Art Digital MPA preamp.....good buy?

SilverSurfer2 · #1 11-23-2003, 03:13 PM

I'm in the market for a nice tube mic preamp and this one caught my eye mainly because of the digital capability.
does anyone have this, or maybe heard the quality of it? I found only one review on harmony central and can't seem to find others on the web.....

do you think it would be a good buy for a tube mic preamp? I'd use the digital features to link it with my DAW for super clean recordings
.........i'm tempted to get it, but just want to get some last minute second opinions.

With two tubes, i'm curious as to how well they color the sound of the input.

frankfalbo · #2 11-25-2003, 11:47 AM

I remember the little one coloring the sound in an acceptable way, but not acceptable to me. In other words it sounded good but I wanted transparent. I think you're talking about a different one because this one didn't have a digital out. It might be great, but I've never thought of ART as making anything transparent.

I ended up with the DBX tube channel. It's a preamp and compressor/de-esser with a digital out. I really like it. I find that as long as I'm going to color the sound with tubes, I might as well have the EQ in there to work with also! I like the fact that the EQ is pre-compression, because by changing the EQ, I am also manipulating the way it will compress. Like you can boost a frequency and then cut it after the compressor, and the result is that when that frequency range is "peaked" by the vocal phrasing or the guitar plucking, its harshness is governed, but otherwise the frequency area is very much there. Sorry for getting sidetracked, but I'd go DBX before ART. Joemeek does some great things in the lower price range, too. They color the sound too but claim its the coveted "Joemeek sound" and that you should want it because of that. I think what I didn't like about the ART is that it narrowed the bandwidth, and seemed to boost a little around the upper midrange.

SilverSurfer2 · #3 11-25-2003, 11:38 PM

ya, i guess the one i'm talking about is their latest......its sells for over $500, so i would think with that kind of pricetag, it would deliver some good results.

How much is that DBX tube channel? Never really looked into or heard DBX stuff.

I'll check out reviews on it.

I just don't want a tube preamp that is supposed to be tube and doesn't deliver the goods.

Something that will truly warm up a recording.

I could try the ART digi MPA through ams........if i don't like it, i could return it for a refund!!

frankfalbo · #4 11-26-2003, 12:43 PM

The DBX is around $500 too, and when I got mine it came with a mail-away free AKG C2000B mic that I really enjoy. DBX has two units, one is a dual channel with no EQ, and the other is my single with EQ, so I can't process a stereo mixdown on it, but I never need it for that. It does a good job of bringing the tube qualities to the compression characteristics.

In the last decade, lots of tube products have been coming out, and they are desiged to make you think you are getting a "tube sound." Most musicians think of tubes as being warmer and fatter, so many of these devices are guilty of adding a little low midrange to fool you (oops! I mean "please you") Tubes don't have so much of a "tone" as much as they have a "response" to frequencies and dynamics. That's why a low gain Hi-Fi tube preamp/power amp will be as crystal clean and transparent as anything S.S. across the frequency spectrum. But it could have sweeter "response" and dynamics. That's also where modelling amps and software fall short.

The DBX seems "flat" when the EQ is set flat. In other words, no artificial warmth. But I found it to be one of the best low-cost compressors for tracking, because it does give the tube compressor dynamics wonderfully. I don't know, maybe they're doing something to fool me, too. But the tracks are well conditioned. And because the EQ is pre-compression, I can add "warmth" pre-compression, then have that warm sound hit the tube compressor for dynamics. To me, that's tube warmth. That feels better to my ears than what I've heard from these other companies, tubes or not. My acoustic tracks sound like you're inside the guitar.

SilverSurfer2 · #5 12-03-2003, 12:40 AM

Frank, do you have the 386 or the 586?

frankfalbo · #6 12-03-2003, 01:19 AM

Actually, its the 376, which is sort of the mono version of the 586. I assume the 376 is in current production, its on the website, but I see more of the 386 lately in ads. I don't know how much the 586 is, but if its too much more, then you're in the territory of simpler, yet higher grade single channel tube pre's. If you just need one channel at a time, the 376 is right for the price.