ART TPS II Tube Preamplifier System

I became interested in tube preamps after reading an interview with one of my favorite guitarists, Greg Sage. He built his own that can be heard on all the Wipers records. I loved that sound, especially on the vocals and guitar. I first did cursory research into tube preamps, I found they can be cost prohibitive, especially if you want a 2 channel model as I did.I’ve used my akai interface’s preamps for several years and then done the rest in the box with plugins. Because I’m a hobbyist, this didn’t matter to me at first, but as I dived deeper into home recording, I wanted to improve the quality of my signal in order to make better mixes. There’s nothing worse than spending hours during mixing trying to “polish a turd”, so to speak. We’ve all been there and dealt with that frustration. A preamp can make improvements from the beginning to your unmixed signal, which makes for an overall better recording experience.At the same time, I didn’t want to pay $500 plus for something that I had no experience with. As others have said this, this is a entry level preamp, but the one I received has made a noticeable improvement to my mixes right away. And it is an affordable two channel model. I suggest taking the time to test each setting on the TPS with the mic you’re using to ensure it will suit your needs.I’ve used it with an MXL 770 on vocals and it sounds great with a little eq and compression afterward. I’ve also used both channels when tracking guitar using an sm57 and a beta 57. The most noticeable thing I’ve noticed is that the preamp adds pleasant clarity to these things, making it far more enjoyable to listen to. I’ve also noticed my tracks take reverbs and other timed effects much better than previously. I’m interested to how it will sound on drum overheads and will experiment with this later.To close, this is a great entry level product. I suggest it to hobbyists like myself who have never “bitten the bullet” with outboard gear and are looking to expand their audio engineering knowledge. At a later time, I’ll purchase a more professional preamp, but for now I’m very pleased with this. Thank you!

I've had it only a few days , it does a nce job of warming the tone of a mic . vcal or if your micing guitar or pluvgging dirctly into it with a bass or other electric instrument .The only problem I had was with paper work that came with it - it was for a korg keyboard , it must have been placed in at the refurish shop , I bought it as a refurbished piece . If the seller wouldnt mnd I'd like that paper work , or I imagine I can download it from ART website . This piece is a good deal , we are not taliking about a 5,000 dollar pre amp , we ae talking way an above average tube pre amp in this price range , so there you go .

don't know how anyone could be disliking this. For any reason.These have been sold for years in the same format. Unfortunately theprice continues to constantly inflate. Just glad they keep it in production.I'm using it as a tube preamp for everything. Especially extended/standardrange guitars. Ain't no pedal or guitar gear comparable or equal.TPS-2 monster gain structure will boost the cheapest pickups or longpedal / FX chains. The great feature about it is you can go HI-Z LO-Z in and come outHI-Z OR LO-Z out! And both at once! Try that with cheesy, inflated guitar pedals!Just that feature alone makes this a "must have" guitar unit. It's still available as a singlemono channel stand alone unit, however the rack unit stores easily and you will find anadditional use for the second channel in the path. Using TPS-2 as a preamp into a power amplifierfor stereo guitar is not only, the best way, it's probably the ONLY WAY.(Does anyone make stereo guitar preamps anymore??)There Ain't nothing like the sound or flexibility of dual pedal chains in stereo!Stereo outs using pedals are not as accurate nor as clear of a stereo format. Pedalchains performance are increased weather they are fed from the input or the output.High gain signal structure that is controllable and directable.Please don't stop production of this benchmark unit.

I originally bought this for a friend that was trying to setup a small home studio. It was easily the biggest audio-purchasing mistake I have ever made. We plugged the ART TPS up and it sounded horrible so, I said "screw it I will switch out the tube with a mesa-boogie". Well I opened up the ART TPS switched out the tube and it made absolutely no difference! I thought I may have done something wrong took a closer look and was surprised by what I found. The ART TPS is simply a solid state preamp (a poor one at that) which runs the signal through the tube in an attempt to add some warmth. This is just an absolute waste of money.Alternatives:I am not a fan of bringing up a problem then not providing an alternative so here are a few good choices for preamps.1. The Mackie Blackjack. It uses the same excellent onyx preamps you will find in their higher end models. They have an amazing amount of gain (enough to drive a dynamic mic without noise) and a hint of warmth. Also you get a very good computer interface. Best part is that it is the same price as the TPS 2.2. The ART MPA. I know it seems odd that I slam one ART product only to recommend another but, the MPA unlike the TPS 2 is a true tube preamp. Stock it sounds pretty good but if you switch out the tubes it can sound great. Although it is about twice the price as the TPS 2.3. The Presonus Bluetube. I have not personally used this preamp but have some friends that really like it. The Bluetube costs slightly more than the TPS 2.