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Ok ok.. I know I promised this weeks ago. I do voice work and was looking to improve my signal path. So many people told me that the ART MPA Gold was the pre-amp to have, so I got one. And I was also told that the tubes that come with it are terrible, just order tubes at the same time. So I did that too and ordered a pair of Ruby Tubes to drop in there.
So I’ve been using it for about a month, and wasn’t wow’d by it. Then someone said I should put in a Mullard Tube and compare. Ok, I’m in this deep, what’s another 75 bucks more for a vintage tube (heard that the re-issues would have been no better than the Ruby Tube). So here I am, ART MPA Gold with a Mullard vintage tube (Mullard Yellow Print logo for the tube geek
Ok now I hear a difference! The Ruby was too “Tube-ee” My voice is deep but not bottom of the barrel deep. And the pre-amp with the Ruby tube lacked clarity. Enter the Mullard and the crispness is back with a touch of warmth. Me like.
So now the signal path is this, RE-20 Microphone into the ART MPA Gold, into the Mackie 1640 mixer (which isn’t really needed anymore and may get skipped) then into the MOTU 2408mk3 to my Mac. Rich warm tones, good mic presense and a lot cheaper than some of the other pre-amps out there.
Gear and sound is personal, One of the reasons some of the great guitarists are so great is that they work with thier stuff all the time in search of the tone they hear in thier head. I’m not done fine tuning the ART MPA Gold yet, but it is well on the way to getting me more work and paying for itself. And in this day and age, that means something.
