d8b preamps advice

[joe945]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a new desk or set of pre-amps to connect up to my motu 828mk2/nuendo 2 system..currently using an old borrowed mackie 1604vlz pro for drums but that's a bit knackered to be honest & i want something that sounds better & that all the faders work on!

I've been offered the chance to buy a d8b console with 3 adat cards & the apogee word clock card in it for about 1500 pounds, which seems like a decent deal.

I've been trying to find some write ups about the preamps in the d8b & whether they'd be a step up from the 1604 or not, but cant find a great deal of info or opinion on that issue so would really appreciate some advice on this as i cant really borrow it to try it out before making a decision.

Also, until i heard about the d8b coming up via a friend of mine i was seriously thinking about getting a mackie onyx 1640 with the firewire card in it, which is similar money brand new to the d8b second hand, or possibly a 16 channel allen & heath and another 828. The thinking with the 1640 was that i could record a whole band live onto my laptop, but again, any views on alternative preamps or desks for similar money would be much appreciated.

Another consideration is that i work from home so have to record drums at a nice rehearsal place near me..therefore whatever i decide on would have to be karted around for drum recording..which i know the d8b is hardly ideal for, but i don't want to miss a bargain.

I use urs, waves & aud plug-ins for mixing & was also wondering if the built-in stuff on the d8b was as good as these or not, as that'll affect my decision as well.

Thanks!

[meteor]

Don't buy the D8B for the pres. There may be other reasons. If it's just about the pres you can do a whole lot better for the dough. For starters... the mackie onyx pres are a big step and they are still just better than average... keep asking around for good ideas... cheers,

[Gregg Sartiano]

I had a high-$$$ preamp go down and had to use the mic pres on the d8b for a vocal. That song ended up in rotation on BET with a high-profile rap artist on a movie soundtrack.

Not to mention the track was done with an MPC and synths going into the d8b.

Stateside, you might be able to get d8b's cheaper, if you find one. They didn't exactly keep their value. But they are useful.

Since you're in digital, if you play a CD player with digital outs into it as well as your DAW digital outs, you can be doing apples-to-apples comparisons with CD's, which I found great for A/B'ing -- better than using a CD player's converters and trying to judge how they're affecting the reference sound.

[guy1]

Forget it - read my post on my experiences with the DcrapB!

[joe945]

Cheers for your thoughts, any more opinions on the d8b or decent pre's for the money i've got available would be great..

[The dman]

This post might seem contradicting but I still use my D8b that I've had for 5 years and my setup is similar to yours D8b/2408 Mk III/HD192/Nuendo. I love it for a monitoring console and it's recall ability but I don't use the converters and don't use the preamps. Sterile is all the comes to mind when I think of the preamps and the converters are cloudy for lack of a better word, even my 2408 Mk III has slightly better converters.

And from what I've seen ( I don't know the going rate in Europe) 1500 pounds is not a screaming deal on one of these. That is if I've got my conversion right.

[Stitch333]

I used one at a studio I werked at once. It was a constant headache. Dont think Id ever spend money on one, even if it was 150. Howaboot an O2R?

[joe945]

Thanks,

But aren't the pre's in the O2R supposed to be a bit crappy to? Just something i gathered when doing some 'out of hours' drum recording with my band in a studio in manchester..they'd not built the main studio yet & the guy there used the mackie vlz pre's instead of the ones built into the O2R they had there at the time..dunno if that was a wise move or not?

I think i've been put off the idea of the d8b as it certainly won't be portable enough for my needs & if it's a pain in the arse to use & the pre's aren't great then there's no point anyway.

I've got a TLA 5051mk2 that i use for vocals & other general preamp duties so what i really need is some advice on now is a bank of preamps for drum recording..prefferably 8-10 channels. Any help here would be very much appreciated.

cheers.

[Crash]

The d8b pres are not stellar .....but they don't suck either. Here is a tune where the vocal was cut using a Mackie d8b pre. The mic was a Microtech Gefell UM92.1 with an Altec 436C tube comp inserted on the channel during tracking.

http://media.putfile.com/Bobby-State...h-Blues-Mix-06

We are in the middle of another project with this artise using a d8b where we are using some of the board pres as well as some external and we are very pleased with the tones we are getting.

The thing about getting into a d8b, is be aware it is no longer produced and getting back up clock cards and the like is getting very difficult. If you don't get a lemon like Guy1 had, they can be a pretty powerful production tool.

[Axiomhead]

I've used 3 different d8b's on a daily basis for the last 7 years. I've had next to no problems with any of them. I like the pre's alright... definatley better than my Gold Channel...

Stormymonday.mp3

The above link was tracked entirley through the d8b's pre's in PT 5.1.3 via the d8b's adat cards...
Drums = 2 Shiny Box Ribbons
Guits/Bass = direct through BSS DI's
Vocals = MXL 2001 with the Royer Tube mod

[Lawrence]

I might be wrong but I think the d8b pres are the same pres that were in their small analog mixers, these were post Analog 8-bus I think.

As stated not stellar but they don't suck. I own a d8b and use them occasionally.