Topic: any pre's easily available via retail stores sound good unmodded???

[mikesalvo]

im leaning towards a modded UA5, but I may also be able to pick up a pre at a discount through a friends music store. do any readily available pre's sound good unmodded? In particular, something thats commonly available through retail music stores???

[johnw]

Some places might carry the Apogee products. I like both the MiniMP and the MiniMe sound.

[kozakz]

I recommend M-Audio Fastrack Pro. It got much "warmer" sound than stock UA-5 (IMHO). Everytime I recorded with UA-5 and Fastrack the result was much better with M-Audio. It is quite strange, but this is how I feel.

[kozakz]

I just seen your signature

My experience is from use of AT4051a  and AT853.

[easy jim]

Sound Devices MixPre

[TNJazz]

Why do people think something has to be modded to sound good?

Do you really think all these gear manufacturers can't get it right for their own products?

Just wondering why everyone around here seems to think "stock" is a bad thing.

[muj]

Why do people think something has to be modded to sound good?

Do you really think all these gear manufacturers can't get it right for their own products?

Just wondering why everyone around here seems to think "stock" is a bad thing.

audiophile disease?

[rokpunk]

Why do people think something has to be modded to sound good?

Do you really think all these gear manufacturers can't get it right for their own products?

Just wondering why everyone around here seems to think "stock" is a bad thing.

amen to that. if it needs to be modded to sound "good", then i don't consider it a worthwhile product.

[cybergaloot]

 My novice opinion is that modding a device is usually a matter of degrees. They are trying to eek something a bit better from a stock device. Of course that doesn't really apply to something like the digimod of the UA-5 where the mod is to make it do something it wasn't originally designed to do. But modding preamps and power supplies is a matter of making something good into something slightly better. And of course some of it is just snob appeal 

That said, I wish my UA-5 was modded. Maybe one day. But I can't really complain about what I'm getting out of it either. Maybe I'll develop that discerning ear one day but actually I hope I don't. I want to focus on  the music, not the "quality" of the recording.

[eric.B]

Why do people think something has to be modded to sound good?

Do you really think all these gear manufacturers can't get it right for their own products?

Just wondering why everyone around here seems to think "stock" is a bad thing.

stock is never a "bad" thing..   Have you ever tried to record a loud PA sourced show with a pair of condensers (sens level 10) straight into a dap1 using phantom?    if so..  The dap1, as you would find out, is not made to do this.   Very similar to the ua5 scenario whereas a modification to the preamp stage of the dap1 "makes it do something it wasnt designed to do" ...  ala the digi mod to a ua5..

while tascam got the dap1 "right" for recording digital signals and low db soundsources via mic in/preamp (which it did pretty well, built like a tank!), they (tascam) certainly did not build the machine exclusively for tapers so they can record PA's..    The dap1 also recorded line level signals pretty well, as I did use mine with a grace v2 which means I never needed my dap1 modded.   I did record some stuff straight into the dap1 on occasion, like acoustic stuff, and it sounded friggin great!     So I can see how one would be tempted to swap out some parts in the preamp section so that the dap1 could be used as an "all in one box" for most taping situations..   

Would modding the dap1 be worthwhile?     I dont see why not..   which is why oade modded many of them to do this.. 

Same goes for my fr2le..    While it sounds good stock, I see no reason why it would be frowned upon to change a few amps here and there to make it sound great in any PA/acoustic/supa-loud environment.. 

The complaints I heard about the AD1000 for years were:  "the a/d is sweet!  I just which the preamps were tighter/better etc"..    If someone were doing a preamp mod to the AD1K back 15 years ago, do you think there would have been lots of AD1K owners sending their units in for mods?    hmmm..       I think yes....

[Jammin72]

Stock isn't necessarily a bad thing but upgrading components in a mass produced piece can easily make it sound better.  You have to remember that R&D isn't the only one in the room making decisions on build. Marketing, and Budgeting are in on the meeting too.  What may seem like just $10-20 in parts per unit may not be a big deal to you an me but if you multiply that by thousands... well you can get the picture.  We've been told that decisions were made to go with a poorer sounding 24bit converter than a better sounding 16bit converter in a particular CD recorder because marketing had made the decision that the 24bit number on the side of the box will sell better.

That being said, a company like edirol or Tascam can afford to buy in scale therefore they can produce basic products with a much lower pricetag that a boutique company who's sole purpose is to provide the best sounding unit they can design. So you take a unit at a lower price point that functions wel,l add some quality components and you can end up with a real bang/buck piece of gear.

And as for sound... If you've done comparisons on many of the mods available, even those that don't modify the intent of the piece, you can see why they're fluffed by folks around here.

[jeromejello]

to play devils advocate, perhaps the op was referrering to the fact that a ua-5 needs to be modded in order to be able to be used in the field (the straight up digi mod), not necessarily the modding of the sound and what not.

when i think of what is available at commerical music stores (sam ash, guitar center, etc) nothing comes to mind as even being usable - with or without modifcations - unless you are willing to use a rolls phantom power supply and a coule of hosa transformers.

[eric.B]

to play devils advocate, perhaps the op was referrering to the fact that a ua-5 needs to be modded in order to be able to be used in the field (the straight up digi mod), not necessarily the modding of the sound and what not.

when i think of what is available at commerical music stores (sam ash, guitar center, etc) nothing comes to mind as even being usable - with or without modifcations - unless you are willing to use a rolls phantom power supply and a coule of hosa transformers.

Which is absolutely an option and what I used to do..   the akgB18 phantom power supplies and two transformers.  This method, however, gives you less control over the varying levels of soundsources you encounter.   Some shows to soft even with the transformers OR some to loud so you run without them BUT with both, you still get stuck not having ideal levels..    Not a big deal of course, but it does make you want to move up to a ext. pre or modded box etc.......

[Jamos]

im leaning towards a modded UA5, but I may also be able to pick up a pre at a discount through a friends music store. do any readily available pre's sound good unmodded? In particular, something thats commonly available through retail music stores???

Here's another vote for a Sound Devices product.  They are pretty widely distributed and you won't be disappointed with it...
also an Apogee mini-me or mini-mp would be a great choice.

[Matt Quinn]

You can walk into most Guitar Centers & get a M-Audio fast track pro, which will 100% work as a 2 channel preamp/A>D, unmodded. It will also run on a DVD battery with a RS adaptaplug, I believe it is type 'M', but standard polarity, unlike the UA-5.

I have absolutely no idea why this isn't the beginer box of choice in our hobby.

[illconditioned]

You can walk into most Guitar Centers & get a M-Audio fast track pro, which will 100% work as a 2 channel preamp/A>D, unmodded. It will also run on a DVD battery with a RS adaptaplug, I believe it is type 'M', but standard polarity, unlike the UA-5.

I have absolutely no idea why this isn't the beginer box of choice in our hobby.

If anyone gets one of these, please post the insides.  I'm curious what is in there (... and if it can be modded  ).

Seriously, I agree, this *would* have been the beginner box for us.  Except i only came a few years too late.  Most of us already had (modded) UA5's.  Those that needed gear bought the modded UA5's as other people upgraded to all-in-one.

Now, I see no reason to go with the Maudio.  The all-in-one, like the Fostex FR-2LE is such a good deal and such a nice package.  It even sounds great unmodded.

  Richard

[kirk97132]

probably a stupid question but here we go anyway.  Can the fast track pro do the poor mans matrix like the UA5 can?