Inexpensive preamps

[kingmarki]

Greetings, I have been experimenting with inexpensive preamps for recording acoustic instruments, mostly guitar and ukulele, and vocals. I started with the cheapest of the cheap, the Behringer pre200. It was poor at best, until I began using two and recording in stereo. One mic placed over the bridge and one over the 12th fret. The recordings improved dramatically. Oh, I was using cheapie Karma Audio condenser microphones, about $75 for a matched set of 7 mics. Prior to this, I had been recording in a studio using a AKG 414 to record acoustics and honestly, the stereo recording I am producing with the cheapie equipment isn't far behind the quality of the 414. Recently I purchased a presonus pretube, it came with an MXL 990 which I am not inclined to use but may try out eventually. I used the presonus with the Karma mics and the sound was night and day from the Behringer amps.

Honestly the biggest difference in sound is mic placement. A true stereo recording is so much fuller than any other recording I have heard to date.

Just my experience. Hope it is useful to someone. If you have any questions about mic placement, or anything else, feel free to email me.

Thanks,

Mark R

[jimmyb]

Check out my review on the b-band drum mics.I have done a lot of recording,both analog and digital,and in many different studios.I've also used a lot of different mics and mic placements and drum combinations.From what I've heard with these b-band mics so
far, just on my bass drum,I'm sure they would be great in the studio.The sound from the b-band I would say compares to the earthworks mics in that they sound just like the acoustic drum with no eq.Another benefit of these b-band mics is that there is no cross talk between the drums,which is always a problem in the studio.Also,like I said in my review,relatively cheap at $107 each.Check them out!!