I have been recording direct to my board which has worked fine for me for most applications. However, I feel like getting a decent mic pre-amp might be a quality addition to my arsenal, since I have some decent mics. I have some behringer mic preamps and, they sound like shit, so I rarely use them except for the phantom power they provide in certain situations. I am sure that there is something out there that is affordable that is quality.

I came across a good deal on a HHB Radius 10 ($299) that has four mic preamps and seems real simple. I have read some good reviews of their stuff, but a Google search was not to helpfull in getting a sole review of the Radius 10. For the price, is it worthwhile?

Any other suggestions on good but relatively inexpensive pre-amps?

thanks,
-wietlispach

This is a really good mic pre for the price. 4 channels for 299 is a deal. I own 3 different HHB Radius Series units, the regular 2 channel comp, the "Fatman" and the preamp. The comps are pretty mediocre, I like the "Fatman" better than the regular comp, but it's still just mediocre. The preamp however is really nice in my opinion. Not necessarilly a clean sounding pre, but it can add some meat to guitar amps and sounds really good with room mics too. I don't think there is a better price-per-channel deal out there (except for the Syteks, but at the price you've been given, you could get 12 channels of the HHBs for the price of 4 channels of Syteks!).
mike

They are hybrid circuits. Half solid state. They claim it is to make the circuit less noisy. I would be suspicious that they are tube for the sake of tube gimmickry. I doubt there are any transformers in there, but I am not a technical person.

Still, I’ve used them and think they sound great. They have a rounded tone that sounds tube like, but they also have a clear, clean and transparent Sytek quality about them. They hold up to transients very well.

They actually sound half tube / half solid state. It is a good sound. I used to track at a studio that had two Radius 10s. I used them for the whole drum kit and was quite pleased with the sound.

Buy them, but don’t look under the hood. It might bum you out.