M-Audio TAMPA Pro Microphone Preamp and Compressor with SPDIF Output

Single channel microphone/instrument preamp of uncompromised quality.

This product is no longer available at zZounds.

Shop our website for related products:

(In most cases, a product is unavailable because it has been discontinued by its manufacturer.)

M-Audio TAMPA Pro Microphone Preamp and Compressor with SPDIF Output reviews

Rate and Review This Product:

30 People rated this product : * * * * * * * * * * 8 out of 10

 

4 People wrote reviews

Read all M-Audio TAMPA Pro Microphone Preamp and Compressor with SPDIF Output reviews...
* * * * * * * * * * 9 out of 10

"Finally, a budget mic preamp/compressor that sounds good!"

Feature:
Everthing you need is included (except for cables of course)

Quality:
Housing, knobs, and switches are all good for a unit in this price range

Value:
nothing touches this unit in this price range.

Sound:
I have never owned an expensive compressor or mic preamp, because they have been out of my price range. I usually rent them when I do final tracking. I was pleasantly suprised upon pluggin this thing in. No more renting Avalons or UA preamps for me. The compressor is great, and the preamp has plenty of gain. This is by far the best deal for $400, and I highly recommend for the musician on a budget. I use it as a direct box for bass, and for vocals. I use a Studio Projects C1 mic and they work great together. Recording media is Sonar with a Delta 1010 sound card, Event 20/20 monitors. As far as vocals, my style is hard rock, and go though many dynamic changes on songs. MY VOICE CAN GET LOUD. Budget line preamp/compressors squashed my vocals and were not loud enough for the softer parts. This unit solved my problem. This is the best thing for the budget minded home musician who still insists on quality.

Support:
I have not had to use support, but my support on other maudio products has been supurb. They back up their products

Submitted: 3/29/2004

Style of Music: Hard Rock

1 of 1 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?

Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?
 
 
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

"It's Got The Sound..."

Feature:
Although the mic pre is very transparent and clean sounding, I bought this piece to have variable impedance for some of our mics, which works great - offering a variety of sonic signatures from the same mic. Another impressive feature is the compressor (easily worth the price of this unit alone!), which rates up there with sme of the finest I have used - transparent with no pumping when set properly.

Quality:
Very solidly built, nothing appears cheap. Connectors are all top-shelf. This piece should be kept safely in a studio rack, but I would be tempted to run it live onstage as a bass DI! Only owned it for a few months, so can't speak of long-term reliability yet. M-Audio is a great company though, and should take care of you if any problems arise.

Value:
In the under $1000 range, you would be hard-pressed to find a better value in a mic pre/comp combination (IMO).

Desirability:
Not as sexy as an Avalon - but I think it sounds better! Sexiest part about the Tampa is what's inside - the internal design of this piece really makes it sound great! (No, I don't work for them!)

Sound:
I come from a background of using Avalon's, Neve, and other great pre's. Picked this up because I was curious about the "Temporal Harmonic" feature - it's not an "effect," but rather a way of processing the signal. Anyway, it is fantastic! The sound is very pleasing to the ears, and easy to listen to.

Support:
Haven't had to use any yet.

Overall:
Actually, I'n thinking of buying another one to run stereo sources through!

Submitted: 8/19/2003

Style of Music: Various

1 of 1 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?

Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?
 
 

Read all M-Audio TAMPA Pro Microphone Preamp and Compressor with SPDIF Output reviews...

Additional Images:

Main
Main
Angle
Angle

30-Day 100% Satisfaction Guarantee Applies On This Item - Buy it, and if it isn't just right for you, return it!

About This Product!
Description
Docs
The TAMPA is a single channel microphone/instrument preamp of uncompromised quality, with a dual servo optical compressor. The audio path is all harmonic phase shift corrected, solid state, discrete, Class-A circuitry. A special emphasis was placed on recreating the warm sonic character of vacuum tube triodes. TAMPA's inputs have dual gain stages, while the balanced mic input offers variable impedance switching. Outputs include mono S/PDIF with selectable sample rates up to 96kHz.
catalog

what our customers say about zZounds

"I have discovered this site offers the best prices out there. I will definitely be buying more items from zZounds in the future." - customer on June 30, 2009

Free Catalog

First Name Last Name
Address 1 Address 2
City State
Zip Email

Would you like to receive periodic email notices of new items, special buys, and promotions? WE WILL NOT SHARE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WITH ANYONE ELSE. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Tell us

Is there something you want to tell us? How can we serve you better? Want to see different products? Is this shirt ugly? Let us know!
Sound & Vision Magazine

Sound & Vision offers accessible information on home theater, audio, video and multimedia products.

This is not a free trial offer and you will never get a bill. The subscription is included with your purchase.

Please allow six to eight weeks for subscription to begin. If you'd rather not receive the subscription it can be removed from your cart.