The Best All Instrument Preamplifiers 2024

1. Merchandise

The Stanton T55USB USB DJ turntable with 500.v3 cartridge is ideal for transferring music from your vinyl albums to your computer. The straight tone arm will improve the tracking for scratching as your album plays, and the Stanton turntable cartridge produces excellent sound quality. Software is included for transferring music to your Mac, PC or DVS systems. Once the music file is created, you can edit it to improve scratches, pops or clicks before you transfer the tracks to your MP3 player or CD. This belt drive turntable features 33 and 45 RPM playback speeds, two start/stop switches for mixing, battle setup and RCA stereo outputs. The Stanton T55USB USB DJ Turntable With 500.v3 Cartridge comes with a dust cover, slip mat and RCA cables.

Merchandise

2. Nady DMP-2 Dual Microphone Preamp

DMP-2 Dual Microphone Preamp produce unsurpassed audio with excellent stereo imaging, ultra low noise, superb transient response and transparent, distortion-free sound performance substantially better than that of stock console preamps.

Nady DMP-2 Dual Microphone Preamp Nady DMP-2 Dual Microphone Preamp

3. Electro-Harmonix 12AX7EH Preamp Tube

The Electro-Harmonix 12AX7EH is a preamp tube that provides high gain with ultra low noise. The tube's detailed, musical tone rivals the most desirable NOS types. Unique spiral filament eliminates the filament-to-cathode induced hum common on amps that use AC on the filaments.

Its detailed, musical tone rivals the most desirable NOS types Unique spiral filament eliminates the filament-to-cathode-induced hum common on amps that use AC on the filaments

4. Barcus Berry 3000A-U 3000A Piezo Buffer Preamplifier with EQ

Barcus-Berry Piezo Buffer Preamp With EQ 3000A is specifically designed to work with all Barcus-Berry piezo crystal systems. Features external bass treble and volume frequency controls to allow a wide range of adjustment. Includes a belt clip for unrestricted movement. Features Buffer Preamp/EQ for Piezo Pickups Volume, Bass and Treble Controls RCA Input, 1/4" Output For Barcus-Berry 3100, 3110, 3125, B3150, etc Pickup Not IncludedSpecifications Preamp Channels: Single Channel (mono) Preamp Type: External Treble: Plus - 12dB at 10kHz Bass: Plus - 12dB at 50Hz Battery life: 1,000 hours Distortion: 0.008 Percent at 1 KHz Frequency response: 5Hz - 30kHz Input: RCA female, unbalanced Input impedance: 2.2 M Output: 1/4" female mono, unbalanced Output impedance: 2.0 K Power: 9 volt battery - SKU: KMCM19544

This piezo Buffer Preamp features external bass, treble and volume frequency controls to allow a wide range of adjustment Designed to work with all Barcus-Berry electret microphone systems Includes a belt clip for unrestricted movement

5. Barcus Berry B3150 Clamp-on Bass Bridge Piezo Transducer with Preamp

Designed for miking the acoustic upright bass without permanently installing a transducer. Clamps easily to bass bridge and removes easily - no drilling or tools needed. This transducer is a favorite for its ability to capture the full musical range of the upright - delicate tones to deep lows. Includes the 3000A preamp. Quality Materials & Components Included: Pickup/Transducer: Clamp-style piezo bass transducer Preamp: 3000A Piezo Buffer Preamp with EQ One set of rubber feet (4 each) Attachable belt clip with one set of "dual lock" attachment strips Velcro strap Black metal strap-mounting bracket with one set of adhesives Installation instructions Replacement/extra: B3150M- bass piezo transducer sold separately (without preamp) Clamp-style pickup can be easily attached to or removed from any standard-type bridge. No drilling or tools needed. Equally responsive to delicate high tones and deep lows. Delivers a full musical range of upright basses.

. Barcus Berry 3150 String Bass Piezo Transducer Pickup

6. Groove Tubes GT-ECC83-S Preamp Tube

Our highest-gain preamp tube, this tube has a huge amount of gain, with terrific output that makes it a great choice for driving modern, complex high-gain circuits. It has a relatively high quality variance (making Groove Tubes pre-testing procedures especially important in this case), with a tight, strong and relatively bright tone that can really liven up a weak or tired old vintage amp or a new amp with grade-quality tubes.

Groove Tubes GT-ECC83-S Preamp Tube Country of Origin: Slovakia Country of Origin: Slovakia

7. Groove Tubes GT-12AU7 Preamp Tube for Guitar Amplifiers

Groove Tubes GT-12AU7 Preamp Tube for Guitar Amplifiers

Guitarists both yesterday and today can be linked by one piece of equipment: The tube amp. With all the strides in transistor amp technology, guitarists still prefer tube amps. Why do tube amp designs sound and feel differently from solid-state? Simply, tubes work differently. These are commonly used as phase inverters in McIntosh Hi-Fi amps, some Ampeg amps, and will yield the most clean headroom in many amps. In the latest Fender Pro Series amps such as the Pro Reverb, Concert, and Twin, this tube in V2 (or a 12AY7), will drop the gain of the gain channel where some feel the tone is of a less intense or “buzzy” character. This will then allow a much wider range in the sweep of the volume and gain controls of this channel.

8. Valcom Page Port Preamp/Expander

Valcom Page Port PreAmp/Expander

Stainless steel hardware and single gang box Pre-amplifier low level audio to remote sights Expands 150 Valcom one-way speakers per V-1094A Master volume control for entire system or groups of remote speakers Isolated page port from speaker lines

9. Marshall Microphone

This incredibly versatile and compact universal interface facilitates the connection of dynamic microphones directly to a computer via USB, effectively converting any dynamic microphone into a USB microphone. Installation is quick and effortless. To further simplify using the microphone with a computer, the MXL Mic Mate Dynamic handles analog gain adjustment settings via a built-in three-position attenuation switch. Studio quality computer recording is now within the reach of every aspiring musician and recording enthusiast.

Marshall Microphone Host Interface: XLR, USB Host Interface: XLR, USB

10. Studio Projects SPM5 500-Series Mic Preamp

Designed by the creator of Tonelux, the Studio Projects SPM5 is a unique high quality microphone/instrument preamp with an added 'radiance' feature, which provides adjustable high end 2nd harmonic content to your signal without boosting overall output. This is useful for adding clarity and presence to your signal source. The input circuitry is discrete, while the output is transformer balanced. The preamp provides a clean, low-noise 60dB of gain. The front panel features a combo jack for plugging in directly and there is an impedance switch, which can be useful when employing certain microphones, such as ribbon, or dynamic type. Radiance The radiance control, located just above the multi-jack on the front panel, is used to add 'sparkle', or 'clarity' to the input source signal. This effect can be used sparingly,or heavily, depending on the how far clockwise the radiance control is adjusted. Polarity The "POL" switch reverses the polarity of the microphone signal. It can correct for the wiring of older, non-AES equipment, change the character of the sound from guitar mics and, when using two mics for "Mid and Side" stereo recording, invert the phase of one of them. High Pass Filter ('HPF') This helps remove stage rumble, handling noise and low frequency resonances. The cut frequencies are continuously variable from 25Hz to 200Hz. Adjust the control so that the unwanted sounds are removed but required sounds do not lose their bass content. Use the HPF 'ON' switch to make comparisons between filtered and unfiltered sound. Gain and Noise All preamplifiers inevitably generate some noise due to the electronics they require. As long as this is low compared with what you are trying to record, the signal will hide the noise. In fact the SPM5 electronics are extremely quiet, such that almost all the noise is due to the source impedance of the microphone. However, you might still hear some "hiss" during the gaps in the vocal or music. Bearing in mind the amount of gain in a typical monitoring system, it is generally a good idea not to use preamp gains greater than 40dB or 50dB. With careful microphone placement, it should rarely be necessary to do so. So try to place the microphone as close to the sound source as you can without overloading it, so as to get as much signal out of it as possible. Then set the 'GAIN' control to give only as much gain as is needed to get a decent level on the meter.

Added 'radiance' feature provides adjustable high end 2nd harmonic content to your signal; Adds clarity and presence to your signal source. Adds clarity and presence to your signal source. Studio Projects SPM5 500-Series Mic Preamp