best bang for buck mic tube pre

[pioneerprogress]

My band is re-recording some of our material, getting it to sound as good as possible, but the thing holding us back in that department is definitely vocals.
My wife sings for us; when she is singing she is belting it and it sounds great. Recorded, though it doesn't sound as great, it really makes it sound like she is holding back.
We've been talking about getting a couple of tube pre's anyway, our bass player is the one with all the recording equipment and know-how, but the preamp he's wanting to get is like $600 and that's not going to be happening anytime soon, unfortunately. So is there something a little more budget-minded that we can look at that will also get us some decent results? I know that just buying any cheapie preamp may not really do us any good here, and I have zero experience in this area. Any suggestions?
Let's say I was willing to spend the $200 I made on selling one of my cheap combo amps last week...anything worth getting in or near that $ amount?

 

[pioneerprogress]

how about the GrooveTubes the Brick?
We've got a huge eq for tweaking, so I don't guess it would be necessary for the preamp to have tons of features, or am I wrong?

 

[mboogman]

IMO, a well designed solid state mic pre will beat a "budget" tube mic pre any day. In my experience, the cheaper tube pre's tend to be noisy, and kind of gimmicky, with little actual tube tone. With that said, I like my presonus mic pres. The newer ones not so much, but the older ones seem to be pretty clean for the money.

.02

 

[rsm]

Maybe an ART tube pre? A few are under $100... I was considering one of these to warm my guitar signal into my modelers but went with a DC Liquid Blues instead. I've not tried these ART pre's though, maybe they're shite, but the price is good. I'd like to know this as well, since recording is on my to do list, and I have nothing in this area...

 

[mixohoytian]

I went with the only true class A tube mice pre for $180
the electro harmonix mic pre
I'
m only using it for acoustic instruments, but it is supposedly cool for vox too
but I don't know

 

[pioneerprogress]

I went with the only true class A tube mice pre for $180
the electro harmonix mic pre
I'
m only using it for acoustic instruments, but it is supposedly cool for vox too
but I don't know

it looks like that's a full-power design, not starved plate, right?
anyone else had any experience with this one?

also, I wasn't aware there were solid state preamps that came recommended. Though I know jack all about recording, so

 

[Erock]

IMO, a well designed solid state mic pre will beat a "budget" tube mic pre any day. In my experience, the cheaper tube pre's tend to be noisy, and kind of gimmicky, with little actual tube tone. With that said, I like my presonus mic pres. The newer ones not so much, but the older ones seem to be pretty clean for the money.

.02

got the same impression from talking to a lot of knowledgable recording guys.

 

[mboogman]

I went with the only true class A tube mice pre for $180
the electro harmonix mic pre
I'
m only using it for acoustic instruments, but it is supposedly cool for vox too
but I don't know

it looks like that's a full-power design, not starved plate, right?
anyone else had any experience with this one?

also, I wasn't aware there were solid state preamps that came recommended. Though I know jack all about recording, so

Focusrite -

Also if you can find an older soundcraft board, even one of the little spirit notepads, the pre's are surprisingly good for the buck.

 

[Meathead]

I have the electro harmonix mic pre, it's pretty cool, not transparent but it's not supposed to be. I use it for some instruments.

There are a lot of solid state 'natural' sounding mic pre's in the $500 range...I'd go that route.

 

[Dale B]

Look into one of these: http://www.zenproaudio.com/goldenagepre-73.aspx

 

[mixohoytian]

I went with the only true class A tube mice pre for $180
the electro harmonix mic pre
I'
m only using it for acoustic instruments, but it is supposedly cool for vox too
but I don't know

it looks like that's a full-power design, not starved plate, right?
anyone else had any experience with this one?

also, I wasn't aware there were solid state preamps that came recommended. Though I know jack all about recording, so

go to "the tape op message board"
that's where I did all my research on mic pres and acoustic treatment
search for reviews on the electro harmonix mic pre
good reviews
I bought 2 of them for less than $400
(record stereo acoustic guitar)
the brick and others seem good too, but yeah they are like $500 or something

electro harmonix is not starved plate

 

[Sixtonoize]

My wife sings for us; when she is singing she is belting it and it sounds great. Recorded, though it doesn't sound as great, it really makes it sound like she is holding back.

It sounds like the problem is that your wife is holding back, not that the mic pre is holding you back.

Is this the first time she's recorded?

She might just need more time to get used to the recording process - as we all know, it's a WHOLE different ballgame than playing live.
Honestly, a newer shinier and "better" mic pre will only capture a more pristine take of her holding back.
A better mic pre will only improve the quality of the audio, not the quality of her performance.





...






That's what Auto-Tune is for

 

[pioneerprogress]

My wife sings for us; when she is singing she is belting it and it sounds great. Recorded, though it doesn't sound as great, it really makes it sound like she is holding back.

It sounds like the problem is that your wife is holding back, not that the mic pre is holding you back.

Is this the first time she's recorded?

She might just need more time to get used to the recording process - as we all know, it's a WHOLE different ballgame than playing live.
Honestly, a newer shinier and "better" mic pre will only capture a more pristine take of her holding back.
A better mic pre will only improve the quality of the audio, not the quality of her performance.






...






That's what Auto-Tune is for

No, that's just the thing.
It sounds great WHEN she is actually recording the track. It's when you go back and play it back it doesn't sound so hot.
We currently have no preamp. Just condenser mic into interface.

 

[Sixtonoize]

No, that's just the thing.
It sounds great WHEN she is actually recording the track. It's when you go back and play it back it doesn't sound so hot.
We currently have no preamp. Just condenser mic into interface.

If it's a condenser mic, then it needs phantom power, so I'm guessing that your interface has built-in pres.
What interface are you using?

Is "An Empty Breath" an example of what you're talking about?
The only thing I think that song needs is a bit of EQ and maybe compression (possibly 'verb) to help the vocals sit in the mix a little better.

 

[pioneerprogress]

No, that's just the thing.
It sounds great WHEN she is actually recording the track. It's when you go back and play it back it doesn't sound so hot.
We currently have no preamp. Just condenser mic into interface.

If it's a condenser mic, then it needs phantom power, so I'm guessing that your interface has built-in pres.
What interface are you using?

Is "An Empty Breath" an example of what you're talking about?
The only thing I think that song needs is a bit of EQ and maybe compression (possibly 'verb) to help the vocals sit in the mix a little better.

Presonus firestudio.
I think there are at least a couple places in that song where the vocals are a bit glaring, in the version that's on our myspace. We are re-doing it and after playing back the new raw vocal tracks, I really just have to say I'm not happy with them in the least.
I know there will be some tweaking our bass player/producer ( ) can do with it, but he's telling me he just can't get it sounding as good as it ought to with our current setup. I know the software he's got has all the effects and stuff he could ever want/need, he just tells me he doesn't think he can do it without a better preamp. I can't buy a $1k preamp, but I can buy SOMETHING at least, I want to feel better about the song than I currently do, especially given that it's the 3rd time we've recorded it. Even if it's not completely perfect, I want to be able to make an improvement, and if a 200-300 dollar preamp (used) might help, I'm willing to do it.

 

[Bob Savage]

Not low cost although lower than many, but I really like the Sebatron for vocals.

 

[griffiti]

Recording good vocals depends on so many things, from mic to pre to cable to room treatment, etc.

If you are on a tight budget, grab a Rode NT1-A. You can find them on the bay for around $150 - $200. Run it through an ART Tube MP.

You could step up a notch and get an ART Pro MPA II.

A really nice pre is the X73i by Vintech. Great for recording just about anything. You could top off that signal chain with an LA-2A. Now you've got the exact signal chain James Michael used to record vocals on The Saints of Los Angeles.

A little compression can always help. Careful not to use too much.