ART MPA Gold Microphone Preamplifier User Reviews at zZounds

"Great Value" submitted March 27, 2008

By a customer from comcast.net

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: active musician

Music Style: alt, pop, folk

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Sound: mostly recording acoustic guitar, and the change since adding this pre-amp is well worth the price. No audible noise, and great warm sound (This is of course after changing the tubes. The tubes that come in this unit are cheap crappy ones. Put in some decent tubes and you're in business). Feature: I like the fact that you can add gain either through the tubes or through the solid state circuitry. Ease of Use: If I can figure it out anyone can Quality: Everything seems solid, and the knobs have a great feel, and are very sensitive. Value: I'm thinking that to get any significant improvement in sound quality, I'd have to spend something more like $500 per channel. Two channels here for $289 is pretty good. Spend the extra money on good mics. Manufacturer Support: Don't know, haven't had to use it. The Wow Factor: I Love GOOOOOOLD. Overall: I may upgrade some day, but for now, I'm very pleased with this unit.

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"A Great Sounding Pre Loaded With Pro Features!!" submitted May 4, 2009

By a customer from fairpoint.net

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Musical Background: Engineer, Singer-Songwriter

Music Style: Country, soft rock and folk

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Sound: The sound of this pre is awesome. Of course you'll need to change the chinese tubes that come stock with the unit to take it to another level but fresh out of the box this pre will amaze you. I ordered a matched pair of Tung-Sol tubes for it. Feature: I can't believe how many features there are on this thing. You can really sculpt the sound of the source material in many ways. Variable input impedance for mics, selectable plate voltage, xlr inputs/outputs and 1/4" TRS outs and so much more. Incredible for the money. Ease of Use: Very easy. Just plug and play. It does what a pre should do. deliver exceptional tone and sound. It looks great too. Quality: It's made very well. The knobs are heavy duty and rock solid. Seems to me with proper care and handling this pre will provide many years of trouble free service. I do studio work only so it won't be going out on the road. Value: The best "bang for the buck pre" out there IMHO. Manufacturer Support: I gave this category a 5 as I've never had to deal with support. I own a few ART products and never had any problems with anything. The Wow Factor: Like I said it looks and feels great. Most importantly the sound is what a pre is all about though. Overall: I will be satisfied for many years and would definitely replace it if something were to happen to it. It's a must have item if you're looking for a pro sound. I have a Great River ME-1NV which is also an incredible mic pre but there's a huge difference in the price. The GR is no better than this pre. They both have a sound of their own and all usable.

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"Great gear for the price, suitable for home studio or limited budget. Perfect for the ones who don't need to work on a brand to" submitted February 19, 2007

By a customer from choukroun.com

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Musical Background: Active musician

Music Style: Electro

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Sound: Even if this product is made in china, its works as expected. The valves can be changed easily and if you buy more expensive ones, you'll get the sound of +1000 USD gears. For my home studio it was perfect. Feature: I like the way you can choose the distorsion level. It gives lot of possibilities where most competitors just have one setting. Ease of Use: Well nothing else to say. You don't have to read the doc if you know what it is for. Quality: Very good quality, except for the valves that are low cost chinese ones. But for this price, it sound great. Value: I can't find a better value for the sound and possibilities. Manufacturer Support: I haven't the need to contact them The Wow Factor: Of course it cannot beat a Manley, but If I got the money I would have bought one. With my budget, this gear is perfect. Overall: I don't plan to change ever. It is a simple gear, and the only thing that need to be changed are the valves.

16 of 19 people (84.21%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"Sweet sounds never came so cheap" submitted May 16, 2008

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Features

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: active musician

Music Style: any

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Sound: For the price it gives exceptional sound with very low noise ratio. The tube impedance knob is great to add or subtract warmth from your sound, although the tubes tend to run a bit hotter than i'd like. Feature: good set of features including a built in HPF, which i believe it acts more like a notch filter instead of a straight up band pass filter. This is nice because it preserves sound fidelity, the increased plate voltage is also a nice feature adding extra clarity to your vocal tracks. Ease of Use: it's as easy as any other mic preamp though i wished it had a channel mute switch. Quality: I bought mine "blemished" which turned out to be slightly more than cosmetic, although i don't think it affects the sound quality. The metal bracers behind the knobs are thin and tend to warp if the tubes are left to heat up. This problem I assume is only apparent if you leave the unit on for extended amounts of time. Only the left channel knob was warped and the right channel has not degraded at all through my usage. Value: For the price this unit sounds amazing, better than alot of Mackie board preamps i have used in the past which would cost you double. very clean sound, the tube warmth is nice though I could use a little more head room before they start running hot, but as I said for the price it's great. Manufacturer Support: haven't needed it, but Zzounds delivered promptly. i was very satisfied. The Wow Factor: it's nice, it's fairly big, haven;t had an issue with it after 2 months of solid use. If you're looking for a cheaper mic preamp for a home studio and don't require more than a two channel setup, this is sweet. Overall: it's great I definitely recommend.

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