Are expensive preamps worth the money?

[JP hardboiled]

I was looking at some Avalons and Focusrites but the price is out of this world. For anyone who has a quality preamp, is the sound difference your hear using your preamp worth 1 or 2 thousand dollars? How do they compare to lower end pre amps?

 

[Relic]

Tell you the truth, whatever your using now sounds really good.
I need to get whatever the hell is making your mp3's sound like they are comming directly from your moniters.
Beyond that I really wouldnt know...

 

[Ash Holmz]

i think so ... thing is there are some cheaper preamps that sound just as good.. avalons are overated.. anything neve is like gold .... check gearslutz.com for some recommendations on cheap preamps ... i myslef have a yahama 188x as a preamp .. shit sounds money.. its an interface too but i only use it as a preamp .. the preamps are designed by the team who designed the one from the 20k yamaha dm200 console and im told they sound better than those ones... but to answer your question .. Yup .. my current preamps sound waaayyy better than the ones on my old motu 828mkII and currently i patch the preamps from the yamaha into the digi 002 line ins and bypass the digi 002 preamps becasue the yamahas sound so much better .. the yamahas are defined and clear, crisp and upfront whereas the motu and digidesign preamps sound brittle and lack the punch i need for lead vocals .. but to each his own

 

[JP hardboiled]

Ash Holmz - yeah I got a MOTU 828 as well and not even Pavoroti could sound good coming through that thing! Thanks for the site, I'll check out their reviews.

Relic - Thanks for the props on my sound quality. I use a dbx 376, its a very solid unit, but I bought mine used and I think the tube is going out. So I figure its time to upgrade to the big guns!

 

[mp3]

Ash Holmz - yeah I got a MOTU 828 as well and not even Pavoroti could sound good coming through that thing! Thanks for the site, I'll check out their reviews.

Relic - Thanks for the props on my sound quality. I use a dbx 376, its a very solid unit, but I bought mine used and I think the tube is going out. So I figure its time to upgrade to the big guns!

For the 828, check this out: http://blacklionaudio.com/motu_firewire_mod.html
He upgrades the components inside that joint to make it sound crispy. Matt is cool, I've dealt with him before.

For the tube in the 376, go here: http://www.tubedepot.com/eh-12ax7.html
I'm 99.9% sure the 376 uses a 12AX7. I got some similar ones inside my bellari rp220, and it sounds supercrispy now. Matter of fact, if you know how to solder, get a RP220, and buy the modification plans at black lion. The mods will make that joint vicious. Pretty much on par with expensive tube preamps like Avalon and A Designs.

 

[Lazy Eyes]

Got a question maybe i'm dumb and all but Preamps are only usefull when recording vocals right??

Or am i wrong bout this??

Or is there a way i could use some sort of preamp/ device to get my beats to sound cleaner or crispier?

Thanx..

 

[classic]

depends i mean i spent a decent amount of money on my mixer(soundcraft) which comes with some dope pre-amps, u can definaly hear the difference...

 

[Ash Holmz]

Got a question maybe i'm dumb and all but Preamps are only usefull when recording vocals right??

Or am i wrong bout this??

Or is there a way i could use some sort of preamp/ device to get my beats to sound cleaner or crispier?

Thanx..

well depends .. u could by lots of things to make ur beats sound better ... it really depends on how u make beats (hardware/software) and how much of the mixing/mastering u do by yourself etc.. more info is needed.. do u have a particluar thing u r looking to do with your sound?

 

[mp3]

Preamps are used to pre-amplify a signal. In other words, it takes a low level signal and brings it up to a level where mixers/soundcards and other line level devices (like a compressor) can work with it. A microphone puts out a low level signal, so does a guitar, as well as other mechanical and electrical/electronic instruments. So you do need a preamp for those.

But there is nothing to stop you from running your sampler or sound module through a preamp. If you have a good unit you can get a better sound that way. You can definitely beef up a track. Cleaner and crisper don't come to mind though. Maybe you should look at exciters and eq?

 

[Lazy Eyes]

I'd like to get my shit to stand out more i know u can do a lot of this by compressing.. i'm currently using only software because i just sold my MPC... but i am planning to get one back real soon...

ok but what's a exciter? like a optimizer? DFX Optimizer or some shit?

Thanx yo

 

[mp3]

exciters usually make your sounds crisper and brighter. You ever wonder why everything got real bright and annoying in the 80's? That's because exciters were invented. If you overuse them, they make your shit sound harsh

BBE and Aphex make the most popular hardware exciters. For a good software exciter, try this: http://www.crysonic.com/products.html or this: http://pspaudioware.com/plugins/mix.html#mixtreble

Basically exciters work in one of two ways. Creating additional high order harmonics (the Aphex style) or aligning phases of signals (the BBE way). You can think of harmonics like overtones: they are related to the fundamental frequency (the note pitch) but they are higher and more treble. Basically an exciter would create artificial overtones and add it back to the original signal to make it sound brighter. Phase: it all relates to the amount of time it takes a sound to reach your ears. So if you align the times so that the high frequencies reach your ear faster than the bass and midrange, you'll get a brighter sound (at least that's how I think it works). I prefer phase alignment exciters like spectralive, as opposed to the PSP joint, but that's just me.