Topic: Difference Beween the m148 and m248?

[grider]

can anyone explain to me the difference between these two Oade Brothers brand preamps?  I am preampless at the moment and exploring some preamp options for my 480's, thanks

[F.O.Bean]

m148 has fixed 20 db of gain, the 248 has variable gain(not sure how much tho) and also a hpf and something else i cant remember

[Tim]

they are nothing alike.

m148 has transfomer based outputs so it's clean but with a nice bottom end warmth, very tube like. it is also fixed at 20db gain.

m248 does not have transformers and it also has a switchable high frequency boost (comes in handy when taping from a distance) and variable gain.

both are powered off of irechargeable nternal batteries which is nice!

I like the m148 with all mics, the m248 with akgs and schoeps especially. honestly I think the m148 is the best preamp in our scene by far, better than the V2... different flavor for sure but I like it better.

[Tim]

as for 480's with oade pres ask Carl Beck, he's run them both with great success. Carl's tapes are some of my all time favorite WSP section tapes...

[grider]

thanks Tim, that's funny, I own Carl's 480's 

[Tim]

definetly talk to Carl, the man has made very nice tapes with both pres. I have very limited experience with the 248, it's a fine piece of gear though... I think with 480's I'd break towards the m148 but I like coloration. The m148 is pretty clean, not quite as clean as a V2 but pretty clean, with just the right amount of lowened coloration to make me happy. My favorite combo thus far is m148->V3.

One other thing is that Doug no longer makes the m248, in fact I don't think he's built them since early 2002, but you can still get an m148 brand new (though there is a several month wait as Doug hand builds them all).

You can't go wrong with either but they are definitely two distinct flavors.

[F.O.Bean]

i agree tim, i havent heard too many 480>248 tapes, but i love the phish ones i made w/ my 480's>tims old 148>my v3 this past summer at deer creek

[Tim]

I need a copy of that tape Beaner... actually I need all of  this summer

[twoodruff]

148 - bass
248 - no bass

[Nick's Picks]

yea, Carl has made some great AKG>Oade tapes.
I've listened to just about all of them, and I like the 483>148>ad500e combo the best.
Punchy, tight as a drum.  Detailed, fat soundstage.  Great recordings.  Some of his 2002 Panic stuff w/that combo  is really nice.
everything else sucks though.
;-)
ha ha ha

[F.O.Bean]

I need a copy of that tape Beaner... actually I need all of  this summer

i never gave you that, shit, PM sent bud

[grider]

sorry to sound like a wook here, which I do, but why would you run a preamp (148) into a preamp/converter unit (V3), isn't that a little redundant?  or is it the case that you can turn off the preamp function of the V3 and just go with its a/d converter function?  in which case an Apogee unit would make more sense (AD1000 or the MiniMe with its preamp function turned off), it seems that a preamp going into another preamp would produce a very altered sound

[marc0789]

sorry to sound like a wook here, which I do, but why would you run a preamp (148) into a preamp/converter unit (V3), isn't that a little redundant?  or is it the case that you can turn off the preamp function of the V3 and just go with its a/d converter function?  in which case an Apogee unit would make more sense (AD1000 or the MiniMe with its preamp function turned off), it seems that a preamp going into another preamp would produce a very altered sound

yep.

however, if you eliminate the adk for being old and not serviceable, the mme for being a piece of shit, all that's really left is the v3 or a modsbm1. can't run a 2k because the gain is fixed.

have to say that all the peeps who said running a mme and a v3 behind a m148 are the same thing were right...you're running a pre behind a pre either way, and actually, I think you can turn the gain down lower in the v3, and get less pre than running the mme line in.

got a modsbm1 and I think, at the moment, it's a cleaner representation of what the m148 can do than either a v3 or mme.

[Tim]

I ran it to provide some coloration to the V3, others on here have done the same thing. It's really no different than throwing a V2 or other pre in front of the minime.

[twoodruff]

sorry to sound like a wook here, which I do, but why would you run a preamp (148) into a preamp/converter unit (V3), isn't that a little redundant?  or is it the case that you can turn off the preamp function of the V3 and just go with its a/d converter function?  in which case an Apogee unit would make more sense (AD1000 or the MiniMe with its preamp function turned off), it seems that a preamp going into another preamp would produce a very altered sound

yes you are going pre>pre, but it sounds good to me and I am all that matters in making tapes for me


editing to not sound so selfish