Affordable quality mic pre-amps

[realtwang]

i totally hear you there. thanks for the research info, you had one up there i hadn't considered. good deal 😎

You can get the Apogee Duet for $595. The preamps are great in that unit.

 

[Gudagada]

If you are looking interface with good pre’s i can recommend RME. Also their drivers are propably best or at least on top 3. I currently have RME hdspe madi on my old mac pro (2008)and RME M32 to covert my analog stuff to madi. I have RTL at around 3ms and can use easily waves plugins for tracking. I usually raise buffer to higher thou when mixing, but thats just basic procedure.
I have audient console at my studio and love those preamps.not sure do they sell them separately. I also have focusrites ISA and RNP. They both are nice units and not so expensive ones. I used to have TC’s studio konnekt 48 and pres were suprsingly good for the price. You can find one of those used for like 200 so very affordable.
I also have RMEs babyface for live shows to feed my Smaart software. Its good card and now there is pro version of it, so you can find used one cheaply. There is also ADAT io so you can add 8 more channels later if you need.

 

[Kevbasscat]

I am a huge fan of avalon. There preamps are simply amazing. To give you an idea I was just mixing a show at club in town and the bass player brought along an avalon preamp. I took that signal and we also mic'd the cab. I gotta say the avalon was unreal. We barley had the bass mic in the mix.

I’ve used an Avalon for over 17 years now in live perfomances. That and a ‘71 SVT with a BagEnd 4x10, 1600 watt encloser. Avalon just butters me up, clean and warm with tons of headroom. Many big name bassists, like Reggie McBride, have been solid Avalon guys. Reggie has worked for Keb Mo’ Stevie Wonder, he’s been on over 60 albums. On one tour with Keb, there were no amps on stage, only U5’s and vT-737sp’s. Cleanest stage I’ve ever seen or heard. Reggie turned me on to them in ‘01. They’re made local in So Cal.

I started with a U5, then a couple years ago bought the M5. Makes me a better player, honestly. Gives me confidence to take chances I might not with other pre’s, it just has my back. Serious quality and as tough as the road gets.

 

[Solarflares]

For a single mic pre, I love the sound of these. D.I. Bass too, and Palmer load-box guitar. Proper gear.
The unique compression allows transients through and compresses the average mean signal.
The VC6Q is around for $300, and is a nice unit too.