I've got a Digi-002. To shove more mic inputs into it, I bought a Presonus DigiMax LT preamp that feeds 8 mic signals via lightpipe to the Digi. This setup has worked for me for a few years now... Except I've come to hate the way that pre sounds. It's thin and lifeless (but clear).
I made a recording using direct outs from my Mackie Onyx console and found the pres to sound a lot thicker, warmer, and clearer than the DigiMax. Heck, they sound pretty decent! Better than the Digi-002's pres, better than the Digimax.
Presonus' new crop of 8-packs have a supposedly different preamp design, with discrete-component op amps (they make a big hoopla about this), etc.
Here's my question. I want to sell the Digimax LT (Hey, anyone wanna buy a Digimax LT?
), and get something else. My options, near as I can tell:
- New Digimax. Maybe the pres are better now?
- Mackie Onyx 800R preamp
- Some sort of 8-ch A/D converter (Apogee Rosetta or Lucid), and some form of nice outboard pres (APIs, Hardys, Daking, Forssell, etc).
The last option is really expensive, but probably the best-sounding and most versatile. But I'm on a budget, here.
So... Anyone use the new crop of Digimax pres? The Onyx pres? Is it just not worth it to consider these all-in-ones?