PreSonus TubePre

Just plug in and play; it doesn't get much easier than this. The manual is pretty simple, too.

This is very clean sounding unit. Even using the stock tube, the tone is simply fabulous. I use it for a pre-amp for my Seymour Duncan 84-40 amplifier and the sound has never been warmer or clearer. I don't know what the people who have had issue's with "noise" were doing because quite frankly, my sound now is about as quiet as I've ever heard any tube set up. I definitely plan to experiment with different tubes, but, I'm more than happy right now with the stock tube.

Seems solid enough, but I haven't had the unit long enough for any reliability issues to creep in.

I play mostly solo-jazz guitar. I haven't compared it to other tube preamps, nor do I feel compelled to. This to me is an outstanding unit and you'll NEVER find better value for your dollar

This is a microphone preamp, with a starved plate 12ax7 tube.
VU Meter is very nice. The appearance and lighting when powered is cool.
Not for me to test the road worthiness, if you do, securing...everything, should add longevity to the tests, tube...so shock mounting wouldn't be out of the question either, stuff like this usually 'sleeps warm and dry' [like I do] and sits on the cushioned carseat, or is otherwise housed for being ~delicate.
Has a red light for clipping indication.
Metal case, rugged.
Two potentiometer controls, one for input attenuation, the other called 'gain'. Has 4 switches, a 20db input pad, a bass rolloff, 48v phantom power, 80hz filter.
I put an inline switch on the extension cord to on/off the unit and power supply.

two XLR's
Two 1/4 jacks
...support input and output, making it plenty compatible with whatever I have...analog...around here.
Buy some quality cables...

Looks fantastic, Sounds great, brings the meters up too !
Makes recording my accoustic much more rewarding...shoot just listening through the headphones..rival [finally] the sound of just the guitar.
Sparks up the signal more than I imagined.
Big bang, small buxx.

Put the PS and the TubePRE in one container for storage or moving.
It behouves the end user of this product to understand what AC and DC mean. The unit is AC powered in my case, the company reserves the right to 'diddle' with the PS arrangements, understand your for exponentially increased product longevity.
Plug any AC into your DC circuit and you watch magic blue smoke escape as damage ensues. I don't care to speculate or find out if the same is true when DC is applied to an AC to DC rectifier, which surely my unit has just inside the AC, that's AC jack...in my case, in your case, follow the directions and you'll be fine.
AC "and" DC jacks are stupid, but such is the case when 'design' is by 'default', what everyone else has used since ever].
A completely non-compatible [except with dedicated unit] AC connector design was obviously not chosen for some reason, probably the same reason every other AC "OR" DC jack/plug is used, even and especially the ones that plug into the 'wrong mate' and burn the circuit..yes, it can and does happen, easy.
Has a 'swell' 48vdc supply for pop-less phantom powerings.
There should be a 'too many options for dummy' rating for this category.
...therefore I'll let your opinions rate here, I have obviously ... too many strong opinions for just a number rating...
There is strain relief for the 'swinging' tranformer, mind that line so it doesn't pull your unit off the desk...not my favorite plan but helps isolate the AC from the input...nicely [and inexpensively by simple separation].
Works great as long as it's not found as a 'discovered weak point'...use the strain relief...mind your cables [ughh...

Look 'em up...they're 'tight'...
turn the thing up and the hiss you already have is amplified...that's what this does...amplify.

I believe it operates on a floating power supply, if true, no ground connection = no ground loops !

Kixx up signal for low buxx !
Makes micing less than powerful SPL's possible, fattens up the tracks and hence the mix.
Recommendable...
I'd get another one.
Not sure why no line level input isn't supported, probably a good reason.

PRESONUS TUBE PRE.........Simple to use, basically self-explanatory, there is nothing really to set up. Just plug her up and go. The manual is adequate, but not really necessary. I use it to warm up my basses (fender and gibson) and I just use the 1/2 jacks in and out....simple !

As mentioned I use this as a tube pre-amp for my basses. I run my basses into the TUBE-PRE with 1/4 jack, then out to a Behringer 2x10 450W amp, and a 1x15 extension cab. There is virtually no noticeable, real world noise from this unit, at real world volume levels anyway, and I generally use drive at the 1-2'o'clock position and the gain at 12'o'clock position...this is just the tone I like...In fact this is the tone I LOVE ! Both my Gibson SG bass and Fender Precision sound absolutely wonderful and warm, with a real smooth driven tube sound. You can crank the drive up for a more 'over' driven sound and it is superb. I searched the globe for my tone, to get that vintage vibe and after different basses and pickups and tone pots and capacitors, I read the reviews on this unit. Don't think you are stuck with my vintage tone, whatever you plug into this will sound warmer, more natural and precise. It was 59 UK Pounds, yes ??59 ! If I had turned up at a studio and they told me I was pre-amped into a ??2000 tube unit, I would have said, 'wow, that sounds great!' , so please forgive my excitement at this unit for ??59. AWESOME ! I simply cannot fault this unit and at that silly low price, it's a revelation. Still waiting to try out some different tubes to go in it, to hear the difference, as per other user reviews.

It is surprisingly well made, with a nice look and feel. I don't think you should be put off by the MADE IN CHINA sticker, this is great value for the money and, price-aside, looks as though it was put together well. Would I gig without a backup?, well I would maybe take another spare tube, but I don't beat the hell out of it physically or volume wise.

No opinion really. can't complain for the price. Got many, many hours of use and she's still going well.

I play at home, at a friends studio and in a part-time (twice a month) band. Iam addicted to bass,I have been playing bass for 17 years and I play bass for about 30 hours a week. We play various styles, funk, jazz, motown, reggae and I like the old-school bass sound. I am a Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker nut, so this was a natural choice to warm up my sound. It is a tone-monster. Iam so impressed with this little unit that I think that it would warm up and round-off the sound of anything you plug into it. Our guitarist, who was fed-up with me going on about the TUBE-PRE, plugged his USA strat in and was blown away by the sound..went straight out and bought one. It would be nice to have a power switch, a bit odd they did not fit one, but not the end of the world to reach down and flick the switch off at the wall socket !.

Very easy to use. Manual is unnecessary because the product is so simple. I don't think my rating of 10 means anything special, since *any* preamp with only two controls and a meter should be easy to use.

For $100 it can't be beat. I haven't had the noise issues that some others reported. I know there are much better pre's out there, but I see them priced from seven to twenty times the cost of this unit. For my needs, which is basic home studio recording, I get what I want from this. I bought a pair to use in front of my Tascam 2488 recorder, which is a low end 24 track digital recorder with uilt in effects. The Tascam's preamps are pretty sad. The Presonus TubePre did a lot to improve the sound of my recordings. They turned the 2488 from a ho-hum experience into something much better. For the money spent, I am exteremly happy.

So far so good. Can't really say, ask me in a coupld of years...

Don't know.

If you are looking for a general purpose pre-amp, and don't have a tom of cash to burn, you should definitely check out the TubePre. I know a lot of reviewers changed the stock tube and were pleased with the results. I like to stock tubes just fine, as some people also have indicated.

The little red LED's under the tube really turned me off when I first plugged in. I mean, what on earth is ths supposed to achieve, other than alterting you to the fact that there is a dark tube sitting on top of a silly, pointless LED.

Compared with some JoeMeek units I have, these held their own. For the money, I don't think you8'll be disappointed. Keep up the god work Presonus!

Very simple to use.

Sounds great- but I also changed the 12ax7 to an RCA black plate 5751 I had lying around. Very clear sounding, esp with the tube "drive" control turned up.

I am using this somewhat unconventionally. I velcroed it to my pedal board and am using it to mic my guitar cabinet and establish an fx loop before I give the sound man a direct out to the p.a. This allows me to crank the amp and run delays, etc behind it. The TubePre works very well for this purpose. I also am planning on using it for home recording but haven't gotten around to it yet.

But what a nice surprise when I tried it with my acoustic/electric rig as well. I am plugging my acoustic into it (yamaha guitar w/fishman preamp) and it sounds wonderful. The tube drive really adds clarity and presence to my acoustic that wasn't there before. This is an unconventional setup as well as they don't recommend plugging preamps into it due to the headroom issues that causes. But if you watch your levels, it really works fine. I can't wait to try it for recording now.

No problems so far. Appears to be built like a tank.

n/a

I build my own tube gear so I'm naturally cynical about claims made about "tube sound" in products. I know what makes a guitar amp sound good and what makes it sound bad. There's a lot of gimmicky stuff out there with tubes that don't necessarily sound good, or the sound is not really due to the tubes themselves. The LED behind the tube glass made me suspect this product as just another tube gimmick, but I needed a mic pre for my fx loop and the price was right.

Well, I was very surprised by the sound this gave my acoustic, due to the tube drive function. I don't know what they are doing or how much the tube itself really has to do with it- but it sounds very good. Whatever they are doing, they are doing it right and for the price I don't think this can be beat. So color me impressed- I'm very happy that this does much more than I originally expected. I'm a satisfied customer and will consider PreSonus again when looking for this kind of gear. I am thinking of checking out the Comp16 as well. And I love the cute "mini" form factor of these "low budget" products too.

Very easy to use, except for the inexplicable lack of a power switch. What's up with PreSonus never including a power switch?

Sounds beautiful, especially with an upgraded tube. I run my '77 Rhodes Mark I through the TubePre and into a marginal solid-state Fender Bass Amp and the tone is really pretty incredible. It's nice to be able to set the pre on top of the Rhodes and I can easily reach the knobs to adjust for more or less gain as needed. Really fattens up the overall sound on bass, and guitar as well.

Too soon to tell, but Presonus stuff is usually pretty good in my experience.

Never had to find out....

For $100 bucks, and maybe an extra $17 for a different tube, you can't go wrong. Really one of the best tube pre's out there, regardless of price.

simple to use ...

Using a RODE NT2a mic ... with Stock tube ... vocal was authentic and punchy but a little thiin withput some added Drive. Invoking the Drive added a notable hum, noise etc at about 70% gain... noise was very dependent on the amount of Drive used.

Changed tube to GE JAN 5751 NOS ... a less powerful 12ax7 ... with Drive at 20% and Gain at 70% ... virtually noiseless. Vocal clear, a bit warmer ... no audible noise

don't know

don't know

for $100.00 ... and a tube change out ... rather cool

Very easy to use.. you doesnt have to be a genius to use this..

Well.. i will start from this. If you dont need much gain, it will be very usefull.
First of all, if you record the noise of the preamp.. at full gain you will have -55db noise. Its quite a LOT of noise, with dynamic mics.. it can be a nightmare.
With condensers, works fine.. you doesnt need to trim so much, so you dont add noise practically.
The worst thing.. many people buy valvular cheap preamps, but people dont know 1 thing. YOU CANT DRIVE A VALVE WITH 16V!! if you see ADL600 or ANY valvular preamp, its rated, high voltage preamp, cheap preamp doesnt have high voltage.. the valve wont drive but the preamp will drive and it will sound awfull...
It will sound great, but it will never drive the valve, so sound wont be valvular. Cheapers amps never are valve state.
Changing the valve.. wont do much better i have already tried.

Yes, its really solid, it wont break, you can use it as a direct box.

Nope... didnt deal with customer support, i am not from USA

If you need a cheap preamp, this will sound good, but you will better find a transistor or opamp preamp it will sound better! valves need high voltage!

Very straightforwad and esy to use pre-amp. Most users won't even need the short manual that is included with the product.

I love the sound. I bought a pair after looking at the reviews here, and I can say that the reviews were generally very accurate. This is a no-brainer deal. I bought the pair for use in low volume session work and recording. I have run Fender bass, various accoustic guitars and various vocal mic's through the pre's and the effect is stunning. They make the instruments and vocals so much richer and warmer on the recordings, it sounds like I upgraded my entire studio. I am using the stock tubes, but might consider upgrading them given some of the feedback that others have provided.

Not sure, I have only been using them for a couple of months. A big concern I do have is that these little boxes get very hot, even if they are plugged in but not actively being used. So hot that it concerns me to have one stacked on top of the other. It would also be nice if they had power switches, since you have to physically unplug them to turn them off. After all, what does it cost to add a simple power switch to the box? Not having this is kind of cheesy in my opinion.

No experience.

I play accoustic jazz guitar, blues, and rock. Emphasis on clean guitars and vocals. This preamp works great for bass, vocals (SM58, SM58 beta, Audix) and accoustic guitar (Taylor, Seagull accoustic electrics direct into the pre). I would replace these pre's if lost, there is no better pre on the market at this price.

It's very easy to use, as long as it is working.
Remember that the gain is somewhat of an overdriver, and handle it with care.

I tried 3 different examples, thinking twice that i had become a faulty piece of gear. Turned out that they were really all bad, without exception. It worked allright, but the hiss was just way to loud to make this piece of equipment usefull.

Next to that the phantom power on the last one wasn't working right, for some reason i couldn't turn it off and it killed my Shure SM58, a mike as expensive as the whole TubePre.

I replaced the tube with a mullard, a Tesla, a GE and a groove tube, with all it sounded bad.

This thing looks great, but it's completely useless.

When the first one arrived the tube was installed poorly but that was just a matter of reinstalling the tube, on the second one the VU meter wasn't working at all and on the third the phantom power stayed on. I give this a one, it's just crappy.

Customer support from the store was ok, never contacted presonus.
It's a chinese company it seems, they really probably don't care for your problems.

Don't buy it, when it does work, it still makes so much noise that it's useless.
Manufacturing quality is very poor.