help me choose a mic pre or small mixer for recording kick/snare

[sonicjosh]

Right now I just have a 002 and a presonus eureka channel. I find the pres on the 002 pretty decent, not amazing but not nearly as bad as I thought they were going to be. The eureka is nice but I thought it was going to be better for the money. However I would like to step up the kick and snare a notch so I'm looking for either a 2 channel pre preferably with EQ (but pres are the most important) or a small channel mixer. My budget is small, so right now I'm basically looking at the really nice pre ($500), the toft AFC-2 (almost $700) or the mackie onyx with the 4 channels ($550). The toft is the most expensive i can go. Can anyone help compare each of these to the pres on the 002 even just in the sense of overall quality? Also other recommendations under $700 are welcome. Thanks!

[james.ca]

Originally Posted by sonicjosh

Right now I just have a 002 and a presonus eureka channel. I find the pres on the 002 pretty decent, not amazing but not nearly as bad as I thought they were going to be. The eureka is nice but I thought it was going to be better for the money. However I would like to step up the kick and snare a notch so I'm looking for either a 2 channel pre preferably with EQ (but pres are the most important) or a small channel mixer. My budget is small, so right now I'm basically looking at the really nice pre ($500), the toft AFC-2 (almost $700) or the mackie onyx with the 4 channels ($550). The toft is the most expensive i can go. Can anyone help compare each of these to the pres on the 002 even just in the sense of overall quality? Also other recommendations under $700 are welcome. Thanks!

May go another approach , review your drum mics also maybe consider using a bit of compression on some of your mics as well

Plus also review your mic placement too
Could be a bit of tweaking your mics and placement might save you a few bucks .
James

[sonicjosh]

well, I have fine mics for drums, and i always compress my drums afterwards with my waves plugs. Plus I need more mic pres anyway because the i only have 5 with the 002/eureka.

[stickers]

If you didn't need EQ, I'd buy a couple of Rane MS 1b for $150.00 each.

However, as you mentioned you would prefer so have some EQ. In that case, I think a compact mixer would be a good choice.
I'd say the mackie onyx 1620 would be a nice option. It has 8 mics pres. Also, it has an additional band of EQ that's not available on the 1220.
YOu should be able to score a 1620 for about $700.

[BigBoy]

Originally Posted by sonicjosh

Right now I just have a 002 and a presonus eureka channel. I find the pres on the 002 pretty decent, not amazing but not nearly as bad as I thought they were going to be. The eureka is nice but I thought it was going to be better for the money. However I would like to step up the kick and snare a notch so I'm looking for either a 2 channel pre preferably with EQ (but pres are the most important) or a small channel mixer. My budget is small, so right now I'm basically looking at the really nice pre ($500), the toft AFC-2 (almost $700) or the mackie onyx with the 4 channels ($550). The toft is the most expensive i can go. Can anyone help compare each of these to the pres on the 002 even just in the sense of overall quality? Also other recommendations under $700 are welcome. Thanks!

You could have 8 channels of pre's that cost $10,000 a channel and you still will only hear $100 worth of sound after you record them thru a Digi 002