Investing in new hardware

[bigdmakintrax]

Bastard my recommendation is most definitely get a tube or seperate pre...unless you can get the specs on how the pre's stack up on the mackie it may not have the type of boost or warmth you might get from say a tube, then if you want to use it for vocals or instruments it is a little more versatile in your studio...I use a presonus tube pre and it works great on things like guitars and some synth and bass sounds.....

 

[The Bastard]

Bastard my recommendation is most definitely get a tube or seperate pre...unless you can get the specs on how the pre's stack up on the mackie it may not have the type of boost or warmth you might get from say a tube, then if you want to use it for vocals or instruments it is a little more versatile in your studio...I use a presonus tube pre and it works great on things like guitars and some synth and bass sounds.....

heres the specs on the mackie
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Mackie-1202VLZ-PRO-Micro-Mixer?sku=634219
it says the pre amps are pro grade, but everything says pro grade on it now days

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Here is an article on the pre amps used in that mixer
http://www.mackie.com/products/mackietechnology/XDR.html

I would probably say if you are buying the mixer and just need good quality pre's this is probably a good board.

if your dillema is this $$$$$ then you can always wait and get a tube...

 

[The Bastard]

Here is an article on the pre amps used in that mixer
http://www.mackie.com/products/mackietechnology/XDR.html

I would probably say if you are buying the mixer and just need good quality pre's this is probably a good board.

if your dillema is this $$$$$ then you can always wait and get a tube...

good looks

 

[Ash Holmz]

yeah man seperate the pres from the mixer .. in fact a mixer aint really nessecary these day at all, depending on the situation of course... most mixer pres are not the greatest... the makcie are ok and berringer is pretty noisy and cheap sounding... until u start spending real money you would be better off with a nice soundcard and a seperate pre... i disagree with the "tube" thing .. although there are many dope tube preamps the cheaper ones are pretty noisy and ugly sounding ... and some of the warmest, fattest sounding and most widely used preamps (neve, great river) are solid state... there are solid state preamps that sound colored and big and there are tube preamps that are clean so just cuz something has a tube in it doesnt make it sound good. of course im just referring to the cheaper tube units...