TheMilford wrote:

bigramp wrote:thanks everyone

i'm checking every pre-amps...

anybody here has experience with the DAV Electronics BG-1 ?
http://www.davelectronics.com/bg1.htm

or BG-1U, this one is more expensive but has a D.I
http://www.davelectronics.com/bg1u.htm

price?

Here. Don't know if there are any US dealers. One pound is almost exactly 2 US dollars today (1.995).

I think that you can't go wrong with the syteks. I've never used them, but it seems like they sell now for ~700 used. With shipping it'll almost be 800$.

Wes Dooley is making the "TRP" which is a two channels pre which is specially designed for ribbob mics. He says it's a fast pre with 83dB gain. I don't think he's bullshitting, he's a nice guy and was very helpful when I contacted him regarding some ribbon questions.
The price is 965$, with the rack ears it's 990$. I guess that's out of your budget.

Never built or used any of the Seventh Circle stuff so I don't know how they compare to a real neve channel. However, I have a suspicion it won't be exactly the same.

I racked a Hardy MPC 3000 module. I compared it to the M1/M2 schematic and it seems like it's pretty much the same design, except for the voltages the 990 is running on(+/-24V in the M1/M2, +/-18V in the MPC 3000).
The overall price for racking one MPC3000 module was ~650 US$ and it sounds good with everything.

It's a nice experiment and a good way to learn about this kind of stuff, but with the syteks being sold for 680(=the cheapest I found by looking for completed listings on ebay), there's no competition. The Sytek is 4 channels, the module I racked is just one. But, the MPX 4 doesn't have any pads and I've read somewhere that it's a bit lacking in low end(not sure about this one though).

eliya wrote:But, the MPX 4 doesn't have any pads and I've read somewhere that it's a bit lacking in low end(not sure about this one though).

The MPX 4's lack of pads is indeed a real drag, but I havent found them to be lacking in low end at all.

hey

3D Audio makes a preamp comparison CD
you can order it online and download it directly
http://www.3daudioinc.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/21/products_id/29?osCsid=0d616508c70c5f60af8a18a5d69f7eea

"Preamps included are:

Amek 9098 Dual Mic Amp, Aphex 1100-Tube, API 512, ART Tube Channel, Audio Upgrades High-Speed Mic Preamp, Avalon VT-737, Buzz MA-2, Cranesong Flamingo, Daking 52270, dbx 386, dbx 786, D.W. Fearn VT-2, Earthworks LAB 102, Focusrite Red 1, Focusrite ISA 110, Focusrite 430, GML 8300, Grace Design 201, Great River MP-2MH, Hardy M-1, Langevin, Mackie 1604 VLZ Pro, Manley Dual Mono, Martech MSS-10, Millennia HV-3B, Millennia M-2B-tube, Neve 1081, Oram MWS, Presonus MP20, Sytek, Telefunken V-76, Vac Rac, Vintech 1272. This CD also available at a discount in the 3D Bestseller's Package."

for twelve bucks, i got the guitar samples, and can now spend hours trying to figure out what's going on in the preamp world...

i'll never be able to afford any of these but at least i can learn from it

there's a sytek in the lot and it's quite bright ! guess that's what a coles need... should work well too for a snare mic (my beyer m201). not really for an oktava mk-012 though

a pair of Dynaudio BM6A is coming to my studio next week. my current monitors aren't that good so it will help !

endofanera wrote:

eliya wrote:But, the MPX 4 doesn't have any pads and I've read somewhere that it's a bit lacking in low end(not sure about this one though).

The MPX 4's lack of pads is indeed a real drag, but I havent found them to be lacking in low end at all.

I haven't had much problem with the lack of pads. The thought "If only it had a pad" hasn't crossed my mind... I wouldn't say it's lacking in low end, I'd say I'd use this preamp when looking for definition, not necessarily when looking for "heaviness".

cenafria wrote:I haven't had much problem with the lack of pads. The thought "If only it had a pad" hasn't crossed my mind... I wouldn't say it's lacking in low end, I'd say I'd use this preamp when looking for definition, not necessarily when looking for "heaviness".

I agree with you 100%. I would appreciate pads because Im like that, but Ive never encountered a situation where I couldnt use my Sytek because it didnt have pads.

They would be nice though. Yeah.

I use my Syteks frequently for snare drums and this is the only application where I found them to be a little too hot at times.
The pre-amps themselves are pretty forgiving. When the red peak LED light goes on, you still have a couple of dB of headroom left before they'd clip. But their output is pretty high and it might overload your recorder. Especially with high output capacitor mics when recording digitally,
but there should be ways to avoid the one or the other.
Most microphones do have pads though.
The Syteks work really well with ribbon mics and you will never run into a pad problem with a 4038 but there are so many pre-amps to choose from.
Pre-amps with different input impedances can be really useful for ribbon mics.

It's hard to go wrong with a 4038. That said, I will second, and third the Sytek; I've had nothing but great results from that combination. I've also used and particularly liked the Hardy M-1, Great River NV series - the selectable input impedance is a nice feature - and for a vacuum tube pre nothing I've used beats the TAB V78.

Based on reputation and experience with their other products I'd also check out the AEA / Wes Dooley TRP.