The 5 Best transparent Mic preamps (2023 reviews)

The dbx transparent mic preamp's material feels more premium than its price would suggest. The noise-gate really does an excellent job of keeping room noise out of your recordings. It is ideal for generating pro-sounding vox for a video project. It works awesome, with no noise with high gain. It is a signal processing strip with compression, gating and maximizing features.

The expander / gate is particularly effective for raising the sound floor and eliminating much of the room noise, that will hamper any smaller scale recording setup. It allows you to make the voice sound very natural. The effects are very user friendly and easy to set up for any voice. If you are a podcaster or voice-over artist this device will instantly help you create better audio recordings.

Why We Like This:

Really brings the quality of the vocal up a few notches
A great processing unit for voice-over work
Great product for recording rap vocals
Easy to install and simple to operate, plus dbx quality

Best With XLR Output: Triton Audio transparent Mic Preamp

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The triton audio transparent mic preamp is capable of outshining several other preamp featured in this list in overall features in its price range. The Triton audio fethead Phantom model, which does NOT block the voltage, is the one to use. It plugs right into the mic and into the preamp, and works just as well either way using the Shure SM7B. It has one big drawback plus does the job pretty well. The preamp is nestled in a small draw string bag, with the Triton logo printed on it.

The preamp would not work without phantom voltage, which the solo provides, so all is well. The fit and finish is very good and the tactile feel, the way it solidly clicks in place releases, is excellent. The fethead is an amazing purchase if you need the extra boost in gains without sacrificing too much in terms of audio quality.

Why We Like This:

Must have for acoustic only instrument with dynamic mic
Perfect tone and no background noise at all
Adds more than enough db for any dynamic mic

Best With reverb: Presonus transparent Mic Preamp

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate preamp. The presonus transparent mic preamp is exactly that - it's a simple preamp that hits all the right notes. If you are handy building stuff making sound panels is pretty easy and for the cost of a good tube preamp, you can totally transform the acoustics of your listening room. Live or in the studio, the bluetube dp v2 is a great-sounding tool you’ll use on a variety of sources. It improves digital sound with analog warmth.

It comes with the bluetube dp v2 dual-path preamp, so you get the best of two worlds. It has instrument inputs on the back. It is designed for the output of a record player. It is a reasonably good pre-amp to add warmth to vocals.

Why We Like This:

Added in the t-12ax7-s vacuum tube for a slightly warmer sound
A warm sound while practicing guitar whilst listening through headphones
Add just the right amount of tube distortion to guitars, basses, and mic signals

Best For controlling The dynamics Of electric basses And guitars: Focusrite transparent Mic Preamp

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Compared with other preamp in this category, the focusrite transparent mic preamp has a convenient design. Building on the features of the scarlett octopre, scarlett octopre dynamic brings you the ultimate scarlett expansion with eight scarlett mic preamps and analogue compression on every input channel providing a musical, soft-knee style of compression for more subtle control of your dynamics. A switchable Air mode will add extra clarity to your acoustic instruments when recording with your Scarlett 18i20, replicating the revered Focusrite console.

Eight analogue outputs can be sourced either directly from the mic preamps for live use, or via the adat inputs to give you eight more analogue output channels from your daws.

This can be connected to an audio interface or recorder with ADAT inputs. If you need an audio interface and some solid recording software, the PreSonus Studio Series will do the job.

Why We Like This:

Pro performance with eight of the finest mic preamps
Flexible analogue compression on every channel
Create powerful guitars, luscious keys and huge drums

Best For detail: black Lion Audio transparent Mic Preamp

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The black lion audio transparent mic preamp gives the top-tier preamp a run for their money by offering flagship specs at a much more affordable price. Every good mic needs a great preamp to bring out it’s best, and the auteur mkiii is an exceptional offering for your entire microphone collection. It features a tour-worthy chassis, that’s extremely portable. It is perfect for capturing every nuance and detail. It is followed up by a vintage-inspired output-stage design coupled with a cinemag transformer for massive, colorful sound. Both channels have line level inputs for adding warmth and weight to keyboards, synths and even full stereo mixes.

The Hi-Z switch makes for a stellar instrument input for direct capture of guitar and bass. The pres are very clean and give a full sound to your instrument. It is great on the go, but it fits perfect on a desktop for smaller setups.

Why We Like This:

Vintage-inspired transformer-coupled output-stage featuring cinemag transformers for massive, colorful sound
Based front-end for fast and transparent sound
Great build quality and very nice gain pots
2 channels of fast response, with fat low-end sound