Art MPA Gold

This is an analog, tube based preamp.  
There are a pair of 1/4" input/outputs and a pair of XLR input/outputs.
The are no traditional effects.  I guess you can say that the Phase correction is an effect.  This comes in handy when setting up your mic correctly.
Yes, it is rackable.  Thats what its designed for.


UTILIZATION

This is all analog with all the parameters that you can edit on the face, so yeah, its very easy tweaking the sound.
The setup/configuration is fairly simple.  I had not had much experience with tube preamps before, but the manual is actually quite helpful in guiding you.  After I read it, I felt pretty confident on this guy and was able to get some really good sounds out of it.


SOUND QUALITY

Yes, it is transparent if thats what you are setting up to be.  It also colors the sound and warms it up a bunch if you set up to do so also.  The quality of the "Tube" sound (if thats what you are going for) is highly dependent on the quality of the tubes you put in it.  It comes with a pair of cheap chinese tubes (i forget what brand) originally.  I got online and bought a nice pair of Gold plated Tung sols and it made a world of difference.  Very warm sound now and much more transparent than the original tubes.


OVERALL OPINION

What I like most about this unit is the very good quality sound you can get out of it with the Right tubes.  Even with the right tubes, this thing didn't cost me more than $400.  Thats not bad for a quality preamp. 
What I didn't like...?  Nothing really.  When I got mine in the mail, one of the VU meter's Lights wasn't working.  I called ART and they express mailed two new ones to me, free of charge and explained how to change it myself (they did say I could return it or have it serviced, but doing it myself was the quickest and easiest way).  All good stuff to me.
I was shopping around for a Tube preamp for awhile on a budget, and this was by far the best I could find for the price. 
The precision and quality of the sound is quite good for how much I spent on it.  I used a really nice Avalon preamp in a studio a few years back.  It was amazing, the sound was fantastic.  I would have definitely bought an Avalon if I could afford it, but they are $2000 minimum.  Other than that, I only read reviews to figure out which preamp to buy.  I am happy to say that the ART Mpa is a pretty solid machine and I wasn't disappointed at all.
Yes, I would make the same choice being as it is that I can't afford an Avalon yet.

All t said.

USE

The manual is in English, but the damage synoptic prampli found there, which I think is very useful for understanding the diffrentes camera functions.

SOUND QUALITY

This is the lamp! let heat it, you'll understand)

NOTICE GLOBAL

Jen have a character for several days. I had the opportunity to dpanner a recently (that is what has motivated my choice) and I can tell you that it is a "real" lamp prampli not a prampli with lamp in ...
No coment on electronics! With low noise aop please! I think even the choice of the manufacturer some aop is not trivial, and finally this is my opinion!
So good report quality price.

Double preamp very complete lamps are touskifo ...

USE

This is a preamp, so easy to use, with some subtleties the settings of Impedance and voltage of the lamp, but we made it very quickly

SOUND QUALITY

Okay so I reassure you immediately: it is not a Avalon nor Manley (AC is not !!)

However I was pleasantly surprised by the sound of this Pramp, especially given the price (pay a misery on ebay)
already with the original lamps is nice, the adjustment of impedance is rather effective (though ultimately I was almost always leaves background) but then with better lamps (GE 5751) AC is really nice (except lack of gain did some shit with a ribbon mic has I think it is unusable!)
little color, very good dynamics, quite versatile as the settings, it's really enjoyable as Pramp small, especially for the price!

NOTICE GLOBAL

I've had 3 months, I love this Pramp, its look, its very complete rglages by against VU meters are very rough, I do not trust him at all (and should always do that !! is not mixed with eyes !!)
all in all I think it's a very good preamp, especially after having changed the lights ...
I had the opportunity to work on top-end gear (Avalon, manley, millenia) and I will disappoint some, but in the art is anyway far behind! (Avalon would bankrupt if not already!)
It does not prevented whether is be a very good little Pramp, especially for the price (thank you ebay!)
I tate me to buy the version with digital output, but I'm a little skeptical about the quality of the converters, I see ... in any case I am very happy and I think I got a great deal (250 euros on ebay)