monoprice mic preamp

[jfkelliher]

So I was trawling for used gear and saw one of these studio mic preamps on GC site for 379 bucks. Then I saw monoprice selling it new for 349. I pulled trigger because I had nothing transformer balanced/colored. Can anyone elaborate further on what I bought, in terms of how far off from neve circuit this looks to be?

 

[johnsonic]

Have a friend with great ears who bought one - he's really liking it! In general Monoprice stuff seems to punch above their weight for the price point. Let us know what you think.

 

[Ricardus]

View attachment 139824
So I was trawling for used gear and saw one of these studio mic preamps on GC site for 379 bucks. Then I saw monoprice selling it new for 349. I pulled trigger because I had nothing transformer balanced/colored. Can anyone elaborate further on what I bought, in terms of how far off from neve circuit this looks to be?

What's its name or part number so I can look it up?

 

[SubSpec]

What's its name or part number so I can look it up?

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=600083

 

[Brian Roth]

The price looks good, and two positives. The external "PSU" (24V transformer) is a line lump and not a wall wart. Made in Taiwan and not.....elsewhere. I'll see if my friend who runs an internet audio sales biz can get one for evaluation since he and I are both vintage Neve fans.

Bri

 

[Brian Roth]

After chatting with my friend, he pointed out Monoprice mainly sells stuff like computer cables, TV wall mounts, and even home appliances.

https://www.monoprice.com/category/pages/home-and-office

Hmmmm....odd to buy a Neve preamp clone from someone selling things like ergonomic chairs and desk organizers. Not dissing them, just saying....how unusual. It's as if Ollie's Bargain Outlet began selling U-67 clones! <g>

Bri

 

[k brown]

After chatting with my friend, he pointed out Monoprice mainly sells stuff like computer cables, TV wall mounts, and even home appliances.

https://www.monoprice.com/category/pages/home-and-office

Hmmmm....odd to buy a Neve preamp clone from someone selling things like ergonomic chairs and desk organizers. Not dissing them, just saying....how unusual. It's as if Ollie's Bargain Outlet began selling U-67 clones! <g>

Bri

And these:
https://groupdiy.com/threads/monoprice-lc100.82082/
But I'm not sure they're still selling the LDCs.

They probably don't actually make anything . . .

 

[johnsonic]

I bought a $99 monoprice strat a while back and it actually plays really good! Swapped out the pickups but was really surprised.

 

[mrchapp]

After chatting with my friend, he pointed out Monoprice mainly sells stuff like computer cables, TV wall mounts, and even home appliances.

https://www.monoprice.com/category/pages/home-and-office

Hmmmm....odd to buy a Neve preamp clone from someone selling things like ergonomic chairs and desk organizers. Not dissing them, just saying....how unusual. It's as if Ollie's Bargain Outlet began selling U-67 clones! <g>

Bri

I have a bunch of Monoprice stuff: a DI Box (StageRight, a brand of theirs), an IR repeater, lots of Z-Wave sensors, SATA connectors, mounting panels, etc. They certainly sell all sorts of things, but it's a reliable brand and I would happily buy their audio gear if I can afford it.

 

[wafelki]

Wow, look at that:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=625907

 

[k brown]

Wow, look at that:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=625907

Not remotely worth the money, given the far higher quality of the capsule in the Takstar CM-63.

https://www.amazon.com/TAKSTAR-Instrument-Microphone-Professional-Gold-Plated/dp/B0C58XZ9RS

 

[Newmarket]

Not remotely worth the money, given the far higher quality of the capsule in the Takstar CM-63.

https://www.amazon.com/TAKSTAR-Instrument-Microphone-Professional-Gold-Plated/dp/B0C58XZ9RS

That link goes to an AT mic and M Audio combo for me.

 

[k brown]

That link goes to an AT mic and M Audio combo for me.

Wow - how is that possible?

What do you get when you Google 'Amazon Takstar CM-63'?
Does this AliExpress link work?
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804244810124.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

 

[jfkelliher]

FYI all...I STILL have yet to try the SR preamp beyond powering it up...got busy at work then arthritis flared up so can't use computer keyboard...i think at one point they had it for 299...still hoping for same quality as taiwanese auto parts, but dunno yet

 

[vintagelove]

FWIW, I bought a pair of home audio tower speakers from them for less than what I would pay to ship them across the state. They sound fine. I don’t know if I would buy a critical studio, mic preamp, but they have some good stuff.

Actually, on that note, their modern retro headphones actually make excellent cheap studio headphones. They really don’t sound far off from the $100+ cans, they’re like 25 bucks on sale