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Art Tube MP
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Art Tube MP
RickD RickD
Published on 04/24/08 at 14:09
-What Technology? (analog, digital, tube...)
Analogue, tube.

- What available effects, or type of effects, are there?
No effects, just a preamp.

- What connection types are there?
Jack & XLR, in & out.

- Is it rackable, or in rack form?
Not rackable, not a pedal, just a little box.

Has +20dB switch, input gain, output gain, phantom power, phase inverse.
So no high-pass filter...

UTILIZATION

- Is the general configuration/setup simple?
Couldn't really be much simpler.

- Is the sound or effects editing easy?
No editing, just in & out.

- Is the manual clear and sufficient?...
Can't remember ever needing it.

Problem: one led, that changes colour, no meters. It's green normally, then changes to orange or red when you get to or above 0dB. So, needless to say, using this to set levels is a bit like playing the lottery.

SOUND QUALITY

- Is the sound of your instruments or your microphones faithfully reproduced?
Is the pre-amp transparent or does it color the sound?

I haven't compared this side by side with other preamps on the same source so it's hard to tell. I doubt it's very transparent, then again i haven't noticed any major problems.
I've recorded bass through this, and vocals, amongst others and they were all quite ok to me.

OVERALL OPINION

- For how long have you been using it?
About 8 years.

- What thing do you like most/least about it?
Most: it's cheap now, and still better than most preamps on cheap little desks. Can be used as a DI...can provide phantom power...you can go in with a jack and go out on XLR...so you can have looong lengths of cable even with an instrument.

- Did you try many other models before getting this one?
None. There were none at the time.

- What is your opinion about the value for the price?
The price i paid was very high (950 Francs / £95 / 143 €) but now it's worth about 39 €. So would i buy it for £95 again? Hell no! Is it a bargain at 39€ ? Hell yes!

- Knowing what you know now, would you make the same choice?...
It has come in handy so i can't complain, sometimes i would have been stuck without it...and i will use it again for a gig...
But i will sell it sooner or later, i suppose. The question is...if you want to buy something like this, what else is there? Would you buy Behringer over ART? I wouldn't...

Final word:
If you're playing a gig and going through a cheap desk then using this will definitely improve matters considerably.
If you're recording at home, i'm not sure this will of much use on its own.