The whole preamp thing is driving me insane. 8 channels - hopefully under 1000$

[niglopte]

OK. I know some of you will notice that I've been asking alot of questions around here regarding Mic's and pre's and what I should or shouldn't buy. And I'm sorry about that. This is driving me crazy. I am hoping this is my final post before I finally just pull the trigger and buy some pre's, so I'll go a little more into detail here.

At this moment, The only pre's I have are the 4 pre's in my Digi002. I'm recording an album really soon with my metal band, and I'm gonna need more in's. I need 7 for drums. (3 toms, snare, kick, overheads). Everything except for overheads will be triggered and replaced, so I guess the quality of the pre's don't matter that much, but i would still want to get something nice that will be useful in the long run.

I've been debating getting a RNP, which i will get eventually for sure, but if i spend 600 bucks on that, that's a big hole in my budget that only brings me to 6 pres, making me one pre short.

What I am thinking of doing right now is getting a decent 8 channel pre, with a nice A/D converter that would be particalurly good on drums - as this is what I would be using it on in the long run - and buy a few 1-2 channel pre's for specific things as I go along. (right now everything would be recorded into the 8-channel).

I'm gonna use my K-10's as overheads
probably DI the bass and Mic the Cab with a d112 (why not)
mic the guitar cab's with some 57's
record vocals with a sm7b (which is also on my list of things to buy)

As you can see - i think i'm gonna be good for Mic's for what I want to achieve.

With this information, what 8 channel mic-pre would you get if you were in my situation? I'd like to keep it under or around 1000$

so far i heard about:

focusrite octopre
mackie onyx 800R
Presonus Digimax FS
M-Audio profire 2626
Yamaha Mla8
Steinberg MR816

I'm open to any other suggestions.

Thanks so much guys,
Nic

[bozmillar]

If you already have 4 pres on the 002, then you really only need 3 more to get the job done.

[niglopte]

Originally Posted by bozmillar

If you already have 4 pres on the 002, then you really only need 3 more to get the job done.

I know that, but i don't think i really want to keep using the pre's on the Digi 002. UnI could always get a really nice 4 channel pre - but then what will happen when i record someone who wants to mic their whole drum set and not replace? I wont want to mic them with 4 crappy pre's and 4 nice pre's...

[bozmillar]

oh, I'm retarded. reading your post again, I see you realize that already.

[niglopte]

Originally Posted by bozmillar

oh, I'm retarded. reading your post again, I see you realize that already.

haha you'll be aight... so any suggestions?

[bozmillar]

Originally Posted by niglopte

but then what will happen when i record someone who wants to mic their whole drum set and not replace? I wont want to mic them with 4 crappy pre's and 4 nice pre's...

I guess it's valid to ask what has made you decide the 002 pres are crappy. Personal experience or just what other people have told you?

Assuming the pres on the 002 are crappy, as long as you have a few good preamp channels, you can use those on overheads, kick and snare and use the crappy pres on the toms. Other than adding a little boom, the close mic toms don't really do that much and fidelity is almost a non-issue.

[bozmillar]

I guess a better way of putting it is this:

When was the last time you put your ear an inch away from a drum and hit it to see what it sounded like from that distance? Since it's such an unnatural way to listen to a drum, there is no real world perspective on what a close mic'd drum should sound like.

Since it's by nature an unnatural sound going into the microphone, any standard audio fidelity rules suddenly don't really matter because you'd just be trying to accurately capture an inaccurate sound. That's why people generally use dynamic mics instead of condenser mics on close mic'd drums, because fidelity (in it's normal usage) doesn't really matter all that much.

If you can get 4 great preamps for the same price you can get 8 ok preamps, I think you'd be better off going for the 4 great ones and combining them with the 4 002 preamps. That way, you can get the best sound possible when you only need 2 or 4 channels.

[niglopte]

Originally Posted by bozmillar

I guess it's valid to ask what has made you decide the 002 pres are crappy. Personal experience or just what other people have told you?

Assuming the pres on the 002 are crappy, as long as you have a few good preamp channels, you can use those on overheads, kick and snare and use the crappy pres on the toms. Other than adding a little boom, the close mic toms don't really do that much and fidelity is almost a non-issue.

honestly I don't know if they are THAT crappy. I've had a hard time finding info on them and since I need new pre's, I just figured I'd get 8 instead of four, but you are now making me consider getting 4...

which would pretty much bring me to the same question - what 4 pre's should I get?

haha i can't wait for this ordeal to be over

[niglopte]

Originally Posted by bozmillar

If you can get 4 great preamps for the same price you can get 8 ok preamps, I think you'd be better off going for the 4 great ones and combining them with the 4 002 preamps. That way, you can get the best sound possible when you only need 2 or 4 channels.

This is smart and I am seriously considering it now.

[bozmillar]

so, just to be clear so that you can wait for other opinions as well, my opinion is that frankly, it just doesn't matter.

I think choosing a preamp is like choosing a guitar amp. What it does to you sound is purely up to you on whether it sounds good or not. Everyone will have a different opinion on what preamp sounds best, either based on personal experience or myth.

Unless you have a specific sound in mind, people's opinions are just that: opinions. If you really want to spend a grand on preamps, then your best bet is to go try some out. I don't know what the return policy is on gear like that, but unless you try it out for yourself, it's really just a shot in the dark.

If you are going to leave it up to randomness then you might as well go behringer. At least it would be a cheap shot in the dark instead of an expensive one.