It is so ironic that you bring this piece up because I was just looking at it! In another post here, I am looking at different ways to split a guitar signal, (A/B box seems to be the best way), but on another forum, someone mentioned that they use a similar box to the one you mention by the same manufacturer. When I asked how they used it to split their signal, they replied that I shouldn't bother 'cause the thing was not of very good quality, and they were going to trash theirs for something better.

Here is the quote from the other forum:

DH, I use an SMPro DI8 box (Don't bother, it's not that good and I'm replacing it as soon as money comes in), it has a link facility that allows you to patch the same signal back to another channel, useful, but unfortunately the quality of this box is less than stellar.

Now I am not sure if his comments would apply to the model you are looking at or not, but I would think that you should at least consider his comments when making you decision.

Good luck!

Probably more money than you want to spend, but you can get a Digimax LT on e-bay for about 500 usually.
(There's a new one for 599 right now)

You 002 has lightpipe in doesn't it? You'd have 12 pre's then and you'd still have the 4 line ins open.

Hey Floodstage...I see you're from the Indy area...

Howdy neighbor! :w:

Howdy neighbor!

It's a good day to live in the midwest.
(no blackouts here)

The A/C feels mighty nice today!

ye it does have lightpipe...
but i really dont know exactly what that is..
if i used somethni like the Digimax LT would all the channels be seperate through the lightpipe?
or would it all just be 1 single input.
i think i sould just open PT now and see what i can find
thanks for your help.

how about the old behringer magician
[[url=http://[/URL]="http://cgi.ebay.com…"]Beheringer Item on E Bay[/]="http://cgi.ebay.com…"]Beheringer Item on E Bay[/]
would this work?
to me it only has the "warmth" control..would this double as a volume/gain control?
please gimmie some more opinions.
thanks alot!
-chris

[ August 16, 2003, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: Kurt Foster ]

ok i have 8 adat inputs on my channel interface selector..
does that mean i have the 8 inputs from the lightpipe?
-chris

Chris

I believe this is the 002 that you have:
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In the middle of the back panel there are 2 jacks marked optical (1 for in - 1 for out).
Those are you light pipe input and output.
One lightpipe cable carries 8 channels.
You would connect a lightpipe cable from the digimax to the optical-in on the 002.
Then you would have 8 more preamps (12 total) and still have the 4 extra line ins.

If 5-600 bucks is too much then you could always get the Studio Projects VTB-1

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It has a tube in there and costs about $129!

I haven't tried it myself, so I can't say anything about the sound quality but I'm sure if you do a search on this forum, you will find people that have used it.

(I think Harvey Gerst did a review on it)

I haven't heard anything at all (good or bad) about the Behringer piece you mention.

Hope this helps!

yeah i think i might go for a blue tube or too
ive heard good things about them
and i could use them as tube pres for my digi mic inputs.
but im sure eventually ill go for that digimax.
thanks for your help, i didnt know the lightpipe was so powerfull..
but would you go for the studio projects pre befe a presonus one like the bluetube or tube pre?

Hey guys,
I edited those addys and turned them into hyperlinks so the page would be readable without having to scroll left to right etc..

My 2 cents on the pres. I don't know how serious you are about recording. If you are at all serious, none of the pres mentioned are very good. The PreSonus Digimax would probably be the best of the bunch. It is a twin servo design, like that on SSL pres but there is so much stuff out there that is waaaay better. But it costs.

Sebatron makes a very nice 4 channel tube pre for $1450 / $1250 street. A lifetime investment.[="http://www.recording.org/e-mag/article_90.shtml"]vmp-4000 review[/]="http://www.recordin…"]vmp-4000 review[/]
[[url=http://="http://www.sebatron…"]Sebatrons web site[/]="http://www.sebatron…"]Sebatrons web site[/]

I also am very hot on the JLM TMP8 pre.. this is 8 channels of Focusrite Red type pre clones.. at $1850 it's pricey but that's for 8 channels! That works out to $231.50 per channel. Economy of scale makes this low per channel cost possible.

[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.jlmaudio…"]JLM TMP-8 eight channel mic pre[/]="http://www.jlmaudio…"]JLM TMP-8 eight channel mic pre[/]

The Behringer stuff, fugedaboudit! Pure crap! I tried a VTB 1 and I personally didn't like how it sounded but there is a chance the one I got my hands on was not working correctly (It sounded that bad). I didn’t even bother dialing in the tube. You can hear what I am talking about in the U87 vs SP B1 / C3 comparisons I posted.
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It all comes down to what you are doing and why you are doing it. If you want to make recordings that sound as good as the "big kids" stuff, top quality mics and pres are in order. Save your cash, buy one quality piece at time. You will get there. Good things come to those who wait. However, if you want to make CDr's for Grandma and the family to listen to or just want to document your compositions and never intend to disseminate them to the outside world, these inexpensive mics and pres could be just what you are looking for.. Hope that helps, Kurt

ya...
well i think for me using 6+ mics at a time is more important than 1000+ pres. but thanks alot for your input.. ill agree with you about the studio projects and behringer...but i think ill go for the blue tube.
thanks
-chris