The 5 Best ART Tube Mic pres (2023 reviews)

The look and feel of this pres are consistent with the high quality we're used to from the rest of Art's lineup. This mic is clear and natural sounding with the tube mp pre amp. Like any good pre-amp, it has virtually no sound of its own, but lets the sound of the source come through cleanly. The tube mp project series is a professional quality audio interface that lets you connect microphone, instrument, and line level signals to a mixer or other audio input. It has plenty of control and also functions as a DI box.

This awesome little preamp has both xlr and 1/4" inputs and outputs. It has an instrument input, but you can only use one at a time. The sound is perfect, very smooth, not overpowering, but plenty loud enough. It has the required 48V for condenser microphones.

Why We Like This:

Affordable and enough functions for any application
A must-have for any small budget home studio musician
Excellent with condensor mic and amp for small live show
Truly a nice pre-amp and boosts signals quietly and efficicientlly

Best For podcast: ART Tube Mic Pre

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The art tube mic pre is satisfactory and appropriate and fits well with your regular usage. It is great for a dynamic preacher where distortion can be an issue. This preamp gives a nice juicy tube sound which fattens up vocals really well. It also powers your condenser mic, so you might consider it in your live rig so that you can use a condenser. It will supply phantom power.

This unit has an unbalanced 1/4” output (so use TS, not TRS cables), and you certainly could use an XLR 1/4” adapter if you want to use the balanced output. It also has a very quiet circuit that doesn't induce noise, super impressed there as well. There's a little background hum and hiss at higher gain levels, especially if you are using the compressor aggressively, but this is to be expected and is in no way objectionable.

Why We Like This:

Plenty of gain and the compressor feature is worth the extra money
Sounds killer for guitar or vocals
Tons of gain, nice warmth once you start pushing the tube, and easy-to-use
Works great for live streaming a sermon

Best For electric Guitar: ART Great Pre amp

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The art great pre amp has killer features for the price point. It is a great way to be able to have decent quality tube preamps on a lot of drums. It has enough versatility for just about any mic. This amp has an impedance knob which will help you achieve different tonal qualities of the preamp. The audio interface will convert the signal to digital, enabling you to record it to your computer using your preferred audio recording software.

There is a 48V option on the art pro MPA which will power a condenser mic. The sound is clear and like the ability to control both channels in stereo mode with a single set of controls. It adds plenty of flavor to your mics.

Why We Like This:

Great addition to the low costing audio interface
Plenty of variables to dial in your microphone
One of the new comers and featured product

Best For direct Recording: ART Tube Preamp

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The art tube preamp has killer features for the price point. It's more like a DI box with just the slightest bit of tube character. It maintains the output peak signal to protect hard-disk recording systems and soundcards. It is a sound modulation/enhancement device made to work with the actual sound or sine wave of your music. It's quiet as a mouse, built like a sherman tank, and has some nice little features like an output limiter, phase reverse, and a.

The VU meter is backlit and features an overdrive LED as well as a limiter circuit as well as input gain and output level controls. The vocals through this are exceptional with a decent vocal compressor mic. It also works incredibly for recording bass guitar direct.

Why We Like This:

Good for amateur and home studio recordings
Lot of satisfied buyers

Best With ADAT: ART Great Preamp

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The art great preamp is capable of outshining several other products featured in this list in overall features in its price range. The ADAT/SPDIF digital output feature is great for exapansion. It features a high quality a to d converter which offers digital connectivity on s/pdif, adat, or aes/ebu outputs. It comes in a standard 2 unit space rack-mountable steel chassis, with a cnc routed black anodized aluminum face panel. It is also a push button for, and two wordclock jacks, allowing loop-through. Because of the full signal passing the tube, it truly flavors the signal with that good tube warmth everyone likes.

The MPA-II is great with instrument inputs, even with high-gain digital effects. If you trim the inputs carefully, the MPA-II is also very graceful at handling overloads, sending the tubes into overdrive rather than giving you a nasty hard clipping sound.

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