recommend me Preamp for AT4040 mic!

[matias4000]

Hey! I got an mbox 2 pro and an AT4040 mic. Can you recommend me a preamp no more than $300. I mostly want it for the vocals. or if I don't need a preamp, then something that's gonna make a difference in the vocals using the mbox. i don't know

thanks!

[matias4000]

oh I also have an sm57, cascade fathead and audix i5, i mostly use them on my guitar cab, but, if the preamp will be good as well for these mics, you are welcome :D

[College_Records]

The AT4040 sounds very warm and at points dark with a slight bass boost. It is very smooth and does not sound Chinese-thin or bright. It is a very thick mic best for most vocals and sometimes acoustic guitars.

Looking at your current gear, you're making the same mistake that I once did... and man it f*cking blows.

I had an maudio fastrack ultra and I decided to buy the best pre withing my budget (a great river me-1nv ~ $1200). Little did I know, you won't really be able to really hear a big differance in preamps until you up you AD/DA conversion. That being said, I sold the great river and purchased a used RME FF00 for $1200 <-- BEST PIECE OF GEAR I'VE EVER PURCHASED!!!... and after that, DIY room treatment to further improve accuracy and detail.

If you're using digital plugins, eq's, emulations of classic gear, etc... you're best option is to up the AD/DA (audio to digital/digital to audio) conversion. Your mbox 2 pro has a 96khz/sec conversion rate, the alternative Apogee Duet or RME babyface has 192khz/sec conversion.

96khz/sec vs. 192khz/sec is like a 10 megapixel camera vs a 20 megapixel camera!

Would you rather have a 10 megapixel capture of sound to work with or a 20 megapixel capture of sound?? Which one do you think is more accurate?
Do you really think your $300 dollar preamp is gonna sound pro if you put it through a mediocre AD/DA interface? Do you think your plugins will be as accurate? Do you think the rest of your gear - instruments, mics, monitors, etc - will sound their best??? The answer is... NO

AD/DA conversion is your bottleneck. not your preamp

If you're a mac, buy used Apogee Duet for $300 instead. Apogee makes preamps AND AD/DA conversion for pro studios. The preamps in the duet compete with the grace m101 ($575 msrp ~ and one of, if not the bestselling single channle pre on the market). The onboard pres on the duet would be perfect for your at4040. They are clean and open. You can't go wrong with apogee.

If you're a pc, RME Babyface would be the best bang for your buck. Yes it's more expensive than it's mac competitor, but you get some additional quality for your extra dollars. The RME pres and AD convesion beat the Duet by a little, but not really enough to justify the $400 price jump.

Use waves and other plugins after that to color your sound and get the most out of your gear. You'll begin to love plugins, because they will be 10 times more accurate and detailed.
Your interface is your brain. It's what everything runs through. If you skimp on this, everything will suffer.

Optimize your setup. Optimize your results. - Andrew

[Enlightened Hand]

Originally Posted by matias4000

Hey! I got an mbox 2 pro and an AT4040 mic. Can you recommend me a preamp no more than $300. I mostly want it for the vocals. or if I don't need a preamp, then something that's gonna make a difference in the vocals using the mbox. i don't know

thanks!

The best single channel preamp in terms of sound quality, build quality, headroom and price that I know of is the Golden Age Project, Pre 73. I own one and I find that it will work well with any standard condenser, ribbon or dynamic. While brighter in the high frequencies and less heavy in the low frequencies than the original Neve 1073 it nonetheless has a sound quality that is full and open, with a relaxed high frequency presentation, plenty of clean gain and a pleasing balance of detail IMO. At $350 (US) it's an excellent deal. I don't know that you can find something quite like it for less than $300.

There is on the "clean" side of the preamp spectrum the M-Audio DMP3 (and it might be discontinued) for $150 (dual channel). I own one and have compared it to several preamps that cost over 10 times the price and as a clean, high headroom, dual channel unit it's excellent. It will also amplify cleanly any dynamic, condenser and almost all ribbons too. It has very little "sound" to speak of. Just clean, not harsh, noise free gain, a very useful piece if you can find it. Judging from the sound and headroom it's NOT the same preamp that is found in M-Audio interfaces (a common misconception).

I wouldn't pay much attention to the conversion talk in the post above me. It's not your biggest concern at this point (and exactly "why" it's not is a long conversation) and the analogies given don't work with audio.

[PhilDW]

Originally Posted by College_Records

The AT4040 sounds very warm and at points dark with a slight bass boost. It is very smooth and does not sound Chinese-thin or bright. It is a very thick mic best for most vocals and sometimes acoustic guitars.

<snipped>

96khz/sec vs. 192khz/sec is like a 10 megapixel camera vs a 20 megapixel camera!

Would you rather have a 10 megapixel capture of sound to work with or a 20 megapixel capture of sound?? Which one do you think is more accurate?
Do you really think your $300 dollar preamp is gonna sound pro if you put it through a mediocre AD/DA interface? Do you think your plugins will be as accurate? Do you think the rest of your gear - instruments, mics, monitors, etc - will sound their best??? The answer is... NO

AD/DA conversion is your bottleneck. not your preamp


Optimize your setup. Optimize your results. - Andrew

I think you may be on shaky ground with that assertion. People as renowned as Dan Lavry of Lavry Engineering thinks the jump to 192 isn't worth it. See first paragraph here:
Lavry Engineering

Which is not the same thing as saying that better converters won't help.

[College_Records]

The Difference Betweeen 96khz & 192khz - Pro-Audio - Audio

here's the debate, personally I wouldn't trade 192khz/sec for nothin

[jdomini00]

I'd consider the ART MPA.

[PhilDW]

Originally Posted by College_Records

The Difference Betweeen 96khz & 192khz - Pro-Audio - Audio

here's the debate, personally I wouldn't trade 192khz/sec for nothin

That link is still a debate with nothing resolved, and it works for you fine, but I'm just a bit surprised at the implied recommendation that a new 192KHz AD/DA is a preferable to an improved preamp for matias. For a dual channel preamp a FMR RNP or Black Lion Auteur would be an improvment over those in the mbox. If the source input (including the preamp) sucks, no amount of excellent conversion is going to improve it.

[upstar]

From my short experience i can say that every part of the chain maks a diffrence. Ive got at 4040. First used it on emu 0404 built in pre... Then bouht ua710 twin finity but i thought it was waste of money until ive purchased steinberg mr816x. Now i understand what that blend knob is for couse i can hear the diffrence.

UA seems to be above your budget so i would go for GAP 73.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Gearslutz.com

[dickiefunk]

I'd recommend the Focusrite ISA One. I use one with my AT4040 and it sounds great!

[Go Nigel Go]

For a low end budget, the Art Pro Channel is pretty good, built in pre/compressor/and EQ. Lot's of options, good bang for the buck. It works nicely with a 4040 for almost anything.