ART DPS II Stereo Tube Preamp with Digital Out 

Comments about ART DPS II Stereo Tube Preamp with Digital Out:

The DPS II's Biggest flaw is the manufacturers lack of quality control, for this reason I suggest buying it in store so you may test it out before purchase.

The product it self is great of the money and as mentioned before you CAN replace the tube (however only do so if you know what you are doing)

There are clearly better products on the market however if your price range is under 1,000 this would be your go to pre-amp

Comments about ART DPS II Stereo Tube Preamp with Digital Out:

A great mic pre for the money. Even greater when I changed the tube with a 12 ax7 JJ tube. It was like a blanket had been lifted. Great improvement. If you have one or plan on getting one, replace the tube. You won't be disappointed.

Comments about ART DPS II Stereo Tube Preamp with Digital Out:

I got this preamp to extend the 2 inputs in my Mbox2 to 4 for drum miking and it works amazingly!! I now use this preamp for all of my miking, and the only time I bother using the mbox2's preamps is when I have to harness all 4 inputs. I'm actually now looking into buying another one just so I can replace the mbox's current preamps with the preamps on the DPS II. Definitely a good buy if you ask me, and well worth it's price.

Comments about ART DPS II Stereo Tube Preamp with Digital Out:

This is a solid pre for some applications. It's certainly got a lot of the tube "warmth." Adds some nice high and low end detail. The thing you need to know about it is that it has a huge cut in the frequency response in the low mids, I'd say between 150-350, and also some "cold" resonance boost around 3k. This makes it no good for guitar, or for running a whole mix through it or something. However, it's the perfect curve for vocals, kick drum and bass guitar. The clock is very smooth, I keep it hooked into my interface all the time just for the clock. The best part about it are the features. All kinds of digital ins and outs, plus the whole Variable Valve Voicing thing, which is certainly interesting. Basically a knob that switches between a selection of EQ, gain and compression presets. It can be very handy though, if you sit down and play around with it you'll find some settings that you like for certain applications and end up using it every time. For example the limiter is pretty good for getting a hotter level out of bass or vocals. Overall I wish I had a better pre, this one has too much character, but it makes vocals sound better than they did when I just use the preamps on my interface (a cheap Edirol Firewire unit), and even if I do that it still sounds better as long as I'm using the DPS's clock.

Comments about ART DPS II Stereo Tube Preamp with Digital Out:

I rarely use this unit. I bought it less than a year ago and the right channel stopped working. I just sent it back for warranty repair now. It's covered by a three year warranty, but the shipping already cost me $25, and having to go without the equipment for a month is a drag. Features are good, the sound is decent but I have serious doubts about the reliability factor.

Comments about ART DPS II Stereo Tube Preamp with Digital Out:

I was pleased with the sweet sounding and reliable ART Tube MP that I used for years. Needing a couple of more channels of tube warmth for mic applications I ordered this for my project studio. The first unit I got suffered from a non-working meter and weak sound on the left channel. I recieved a replacement unit that was also bad - the left channel had an unacceptable buzz/hum that varied somewhat when the digital sample rate button was switched - proving that the noise was in fact internally generated. (and yes I did swap my input sources to verify the noise not being on the right) The S/N ratio on this left channel made it unusable for recording. I did some testing with the right channel, and found it to be somewhat accpetable, but not noticeably superior to my old Tube MP. The Variable Valve Voicing is really not much more than an EQ gimmick, however the OPL is a decent feature. The overall feature set on this unit would make it a bargain if the quality was accpetable. I don't believe in third chances. Its going back for a refund.(FYI: this unit is marked "Made in China")

Comments about ART DPS II Stereo Tube Preamp with Digital Out:

I am VERY PLEASED with ART's DPS-II Tube "valve" preamp! SO PLEASED that I consider it a MUST HAVE item! (Sure there are much better units available, but not at this price!) ART's product discription is very lame, of which a picture of the unit's back would tell a lot about the audio outputs which were not mentioned. However, one can learn a lot more about the unit by looking at their TPS-II, which is basically (all most the same unit), other than the digital outputs within the DPS-II, which I think is the only difference. ART also failed to mention that the gain can be reduced to unity, allowing line-level signals to be applied to its inputs for line-level signal processing. The unit is amazingly well built and housed in a sturdy metal single space rack mount case, of which also contains the units power supply (which IMPRESSED me as MOST things come with wall wart P/S units so that they don't have to deal with UL guidelines and approvals! Therefore, the self-contained power supply meant a LOT to me from the very start!) I called ART as the manual doesn't mention whether a person can tie several units together for additional inputs at a later date VIA the ADAT outputs, and was told that one can. So assuming that info is correct (and SHOULD be as there is ADAT in and outs for syncronizing the clock signal), one can easily add additional inputs as his need increases. The unit's s/n is VERY impressive, which became immediately evident when upgrading from a competitor's unit (and that's a real world audible test, however I didn't take the time to pull out my test equipment as I personally didn't care beyond that point).At first I was disappointed with the subtle tube effect, however, my opinion quickly changed after connecting a headphone amp directly to the audio outs so I could immediately HEAR the audible changes which the unit's controls make. I'm quite convinced the changes of "coloration" are indeed done within the biasing and feedback of the tube circuit due to my overall impression of the quality of the unit, and not merely just altered EQ settings. (But I've not seen its schematic, nor popped the hood to look inside). Overall, I'm VERY IMPRESSED with the unit, especially for the price! My only MAJOR complaint, is that the unit does not have any air inlets for cooling. No, the tube doesn't excessively heat the chasis, but I would have expected to see some air inlets so that the A-D convertors and their clk wouldn't have to endure the tube's warm environment. Other than my desire for better cooling (no it doesn't run hot, I am just an extremist when it comes to cooling), the DPS-II is an amazingly well built unit that is well worth its cost!

Comments about ART DPS II Stereo Tube Preamp with Digital Out:

I love this thing to death. It gives any instrument a incredibly warm tube sound. Good for vocals in the studio. Wouldn't reccomend using it for vocals live because performance gear isnt ready for this bad boy. The digital out was the main reason for me to buy it, but i am finding much more uses for it. Thanks so much for ART for this brilliant product.

Comments about ART DPS II Stereo Tube Preamp with Digital Out:

Just received the Art DPS II. Was happy that it came in in time for me to record a children's choir that my son is in, I have recorded several concerts before but the Art has made a huge difference in the quality of my recording. I connected my two Earthworks SRO microphones and then went digital out to my Sony Hi-MD. After recording, down-loading to computer, and burning to cd was impressed as hell by the difference this Preamp has made. Gave a copy of this cd to the director and it is going to be used to send out for duplication. Thanks to ART and Musicians Friend for a great product and great service.

Comments about ART DPS II Stereo Tube Preamp with Digital Out:

Great piece of gear for the price, very clean pres with a lot of options. Parts (knobs and such) seem a bit unreliable, though, and seem as if they may go bad with time.