Product Price
149.99

Product Features

• 48 Volt Phantom Power
• Phase Reverse
• Variable Input Gain Control On Detented Pot
• 1/4" D.I. Jack On Front Panel
• High Pass Filter
• Descrete Solid State Class A/B Design
• TRS Insert
• Mic/Line Switch
• VariableTube Blend On Detented Pot
• Meter Read Select Between Input and Output level
• Switchable Impedance between 50/200 Ohm
• 5 position LED metering
• XLR mic input
• Balanced outputs on XLR and 1/4"
• External AC Power Supply For extreme Low Noise Operation
• Output Gain Control On Detented Pot Applications

First Impressions
When i got this unit I was not expecting anything amazing. What can you expect from a mic pre that costs a $150? It is pretty well built and it comes with some nice features like a 70 Hz LPF. To me it looks more like an embelished DI box and it works great for that. It has a nice LED meter so you can keep a handle on distortion it would have been nice if the metering was a little bit more substantial.

In Use
In use it was effective however when I used the blend knob and turned it to the tube side I did notice the noise floor raised quite a bit so found myself using it in transistor mode most of the time. I mainly used it as a DI at first and then I tried out the preamp. As a DI this is a nice piece you get a nice input gain stage and a output control and once again you can utilize the blend knob which did work well when I plugged in a bass and played a really involved piece on the bass it seemed to mask the noise and it gave it some warmth and punch in the lower end. The mic pre on this unit was a secondary thing for me so it took me a while to even begin to get curious as to how it would sound. I found that it was not a bad pre but it was not the most pristine mic pre I have came across. That being said I don't think this a bad unit for the price however there are some other mic pres that are in this price point that offer more channels or similar features so its always best to get your hands on it. In my opinion this is one great DI box!

PROS
Transistor/Tube Blend
DI input

CONS
Noisey
Could have used a better meter

Conclusion
For the price it is one of many options that will get the job done. For me this thing is one heck of a DI that gives you all kinds of coloring choices

Buy the Studio Projects VTB-1 Microphone Preamp at Front End Audio