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i'm going to buy a preamp. a cheap one i might add.

so i'm going to choose between these:

studio projects vtb-1 (118€)
art tube mp studio (59€)
art tube mp studio v3 (88€)
samson c-valve (109€)
PreSonus tubepre (111€)
nobles premaster (instrument preamp) (68,50€)
sm pro audio tb101 (111€)
sm pro audio tb202 (155€)
and, yes, Behringer mic200 (59€)
(sorry for using the "b"ad word)

i know they're not the real thing, but i can't and won't spend more on it.
has anybody ever used one of these preamps? does anybody know which one has the lowest noise floor, because i will use it mainly for my guitar, which right now i plug directly into my sound card and play it through a vst amp. since i have to raise the gain on my input quite a lot, i have lot's of amplified noise when i play guitar. i will also use it for bass and occasional mic recording with my Sennheiser e845 (dynamic).

the only one i used before is the sm pro audio tb202, which has two channels and a built in compressor, and i liked it. but it's the absolute highest price i'm willing to pay. the tb101 should be the same, but with only one channel. but if any of the cheaper ones will do the job, i'd be happy. (this sounds like i'm poor as s**t!)

again, i don't want to know that they suck, cause i know they most likely do (except for the sm pro audio, which i liked, but what do i know?). i just want to know which one sucks the least.

believe me, it can only get better than now.

thanks!

(i'm gonna regret this :? )

Comments

AudioGaff Thu, 05/04/2006 - 19:46

Since you have already limited your choices to the cheap crap, just pick one that has the features that you really need and want. It isn't really going to matter which one as they are all more a like than they are different as far as being a basic mic pre. Don't be fooled by bogus specs. Just because one may claim to have better specs than another doesn't make it fact, and doesn't mean that you will experience the same results even if you can believe or trust the specs.

AudioGaff Fri, 05/05/2006 - 08:42

I would suggest something used as you get more for your money. Mabe something like a used Joe Meek. The VC1, VC1Q, VC1Qcs all have decent basic mic pre, good compressor and some have a useable eq as well. I have VC1Qcs that I got in trade for some services. I really only wanted the compressor, but the sucker really surprised me in how usefull it is as an overall channel strip. I hardly ever use the mic pre and it doesn't replace my high end expensive gear, but it is quite useable and I'm glad that I have it as yet another sonic option.