jfavela
Recording Org
Pro Audio Group
Joined: Aug 30, 2003
Posts: 14
Location: albuquerque
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 8:38 pm

Hi all. Got a question. ART mic preamps, are they any good?
I've read that Groove Tubes, "The Brick," rocks.
Specifically, I need a,"worthy" mic preamp that won't break the bank.
I will primarily be using it for female vocals but by the same token want to use it for male vocals, drums, acou guit, guit amp miking, bass. For a pop-rock and some hip hop format. ie: Gavin DeGraw, Maroon 5, Cold Play.
Im considering the following:

ART Pro Channel
ART MPA
Rane MS-1b
Groove Tubes "The Brick"

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.
JoshUA

Kurt Foster
Recording Org
Pro Audio Group
Joined: Jul 2, 2002
Posts: 6706
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 10:21 pm

heard em all ... The Brick's the best.

The ART Pro channel runs second .. but is still not "all that and a bag of chips" ... The Rane is fine for what it is but cannot compare to the big boys.

"The Brick" sits in the same rack as any quality mic preamp such as my 9098's, great River, Sebatron s and Millennia ORIGIN. While it may not have all the features of the others and it is in a stand alone case, it delivers sound equally as dimensional and full with all the headroom and bass handling abilities of much more expensive counterparts.

jfavela
Recording Org
Pro Audio Group

Joined: Aug 30, 2003
Posts: 14
Location: albuquerque
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 3:58 am

Hardware: PowerMac G4 (OSX), MOTU 828 mkII
Software: DP 4.5

Mr. Foster. I've read in threads past that you would prefer plugins over cheap hardware in a great majority of situations. I am on a budget, but don't like the idea of buying crap either.

So here's what I'm thinkin. The Brick as my front end, into my MOTU 828mkII to track. Then I post process w/my DP 4.5 and UAD-1 plugins.

You would lean towards the plugins for EQ/Compression, right?
Or would you rather buy a lower end piece of hardware like
an ART or dbx on the front end?