What mics are you running? Are drums your primary concern?
I'm running the Sennheiser 604's on rack tom and snare, Beyerdynamic M88 on floor tom, M-Audio Pulsars on overheads, Shure Beta 91A and Heil PR-40 on kick. Love the way it sounds right now.
Everything is my primary concern, not just drums. Bass I can get away with going direct with my sansamp bass driver or plugins as they have come a long way but for guitar and drums there is still something to be said for the old fashioned approach. Mainly running 57's on toms, E906 on snare (stays out of the way i like it), 52 on kick, pair of cheapo behringers or shotgun mic condensers (made from old 12gauge shotgun shells, cheap decent mics
http://www.12gaugemicrophones.com/red12.html ) and on guitars 57 , 906, or cascade fathead II. I could def. stand to improve the overhead mics at some point though for more clarity/warmth but would prioritize guitars over overheads as they sit more upfront in a mix.
It is true that we are really handcuffed here in Canada on gear. Or we pay a ton more because exchange rate/import fee/or canadian markups.
As for preamps, I am starting to think that the most economical way to be able to have some variety, is probably to go for one of these lunchbox or 3-4 slot 500 series preamp racks and then purchasing preamps that slide in. There are some on the used market like Ebay or DIY kits or clone preamp makers like the seven circle audio people.
https://seventhcircleaudio.com/ Seems like you could get some nice variety with some Neve or API clones. Won't be exact but better than stock. When you figure spending over 1k for one mic preamp in a 1 u rack format, why not be able to get a 3 slot lunch box + a 500 series preamp for around the same. Then you can buy different flavours down the line.
Spent some time comparing the apogee stuff. I like it as it is nice and clear but in sound clips I do hear a difference and i think some of that coloration would shave off the highs nicely on an sm57. There is always the golden age 73 mic pre which for us in Canada is around 380$ which looks affordable but I am not sure how it holds up to just spending a bit more to get more quality. All things to consider with of course the burning question.... will it make that much of a difference? I think it probably would address the issue of hyped digital highs on onboard mic preamps and some of the fizziness due to better components and clarity but in a mix to most casual listeners, is anyone gonna say " bro, LOVE the clarity and top end warmth of those guitars..." or are they going to say "turn it up and pass me a beer while you go by the fridge!" I guess it all depends on what i am willing to spend to satisfy my own ear. Part of the fun i suppose.
There seems to be either a sounds good yay or nay approach as opposed to anyone listening to band mixes and saying they totally should have used abc preamp here instead of xyz.. maybe it is better just to grab one of those golden age mic pre and call it a day or run everything back through it afterwards if something like drums for a bit more warmth. "clarity" is where you can't improve much on. That is where the higher end components will likely separate themselves from the budget ones.
