Steve; There are a ton of mics on the market every month..ha, ha or so it seems. I'm in the studio ALOT and I've A/B'ed these mics against the Neumann U87 (not that it's my all time favorite but these companies say that their mic is that same quality if not better) what I found was pretty simple. These mics do not sound like a U87. They don't reproduce a signal like the U87 and the design of these new mics don't compare because they are using "cost effective" parts in place of the better quality parts used in Neumann's. Therefore, you can't get the same sound with inferior parts. I've A/B'ed the New Neumann reissue U87ai and it isn't as good as the older U87's. I believe you very best bet (for the money) would be either an Audio Tech. 4050 (has switchable patterns or the 4033(which is just a cardiod pattern). They are not as transparent as the U87(I own a 4050 and have used a 4033) but for the money you can't go too wrong. I've even seen these mics in multi-million dollar facilities. Good luck steve; Trace I'm with Benjamin on this one. I've had an ART Tube MP for about 9 months and used it for both recording vocals, bass DI, and pre-amplifying instrument mics. I certainly agree that a neve or summit pre is far superior, and if you can make one - go for it! For the $ , though, a the ART box sounds much better than the preamp in the average mixer. I'd say the one I have is pretty quiet - perhaps quality control at ART is suspect.... Ape garver@lasher.com 10/16/98 10:11 AM I have never used a ART Compressor but I wonder if it works on the same concept as the MP - tube run on low juice i.e. "Starved plate". I also real a consumer review of the MP by a guy that replaced the chinese tube with an NOS and felt much better about the device's distortion characteristics. When I was refering to the "noise" and "buzz" I was refering to the hand help version and NOT the reck mount version (which has two units in a one rack space design) I was assuming that you were talking about the hand help (mono) unit and not the rack mount version. I did try to replace the tube with various others but it still had a strange "noise" and "coloration" issue. Perhapes it has since been taken care of by ART. As far as sounding more transparent than a Mackie Mic Pre...I don't know as I agree with this. First of all the Mackie mic pre isn't designed to have a built in "eq curve" like the ART, therefore, it does color the sound. I would ask you local store to "sign it out" to you for the night so you can try it. Many stores will take a credit card number until you return thew product the next day. Then again it depends on where you live and the trust factor you have with the sales people there. Good luck!! Trace You might want to look at the AKG C1000 small condenser mic. It's cheap +/- $150 and sounded great to my ears on a Taylor acoustic. I plan to pick one up myself eventually for this purpose... Steve K Steve is right the AKG C1000 is a pretty cool condensor mic for the price!! Trace Steve; Here are some good mics listed in order of quality (as well as price). First thing's first ... you will want a condensor mic for this application not a dynamic (which is what your Shure SM57 is). Condensors are far more sensitive and quiter for this application. I would recommend two mics for this. One about 6" from the sound hole (aimmed ever so slightly at the bridge depending on how much low end your acoustic has) and one aimmed about 6" from the 12th fret. You can pan them hard left & hard right if you like (for the stereo effect) or dead center. MIC CHOICE: 1.) Neumann U87 (very pricey) 2.) Neumann TLM190 (under a grand) 3.) Audio Tech. 4050 (in & around $600.00ish) 4.) Audio Tech. 4033 (in & around $500.00ish) 5.) Shure 4.1 (in & around 300.00ish) These little buggers are pretty damn good for the price & most people are very surprised by these mics. Two is worth the price because you can use them on everything from drum overheads to room mics. 6.) Radio Shack PZM's: (in & around 50.00ish) For the price you can not beat these!! I w would say get one, tape it a wall or table and see what it sounds like!!!! ***Crown used to make these for Radio Shack & now I believe Shure makes them. Trace Steve; The Shure 4.0 mics are an earlier model of the 4.1 mic. Use the phantom power off your board rather than the battery setup in the mic. As far the Radio Shack PZM's go: Yeh...I'm serious bro...pick up two today!! You'll be seriously surprised by what you hear. I've been in some of the biggest studios around and they even have some of these around!!! They also work great for room mics on drums...just put them on the left and right hand sides of the kit, pan them hard left and right, and take a listen. They work best when simply taped on the wall. (use duck tape) Some people will use them on a stand to isolate cymbals but they really are not as effective unless they are on some sort of surface. You can also hotrod these (very easily) to a frequency response of 20-20!! 1.) Buy some of those 12 volt adapters at Wal-Mart 2.) cut off the ends & strip both wires 3.) solder the ground to the spring in the battery compartment and the hot wire to the other end 4.) plug the other end into the wall and off you go!!! I hope this helps you out. It's a very cheap way to get a great sounding recording & it also works to record live shows & rehearsals straight to a regular tape deck. Check out this website...there's some great links that will help you out as well... ASITIZ.COM see yah soon; Trace Allen Steve, I can't say enough good things about the Audio-Technica 4033. These microphones are so transparant....it's scary. Coupled with the MP-1 and a decent compressor.......you can get some nice tones. This microphone has won several shootouts in all kinds of music mags. You can find them used for $250-$350 if you look around. Good luck, Benjamin. I just picked up a ART Tube MP a few months ago for $110. and am very impressed with the unit. Mine is VERY quiet. I'm using it instead of the Mackie pres in my mixer with a CAD condenser and various dynamic mics and IMO the MP adds a presence the Mackie is missing. Some mics its less apparent than others. For a hundred bucks it seems like a bargain to me... And it seems to be highly thought of by many mag rag reviews also, for what THATS worth... Steve K Steve, Try this sight... http://www.ozemail.com.au/~gwagner/ There's another one called Electric Crayons but I can't seem to find the http. Any one else know it? Building a good mic pre is something I've been interested in for a while now...just haven't had the time. If you decide to DIY, keep us posted. Carlo Steve, Here's another: http://w3.one.net/~robgrow/circuits/circuits.html This one also has the link to Electric Crayons Carlo Steve; I would dig up some schematics on the old Neve Mic-pres. These are the best going hands down and if you have the ability to build them then I would say build it!!!! ha, ha. You certainly won't be disappointed. I believe you would want the model #1033 I don't have a schematic but I believe if you call Micky @ 416-219-9553 He could fax a copy to you. Micky is one of the best techs for studio equipment I have ever seen in my life. He's been working at Phase One Studios in Toronto, Canada for the past 25 years. He has most schematics than I've ever seen on vintage gear. He's usually in around 12:00pm EST untill 5:00pm-ish. If you have any more questions please give me shout at: Shameus1@AOL.COM Good luck Steve!!!! Trace Sorry, Yes I was thinking of the ADA MP-1 guitar pre-amp. Sorry. I have never used the ART tube mic pre-amps, but many folks on the Roland VS recording list recommend them (for the low price) as well as the non-tube low end Joe Meek mic pre-amp/compressor combos. The ART also comes in a pack (Tube Pac) with the MP-1 combined with their single channel tube LeVElar type compressor, though for a budget compressor, many recommend the RNC unit.