Thanks for all the good suggestions and inputs - appriciated!

 

Ay, carumba, I joined the the party too late. Good luck with your choice phloopy. I would have asked you what microphone(s) you are pairing with it and for which application are you primarily going to use it for.

I think @rhythmatist might have been thinking of the Universal Audio LA610 MKII which is a great color channel strip, but unless your uncle is Daddy Warbucks it's probably budgeted over your limit.

Happy recording!!!

 

Well, I looked at the wrong device. I still like Universal Audio's pre-amps too. http://www.uaudio.com/hardware.html

 

Hey @phloopy .. what did you finally decide upon and why?

 

Not meaning to take over the thread for selfish reasons but, it appears as though things are dying down.

If anybody out there has been using the Warm Audio ToneBeast, I would really like to hear what you think about it. Especially for guitars, 4 & 6 string. Also for main vocals.

Best of luck phloopy. Looks like you've received a lot of good advice. I also use a Golden Age Pre. Mostly for the applications listed above, and I've been very happy with it.

 

I had a talk with a good friend of mine who is actually a studio engineer and know my audiocard and he told I didn´t need any preamp at all because those in my audiocard could do the job, and buying a preamp therefore would be waist of money!

 

so, buy a compressor!

 

if money allowed, I'd buy a summing box instead of a compressor. There are awesome plugin compressors that deliver as-good-as-analog-or-even-better sound. However, it seems that analog summing doesn't have a match in the digital world. Something like this, the real SSL deal. I guess the faders are not motorized, but it's SSL sound summing for reals. At US$3500, it's a big ouch. It was at discount for $2500 in July.

Any other alternatives?

 

Last edited: Aug 22, 2016

meh, like mentioned before, same goes for compressors anything below the 500E is a waste of money

 

Told you man :P. If anything, get a cloudlifter, RME Babyface, Audient ID22, Clarett 2Pre if you want the most bang for your buck. Preamps with more headroom, better converters (but getting too much attached to them is also very bad) and microphones are those things, which plugins won't get right for a long time or ever.

 

@BChrist .. I bought the rack mount ToneBeast a while back and have been digging it because it is a fine pre, not just for the price, but just because it is. You have lots of switches, button switches and the two large stepped (mighty handy for recalling settings for later) knobs to find just what you are looking for in the way of a sonic pallet (a little more later). Plugging an electric guitar (or bass) into the front instrument jack to use as a DI is life made easy simple instead of having to reach around the back of the unit. That said, even if you are going direct into your sound card and not using a microphone you have a nice spectrum of sounds, from clean, to saturated and on to full transformer bliwn iron distortion that sounds really fantastic. I also use it for a second acoustic guitar track, preferring to use my Daking preamp for the main guitar although I certainly could live with it if it was my one and only. It is just the opposite with electric guitars, as these days the zing from the ToneBeast tickles my eardrums.

For vocals the ToneBeast is also wonderful. If there is one gripe that I have about this beast it is that it just doesn't have enough clean power to drive a traditional ribbon microphone or my ElectroVoice RE-20 if I want to use it for vocals or quieter sources. I use a Triton Audio Fethead of to get an additional 20db of clean uncolored gain when I need it. For a kick drum, tom tom or other louder percussion there is no need at all. For condenser mics there is no issue whatsoever. Now, there is lots of choices that you have to dial in the sound you are looking for. I'm not going into detail for lack of time, but believe me, whatever you need you will be able to find it. Keep the gain low and use the output to find your optimal level and you have a great clean sound, and slowly ramping up brings on more and more color for rock vocals looking to cut through a busy mix.

Look at the ton of reviews to get more a sense of the other options for the caps and the transformer options as well as both the op amps that have different vibes and frequency strengths. This is a very cool preamp that sounds great, gives you many color options and is not very expensive compared to the API preamplifier that it semi emulates. If this was the only amp you had it would be enough to make your album (of course you might need a few more Beasts for the drums and the rest of the band for that live feel). You just cannot go wrong with this baby. For ultra clean symphonic recording or you if you wish to record solely with ribbon microphones you might need to look elsewhere, but for everything else you are good to go. I highly recommend the Warm Audio Tonebeast and believe that you simply cannot go wrong if you decide to go with it, be it the only preamp you own or as a choice in a stable of others. I am a very happy customer and because if my great satisfaction have also bought the Warm Audio WA76 compresser. It too is utterly fantastic and another great great tool. YES!!!

 

Last edited by a moderator: Aug 22, 2016

You will forever remember me with fondness if you buy this baby, no ifs ands or buts. Check it out, search around all the praising testimonials and then get this sucker. You will be all smiles all the time, even in your sleep.

http://store.louderthanliftoff.com/products/silver-bullet-drbills-stereo-tone-amp?variant=7459861315

 

It's so bad to live in a place where mail orders are not efficient. These things are a hassle to order internationally. Anyhow, it's out of stock. That says a lot for a small company. Ok. Now I'm embarking on a debt for a UA 4-710d preamp. I'll save up. I hope music starts paying its fancy needs.
Maybe it won't, and even so I'm drooling for that Silver Bullet already.

 

Low End Solutions:
Echo Echo2 (looks like it has 2 inputs switchable to balanced line in that bypass everything)
ESI Juli@ XTE (Doesn't have preamps)
M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R (8 line inputs that bypass everything)
M-Audio M-Track (2 inserts that i assume would bypass everything)
M-Audio M-Track Plus (2 inserts that i assume would bypass everything)
M-Audio M-Track Quad (4 inserts that i assume would bypass everything)
TC Electronic Impact Twin (4 line inputs that bypass everything)(verified via schematics)

Mid Range Solutions:
Apogee Duet (Mixed Reports)(Most likely 2 inputs that bypass pres but have a virtual software pad)
Echo Audiofire 12 (12 line inputs with no gain stages, very nice solution)
M-Audio Profire 2626 (8 line inputs that bypass everything)
M-Audio Project Mix I/O (1 input that bypasses everything)
Presonus DigiMax LT (8 inputs that bypass all pres) (8 channel preamp & AD via adat, not an "interface", but still very useful in some scenarios)
Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 (Each channel has line-level inputs that bypass mic pres but balanced inputs seem to go through some kind of gain stage, but unbalanced inputs seem to bypass everything)
RME Fireface 800 (8 line inputs that bypass everything)
SPL Crimson (4 line inputs that bypass everything)
Tascam US-2000 (6 line inputs that bypass everything, as well as 2 inserts that bypass everything)

High End Solutions:
Metric Halo ULN-2 (2 inserts that are post-amp pre-AD verified via Metric Halo website)
Metric Halo ULN-8 (8 inputs switchable to send/return mode which bypass all pre-amp and DI circuitry)
UAD Apollo (4 line inputs that bypass everything)(verified via schematics)

Blacklist:
Avid Fast Track Duo (Looks like the line inputs do in fact go through pre-amps)

 

^^As I said, this applies to cheaper interfaces, as you yourself are making lots of assumptions in the low end ones. Why? Because it's cheap and manufacturers are getting more and more shady about releasing schematics or even giving honest explanations. Same deal just like with Apple who hates independent repair services. As for the kind of interfaces like RME, SPL, Tascam, upper tier Presonus/Focusrite/etc.. it's obvious they won't be cutting on features like a second circuit for line inputs.

 

I only posted it as a reference since the topic was veering towards external pre amps, I'm certainly not making any assumptions, just putting it out there

Luckily my Crimson is on the bypass list and it wasn't very expensive, so it's nice to know that I can play around with outboard gear without doing the double pre thing.

Incidentally, I do what others have mentioned - record clean and add color via VST, but I would be curious to try other options if they came along.

The Crimson is also great for DI guitar and real synths considering the price/feature compromises, but it's generally quite affordable considering what it does

 

Last edited: Aug 22, 2016

Oh cool, how's Crimson overall btw? Right now I'm considering this one and Audient. From what I read the preamps are a bit darkish, but it's got more I/O options.

 

tc Gold Channel ???
How is this ?
Good or not good?:

http://www.tcelectronic.com/gold-channel/

 

I went through the same Audient v SPL process, and I don't think you can go wrong with either, but I was looking for something to reamp a Kemper via s/pdif and somebody recommended the Crimson for that kind of workflow. It also makes a nice headphone amp for listening to music in general Try to A/B both if you can

 

Last edited: Aug 22, 2016

The people who use Silver Bullet are absolutely awed by it. It is a way to sustain and nourish your tracks by enabling each to have a well defined sonic character unto itself while the others around seem to glue themselves together, the whole being greater than the sum of it's parts scenario and not unlike having a classic and classy console of old if routed, and so utilized, for this goodly purpose. As the analogue counterpart to the digital processing and the plug-ins striving away inside of your computer. Mixing can become a more simplified affair as the tracks already sit better prior to this phase of your process. If you even choose to compress after running a track through, the compressor won't need to work as hard due to the saturation from it's first trip through the transformers, the transients flatteringly dealt with. With both Neve and API signal paths and the ability to blend these two together really must create this huge, huge sweet spot. Depth in your mix runs ever deeper than before, the analogue quirks of the circuit somehow enables the pushing of the soundstage further back into the recession of the speakers, you now live in a bigger box.

I would ask them when the next run begins as itt might not take all that long for them to finish them. If it was within the next month I would hope you to try to be patient. A 4-710d is a nice thing and I guess that you need the preamps, but really, Silver Bullet is the shit. Have fun, I wish that I was in your shoes.