: Bal. XLR (pin2 hot) inputs/outputs and bal. 1/4” outputs (TRS), unbal. inst. inputs
Controls: Input Gain, Impedance, Output level, and High Pass Filter SWITCHES: +20dB gain, Phase Reversal, Plate Voltage, Meter Sensitivity, Phantom Power with LED switches
Dynamic Range: >100dB (20Hz to 20kHz)
Equivalent Input Noise: -133dBu (XLR to XLR ‘A’ weighted)
Frequency Response: 15Hz to 120kHz (+0, -1dB)
Input Impedance: 150-3K ohms (XLR), 840k ohms (1/4")
Maximum Gain XLR to XLR: 75dB
Maximum Input Level: +20dBu (XLR), +17dBu (1/4")
Maximum Output Level: +28dBu (XLR)
Output Impedance: 47 ohms (XLR)
Total Harmonic Distortion: >0.005% (typical)

Digital MPA

CMRR: >90dB (typical @ 1kHz)
Controls: Input, Impedance, Output level, Digital Level, High Pass Filter, and Sample Rate
Analog Connections: Balanced XLR (pin 2 hot) inputs and outputs, A/D inserts (TRS) and Unbalanced 1/4” outputs (TS) inputs
Digital Connections: AES/EBU (XLR), S/PDIF (RCA), ADAT Optical In, ADAT/TOSLINK Out, Wordclock In, and Word clock Thru (BNC)
Dynamic Range: >100dB, 20Hz to 20kHz
Equivalent Input Noise: - 134dB (XLR to XLR ‘A’ weighted)
Frequency Response: 15Hz to 80kHz (+0, -1dB)
Input Impedance: 150-3K ohms (XLR), 840k ohms (1/4")
Switches: +20dB gain, Phase Reversal, Plate Voltage, Meter Source, Phantom Power w/ LED, Dither, Optical Format and Power
Maximum Gain XLR to XLR: 75dB
Maximum Input Level: +18dBu (XLR), +16dBu (1/4")
Maximum Output Level +28dBu (XLR)
Output Impedance: 47 ohms (XLR)
Total Harmonic Distortion: >0.005% (typical)

25th August 2006, 07:56 PM	#1
indravayu Gear maniac Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 226	ART MPA Gold vs. Digital MPA Hi guys, I am looking for a cheap (under $500) tube mic preamp and have been leaning towards the ART MPA Gold of Digital MPA. There is about a $100 difference in price, and some slight difference in the specs (noted below), and I am wondering if anyone can give me some advice on which one might better serve me. I am mainly going to use this for recording vocals, electric & acoustic guitar and bass in my home studio (for mics I will be variably using SM57's, an Aphex 460 tube condenser and a ShinyBox ribbon) - I am ditching my current audio interface (Aardvark Direct Pro Q10) for an RME Fireface 400 in the next month or so. I guess my big question is, do I really need to spend the extra $100 for the DMPA's digital connectors, or will I be fine the the MPA GOLD's analog connectors (and put $100 towards an EQ, or something)? - Chris MPA Gold CMRR: >90dB (typical @ 1kHz) Analog Connections: Bal. XLR (pin2 hot) inputs/outputs and bal. 1/4” outputs (TRS), unbal. inst. inputs Controls: Input Gain, Impedance, Output level, and High Pass Filter SWITCHES: +20dB gain, Phase Reversal, Plate Voltage, Meter Sensitivity, Phantom Power with LED switches Dynamic Range: >100dB (20Hz to 20kHz) Equivalent Input Noise: -133dBu (XLR to XLR ‘A’ weighted) Frequency Response: 15Hz to 120kHz (+0, -1dB) Input Impedance: 150-3K ohms (XLR), 840k ohms (1/4") Maximum Gain XLR to XLR: 75dB Maximum Input Level: +20dBu (XLR), +17dBu (1/4") Maximum Output Level: +28dBu (XLR) Output Impedance: 47 ohms (XLR) Total Harmonic Distortion: >0.005% (typical) Digital MPA CMRR: >90dB (typical @ 1kHz) Controls: Input, Impedance, Output level, Digital Level, High Pass Filter, and Sample Rate Analog Connections: Balanced XLR (pin 2 hot) inputs and outputs, A/D inserts (TRS) and Unbalanced 1/4” outputs (TS) inputs Digital Connections: AES/EBU (XLR), S/PDIF (RCA), ADAT Optical In, ADAT/TOSLINK Out, Wordclock In, and Word clock Thru (BNC) Dynamic Range: >100dB, 20Hz to 20kHz Equivalent Input Noise: - 134dB (XLR to XLR ‘A’ weighted) Frequency Response: 15Hz to 80kHz (+0, -1dB) Input Impedance: 150-3K ohms (XLR), 840k ohms (1/4") Switches: +20dB gain, Phase Reversal, Plate Voltage, Meter Source, Phantom Power w/ LED, Dither, Optical Format and Power Maximum Gain XLR to XLR: 75dB Maximum Input Level: +18dBu (XLR), +16dBu (1/4") Maximum Output Level +28dBu (XLR) Output Impedance: 47 ohms (XLR) Total Harmonic Distortion: >0.005% (typical)