ART Tube MP Studio Mic Preamp

by ART

Product Details

• Item Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B0002E50MC
• Item model number: TUBEMP STUDIO
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #858 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #2 in Musical Instruments > Recording Equipment > Microphones > Preamps
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Tube MP – Studio Overview The original ART Tube MP put professional-caliber tube preamplification into the hands of thousands of musicians and recordists who wanted great tube tone.

The new ART Tube MP Studio features ART's "OPL" Output Protection Limiter, which precisely and accurately controls and maintains the output peak signal.

The OPL circuitry is crucial in protecting the next link in a signal chain - such as a hard-disk recording system or a sound card.

The Tube MP Studio goes even further, with the inclusion of a VU meter for observation and measurement of the unit's output level, which enables the user to keep his signal consistent with desired levels.

The meter also reflects the impact of the OPL circuitry on the signal. For example, if the signal is "in the red" on the meter, the meter will reflect the attenuation of the signal when the OPL is activated, and the signal is brought out of the "red".

The Tube MP Studio is the only Mic Pre in it's class with sophisticated metering and OPL functionality. These features alone can add hundreds of dollars to the price of a processor

The Tube MP Studio can be used in a wide variety of applications including recording, project and home studios, where it's metering functionality and OPL circuit really shines. It also functions as a direct box, with impedance matching and preamplification for line-level sources.

The ART Tube MP Studio's performance exceeds that of units costing many times its price... and it's unique combination of features and flexibility will make it a must-have in any audio toolkit.

Tube MP – Studio Features:

• Provides Superior Preamplification for: Microphones, Instruments and Line Level Sources
• Analog VU Meter
• OPL™ Output Protection Limiter
• Hand-Selected 12AX7A Vacuum Tube
• Variable Input and Output Gain Controls
• Provides over 60 dB of Gain
• +48 Phantom Power Switch
• Phase Reversal Switch
• XLR and 1/4" Inputs and Outputs
• Portable, All-Steel Construction
• Excellent as Tube DI

Product Description

The original Tube MP made pro-caliber tube preamping available to ordinary musicians and home studios. The MP Studio goes a step further by adding a VU meter for better level control and ART's OPL (Output Protection Limiter), which controls and maintains the output peak signal to protect hard-disk recording systems and soundcards. The VU meter reflects the impact of the OPL circuitry when it is activated, which allows more effective fine tuning of the audio signal. It is a valuable tool for recording in project and home studios and can also function as a DI box with impedance matching and preamplification for line-level sources. Includes a 3-year warranty.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good budget preamp, very quiet, just replace the tube!, January 12, 2010

By 

Abramelin (Providence, RI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: ART Tube MP Studio Mic Preamp (Electronics)

+ REVIEW +

This is really an excellent little preamp for the money. It's quiet as a mouse, built like a sherman tank, and has some nice little features like an output limiter, phase reverse, a -20db pad, and of course, 48V phantom power for your condenser mic. Great for boosting a quiet source like an electric guitar or a condenser mic, but don't expect it to give you crazy tube warmth like you'd find on higher end units. It's more like a DI box with just the slightest bit of tube character. I've used this thing for vocals and guitar mostly, and in both cases it provides super silent amplification of my signal. My only complaint is that it doesn't push the signal quite as hard as I'd like to get a good level going into my DAW (Garageband or Logic 8).

+ COMPARE TO: Presonus TubePre +

PreSonus Tubepre Single-Channel Vacuum Tube Mic Pre

The only thing keeping me from recommending it over something like the PreSonus TubePre (despite the fact that I gave the TubePre 3 stars instead of the 4 I've given to the ART) is that it's hard to get a high enough level out of the ART -- I've maxed out the volume controls for both input and output with my AT4040 ($300) mic. In contrast, the Presonus TubePre provides a little more gain and allows you to control the amount of signal being sent to the tube via a separate "drive" knob. This is nice because you can boost the signal using the solid state portion, and then add the tube in as desired to color the sound a bit.

+ HOW TO: Replace the tube +

This can be a bit intimidating to some people but it's super easy and you'd have to be pretty clumsy to do any damage. Tubes are meant to be swapped -- they're engineered in such a way that they're very easy to replace. If you don't like the way the MP sounds out of the box, replace the cheap piece of junk tube it comes with. Try a Sovtek 12ax7 or any of the JJ tubes, either of which will cost about $12 at your local music store or Guitar Center. To install it, just remove all of the screws and unscrew the hex nuts around the line level input jacks. Gently rock the top part of the unit it opens like a book. Be careful because there is some wiring near the "spine" of the "book" and you don't want to rip it apart. Rock the tube back and forth until it comes out. Don't be afraid to apply counter pressure and tug on the tube fairly hard to get it moving -- you won't hurt it. Pop the new tube in, put the screws back in, and you're ready to rock. If you're freaked out by the process, as someone at a local guitar shop to give you a hand but don't let them charge you more than $5 because replacing a tube is really not a difficult task.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bought becasue of price, kept because of features, April 21, 2008

By 

HMMWV "God, Country, Corps" (santa clara, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: ART Tube MP Studio Mic Preamp (Electronics)

I'll confess - I needed a mic pre-amp and didn't have a big budget. This seemed like I couldn't go wrong so I bought it.

So far I'm impressed with the sound quality, features, build, and value of this low end tube preamp.

First, it has both 1/4" and XLR inputs and outputs, with no switches needed (both work all the time). The VU meter is backlit and features an overdrive LED as well as a limiter circuit as well as input gain and output level controls.

This unit has performed well so far - I ran it constantly for the first 48 hours to weed out any early problems and none appeared. The box gets a little warm in constant usage, but not objectionably so. Some is from the meter light and some from the tube heater.

If I ran into the need to go from mic --> line level again I'd buy this amp again. It's nice to be surprised with the quality and features instead of disappointed with snap together plastic stuff that eats 9V batteries every day.

This was definitely a case of the wallet talking and making the right decision.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable basic pre-amp/DI box, August 16, 2009

By 

D. Lockman (Southern California, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: ART Tube MP Studio Mic Preamp (Electronics)

For smoothing the rawness and thickening the sound of
an inexpensive condenser mic, this box is just the thing.

Microphone settings usually are best somewhere generally
around "straight-up", with some variations. Use restraint
when using with Mics!

***With Microphones, I would strongly urge you use ONLY the XLR inputs,
for lowest noise level.***

However, the VU meter doesn't
seem to register much when using the XLRs (unless you overdrive/distort it excessively).

I would go so far as to say,
don't even worry about the Art VUs when using the XLR ins & outs.

The VU meter seems to be more for line-level
applications like electric guitar/bass,
which sound just fine thru the 1/4" line inputs and outputs.

Compare vocal track recordings both WITH and WITHOUT
the preamp in use, to get a feel for the subtle, enrichening magic it does.

It is even better with guitar or bass, where it
just kicks it up a whole notch
in terms of thickness/smoothness of sound.

And if you overdrive it (guitar, esp), you can
get some enhanced distortion, for sure.

The best use of preamps (esp inexpensive ones), is to keep
its application fairly subtle (i.e.CLEAN) on any 1 track (except for the more
extreme special distortion/compression FX).

But if you were doing multitrack-recording of a song
and you used it on several tracks--Say, vocal mics,
guitar and bass, it would make
a solid difference in your final recording
as a WHOLE, I would think.

When recording a clean mic sound (i.e.lead vocal), You should go for
quite loud output from the pre--Just use your ears a lot
to make sure you have not reached distortion levels.
Aim for a strong output into the recorder, and
keep the input volume on your recording device low (like 1-2).

Used properly, it does that wonderful preamp thing--It makes the sound "bigger",
fatter, "warmer", whatever--In any case, It's a very good thing.


The newer version of this box (with numerous presets),
might be even better and easier to get good results from--But that
is just my guess.

This model is simpler, but I got some
good results from it, and it also "taught" me
what a difference a preamp makes.

This much is true---NO 2nd preamp you get will ever be
as much an improvement in your sound
as the 1st preamp was an improvement over
NOT using a preamp at all.

The VU just makes it a little better than
the non-VU model for line-level stuff.


Great starter pre.
And has pro-level applications as well, IMO.