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Title: Presonus Eureka Post by: elwoodblues1969 on June 10, 2009, 01:43:58 PM The more research I do,the more I discover how critical the amount of investment effects the quality of a mic preamp. As with anything else,you could end up over paying & not get the results you want,but if you aren't willing to spend what is necessary..then you end up counteracting the desired result...upgrading from your existing preamp.
Given all of the immense features out there,such as tube driven amps,transistor driven amps & everything in between...it's all so cloudy & overwhelming...but it all boils down to two important choices; avoid all of the bells & whistles & buy a basic solid state amp,or spend the extra money on a tube preamp that incorporates high end components that will actually give you the warmth,without the muddiness that comes along with a cheap tube driven preamps. I have noticed more & more,that in order to make that significant upgrade to achieve clean,impactful vocals..one has to look toward preamps in the $400 range & up,as this is where the jump in quality takes place,in terms of upgraded circuitry,transistors & such. I have considered the Grace Design M101,which is a very basic,no nonsense solid state single channel preamp with no compression or EQ...that has exceptional SNR & a high amount of headroom.This is as clean as a preamp gets in the $500 range,but it has absolutely no metering whatsoever & I can't float the price tag of $565(especially since my usual retailer does not carry it). The most ideal solution that I could come up with,while keeping the cost as low as possible for my particular needs,is the Presonus Eureka. The Eureka is a single channel,solid state channel strip,with a class A transformer-coupled mic preamp,compressor & a 3 band parametric EQ.Sounds like a typical preamp with all of the usual extras,but the compressor & EQ offer more control over your sound,with their fine tuning features. Here's where things get really interesting though,as the Eureka has a saturation control,which adjusts the drain current on the input FET amplifier to simulate tape saturation effects. The Eureka may have some features that I am not in dire need of,but in the event I do find the EQ & compression useful,these controls are indeed,a significant upgrade from the ones in my Tascam. The Eureka has variable impedance,a good frequency response & dynamic range..complete with a VU meter and while there are quite a few decent choices in this price range,the Eureka offers the most features for the money & it is one of the best reviewed preamps out there for the money. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Eureka/ -Thom Title: Re: Presonus Eureka Post by: kara on June 10, 2009, 02:04:47 PM Very interesting, thanks Thom 8)
k Title: Re: Presonus Eureka Post by: Oren on June 10, 2009, 04:51:10 PM This one looks like a good match for your AKG microphone. 8)
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