Search for Good Mic Preamps

[phoenixsong]

Hi all,

Created this thread to find mic preamps that will be good enough (and hopefully not too pricey) to match the Cosmos ADC's level of performance. How are the preamps below? I'm new to this but they appealed to me after a day of searching and shortlisting. Curious about any other suggestions too!

Cheap but questionable:

MicroMIX – Microphone Preamp w/ Phantom Power – ART Pro Audio

artproaudio.com

VLA-500 – ART 500 Series Compressor – ART Pro Audio

www.artproaudio.com

Costlier options:

ISA TWO | Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd.

Explore ISA TWO, part of our great range of products available from Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd..

pro.focusrite.com

QuadMic II - RME Audio Interfaces | Format Converters | Preamps | Network Audio & MADI Solutions

RME Audio Professional Live, Studio, Recording and Broadcast Solutions. Unrivalled Quality, Performance & Stability MADI Interfaces, Converters & Preamps.

rme-audio.com

5017 Mobile Mic Pre / DI / Compressor — Rupert Neve Designs

Classic tone and control on the go. Comprised of a rugged, portable chassis with world-class preamp, compressor and DI circuits as well as two channel operation, variphase, Silk and DI/mic blending capabilities, the Portico 5017 is an innovative and powerful tool for recording or live performance.

rupertneve.com

m201mk2 2ch mic preamplifier - Grace Design

Our latest generation 2 Channel Mic Preamplifier. Get the most out of every mic in your collection, from tube large diaphram to ribbons, to dynamics.

gracedesign.com

V 402 - Dual channel microphone preamp

The V 402 is a state-of-the art dual channel microphone preamplifier with an integrated studio grade headphone amplifier. Its transformerless circuitry is designed for maximum transparency and sonic purity.

en-de.neumann.com

https://www.earthworksaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Earthworks_rec_0113_zdt.pdf

https://www.mil-media.com/HV-32P.html

https://www.mil-media.com/HV-3C.html

Lavry Engineering | Products

www.lavryengineering.com

Lavry Engineering | Products

www.lavryengineering.com

https://www.massenburg.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/190528_8300_Specs.pdf

Pacifica Mic Preamp / D.I. Box

www.adesignsaudio.com

Camden EC2 - Two Channel Preamp and Dual Headphone Mixer

The ultimate studio front-end, Camden EC2 combines award-winning mic/line/hi-z preamps with Cranborne Audio’s acclaimed Mojo analogue saturation circuits and two reference-quality headphone amplifiers with discrete line mixers.

www.cranborne-audio.com

 

[Rja4000]

Hi
It mostly depends what you intend to do.
What's your use case ?
How flexible, polyvalent and road-ready does it have to be ?
Do you need mobile or studio solution ?
Do you plan to rather use ribbon or large diaphragm condenser microphones ?
What's your budget ?

Answer may be anything from a Mackie 802 VLZ4 to a Millennia-audio HV-316/16

 

[phoenixsong]

Hi
It mostly depends what you intend to do.
What's your use case ?
How flexible, polyvalent and road-ready does it have to be ?
Do you need mobile or studio solution ?
Do you plan to rather use ribbon or large diaphragm condenser microphones ?
What's your budget ?

Answer may be anything from a Mackie 802 VLZ4 to a Millennia-audio HV-316/16

Planning to use it with large diaphragm condenser and dynamic mics. It's more of a home-based studio solution, so doesn't have to be road-ready or rack-incorporable pretty much. Don't need any particular functions either, focus is purely on transparency but gain adjustment and phantom power are nice bonuses

 

[Helicopter]

Transparency or SOTA specs?

Anything from RME, even Focusrite and Motu should be audibly transparent.

I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, which is great, but I am thinking about getting RME UCXII for its digital inputs and nice aesthetic.

 

[phoenixsong]

Transparency or SOTA specs?

Anything from RME, even Focusrite and Motu should be audibly transparent.

I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, which is great, but I am thinking about getting RME UCXII for its digital inputs and nice aesthetic.

Good point. Probably beyond transparency since I like to have a slight buffer for anything that might degrade the signal downstream *(using a Motu M2 now, would like to hear what the absolute sounds like in comparison)

 

[192kbps]

Earthworks 521 ZDT
(No measurement).

 

[Trell]

Earthworks 521 ZDT
(No measurement).

Are Earthworks Audio still offering those? When visiting their home page only mics are shown.

 

[phoenixsong]

Earthworks 521 ZDT
(No measurement).

Is it similar to the 1022 ZDT that I listed?

 

[Rja4000]

You'll have a serious handicap if you want to use an analog preamp with the E1DA cosmos ADC: the basic range is limited to 10V (22dBu)

As an example, the very best analog preamps (like the Millennia HV-3C that I own or the Grace design you listed above) are able to push 27dBu or more with distortion remaing very low (<-96dB)

So, using a 10V input, you'd de facto limit seriously the dynamic range by 5dB or more.

I'm sure you'd get better results from an integrated interface (RME, Motu, Focusrite and the likes)

If you want to get started quickly and for cheap, you may have a look at the Mackie 802VLZ4.
Preamps are correct, but you'd want to get the output from the Insert jack (with a 1/4" TS) to the ADC, to bypass the noisy EQ and mixer.