Sidney,
I think you will really like the TMP.. I did.
here is Joe Malones E Mail addy ...
JLM Audio

that ISA428 looks to be a tough one to pass up at the moment. 4 channels of great flexibility in the pre's not to mention the optional 8 channel converter. $1600.00 gets you a nice piece (at $400.00 a channel) and then its like buying an 8 channel converter for only $500.00

when folks talk about growing with gear purchases the ISA428 seems to be the way to go...I like the idea of then getting another 4 channels (or 2 two channels, or 4 single channels) and putting togather a variety of flavors especially when assembling mic pre's for tracking drums....

even if down the road you get a stellar 2 channel A/D D/A converter (mytek Apogee, Cranesong etc.)for overdubs or even drum overheads (running through your favorite 2 channel pre), you'll still have 4 to eight channels of A/D for the remainder of your kit along with your other mic pre's you've collected.

good luck!

The JLM TMP8 is 8 great sounding channels of transformer balanced mic pres and soft clip limiters that become thicker and more "Neve like" in sound, the harder they are driven.

Who knows what kind of converters will be available in five or ten years ?? I personally don't care to "marry" my mic pres and converters. This way I can always keep my pres and they will never be viewed as obsolete because they are in an all in one package with obsolete or sub standard converters.

I believe I have a request in with Focusrite for the ISA 428, so as soon as it arrives, I may be able to post some audio clip comparisons of the ISA, GR MP2NV and the JLM as well as my Sebatron and 9098's..

Who knows what kind of converters will be available in five or ten years ?? I personally don't care to "marry" my mic pres and converters. This way I can always keep my pres and they will never be viewed as obsolete because they are in an all in one package with obsolete or sub standard converters.

That is the whole beauty about the ISA428! It is just a "card"! When your needs change, or technology changes, just pull it out, or just don't use it! The price is great, and it give you 8-channels of 192K-capable conversion! At the price, it is just disposable, but provides a great service right now!

In your opinion, would it be better to spend more money and get a stand-alone 8 channel A/D that will most likely be obsolete in a few years? It seems to me that buying a slide-in card is a better solution, and is ultimately cheaper (probably harder to resell however...).

To me, this is one of the great features of the ISA428! A great A/D card that can be removed, and who know, someday Focusrite might even update the card? But if not, it is not a big deal to either not use it, or just pull it out, and the mic pres remain just as they are!

I am really leaning toward the 428 myself...I keep wavering between the 428, the Sebatron and a pair of API's (I have always wanted a pair of API's!). It is nice to get 4 channels for around US$2K, whereas I can only get 2 channels of API (including the lunchbox) for that price.

Decisions.... :confused:

DH,
For under $2K you can have 8 channels of class A, transformer based, mic pres from JLM with the TMP8 ... these sound very much like the APIs when they aren't pushed hard.. as you increase the gain the soft limiters kick in preventing overs allowing you to drive the pres harder which causes them to take on a more "Nevelike" quality.. for you, this is what I recomend.

Yes the 428 has a card set up, and yes, you can just remove it later but no one can say if there will be upgrades in the future. And you have paid for a bunch of stuff you won't be using any longer. Conveter technology seems to have become more stable recently but at some point, PCM as a whole, will be in the bin.. For this reason, I prefer to keep my pres and converters discreet. While great converters really can make a big difference, they are worthless if they are being fed a signal from a sub standard mic or pre.. I feel it is way more effective to concentrate on mics and pres which don't loose their usefulness, keep the converters "stand alone" and inexpensive but use a good clock. Good clocking can make even the most inexpensive converters sound a whole lot better. This is the route I have chosen, to use 16 channels of cheap converters clocked by my Frontier Dakota card.. very stable, low jitter, lots of ins and outs and less than $1200, USD.

The ISA series is one of the best sounding and most versatile mic pre's ever made (IMO). The 430 is probably the pinnacle of Rupert Neve's design influence.

The converters in the 428 are optional. While I tend to agree with Kurt that I would prefer to keep these 2 technologies separate, in this case the 428 can be used with the internal or external converters.

Focusrite has a truly great sound. It is very different from the Sebatron (which haas its own great soundn) and I cannot compare it to the JLM since there is no possible way to get to hear one here in New England.

I wouldn't think twice about the ISA with or without the converters. One ncie combo might be the ISA pres witha metric halo mobile i/o.

Good Luck.

Steve

Steve,
I am trying to get Dan at Watts Audio hooked up with JLM to try to get some JLM TMP8's on the East Coast for folks to hear. I have posted some audio samples on the Reviews page for everyone to hear... K.

I've got the 428 and it's great. Also have the digital card for it but am moving to a Radar24 so I don't use it all that much anymore. Still, the analog section of the 428 is great IMO. Very versatile and nice sounding pre with or without the optional digital I/O card.

Re: paying for stuff you won't use in the future, the same can be said for any DAW or AIO box out there today. Today's top shelf digital is tomorrow's doorstop. Even the mighty Radar24's will eventually be viewed as "quaint anachronisms." Tis the nature of the digital beast I'm afraid.