Need Super Quiet Mic/Pre's for Location Recording

[0VU]

Yep, I'd say DAV too.

Good sound, good value and probably the best you can hope for if buying new with £500. It'll only get you 2 channels but at least they're two good channels which you won't need to replace as you expand your rig, so the money won't be wasted.

Out of budget, but I recently picked up a 2mnth old used Audient ASP-008 with an ADAT board for £800, which was a good buy, and a 9mnth old used ATi 8MX2 for £900 with which I'm very happy. Both were decent prices for the units concerned and if the OP needs an 8 channel pre it might be an idea to save up a bit more and hit the used market.

Otherwise, go for fewer channels and the DAV would be a top choice. I don't know about the best in the world but certainly more than good enough for any normal use.

[ljudatervinning]

Also check out Line Audio 8MP
LINE AUDIO DESIGN

[newyorkbrass]

Originally Posted by dougfatheruk

Hi all,

I currently use an Octopre LE in to my 002R and things start to get messy when i turn the gain past 8, typically there is a massive surge of gain at this point. I've never been happy with the Octopre, it is very harsh and everythig leans towards the highs with no punch or body around the low and mids.

I am recording brass and male voice choirs and typically have to deal with a huge amount of dynamic range. I recently purchased a rode NT2-a to complement my two Rode NT1-a's. I use these mics because have pretty much the lowest self noise going, i got caught out using some nasty Samsons so hence my reason for going Rode. They have made a huge difference but i need to squeeze some more gain to get a semi respectable signal in Pro Tools.

Can anybody recommend some really quiet mic pre's that aren't the price of GML, Avalon, Sytek etc.

An 8 mic/pre unit would be ideal but i'd be happy to drop to 4 or multiple 1/2 units if it would really make the difference. Budget is about 500GBP.

For brass I would go with ribbon mics - handle the dynamic range much better, and sound better. Besides - brass is usually so loud you can run a kindergarten in the studio while recording. I also use AKG perception 400 which are chinese replicas of the 414 - just get a good replacement plan - one of the mics (out of 6) had a faulty high voltage circuit. Something seems wrong to me if u have to set your gain to 8. How far are your mics from the brass?

The class A+AB preamplifiers style preamplifiers are all usually the same design unless u r using a high end transformer based design.

Usually they are a quasi long tail pair shared gain class A input section coupled with a fixed gain diff-amp. At high gains it resembles a radio receiver.

Rod Eliott has a discrete description of this circuit:
Low Noise Balanced Microphone Preamp
Many many many many many preamps are modeled around the same concept including the some SSL consoles, mackie, etc etc.

It is also the internal layout of SSM2019 THAT1510/12/70 INA217 which are the basis of many devices.

another popular layout is the transformer based pres - in which the amplifying element is single ended so it inherently quieter on the order of 6db. The price of a transformer based pre is aumented at least by about $100-$200 per channel due to the price of the transformer. Examples are the higher end NEVE, SSL, Tube based pres etc.

As a point of interest I added a Neve input transformer to a Behringer ADA-8000 (similar input topology to the octopre) and the noise level dropped considerably.
See it here

[JEGG]

Already mentioned by 0VU (I think). The 8 channel Audient ASP008 is available for very good prices new here (US). About US$1k for demo, new is higher but still very good value.

[loujudson]

Originally Posted by richgilb

Budget of £500. Can you really get multiple channels used for around $800?

I got my 2 channel HV-3 direct from MIllenia for exactly that, $800. But it was their "garage sale" cleanout day. If you find one you'll be very happy with it - I use mine with ribbon mics a lot.
L

[Suda Badri]

metric halo uln 2?

Ted Fletcher Designs, Buzz Audio, DAV, GML, Gordon, there too many

[Nobilmente]

DAV here too.

Largeness - Detail without harshness, clarity without crudeness.