Budget 12 String Guitar Preamp

I use it for recording on a budget, and it works as a mic and guitar preamp. I would imagine that any other instrument you can plug into it would sound great as well. It has the distinctive sound that you'd expect from a valve. And with a guitar plugged up to it, any but the most picky audiophiles would be hard pressed to tell it apart from a tube amp. It also functions as a splitter as it sends signals through both the XLR and TS (1/4) outputs at the same time. It was so well worth the $ dollars that I ordered a second one within minutes of receiving the first.

This was part of the package for the GL1 Guitalele - Nylon-String Guitar Ukulele (Natural) by Yamaha. It was all given as a gift and well received!

My first nylon string guitar of this type and I'm absolutely amazed at how nice this is. It's a very light yet solidly built guitar. Fit and finish is stunning. Playability is easily comparable to guitars of this type that are more than twice the price. Very pleased with this guitar.

Works very well on my Cordoba nylon string classical guitar. Firm pressure, grip is effective but doesn't damage anything. Easy to use.

I'm a jazz guitarist playing an 8-string classical guitar that goes higher and lower than a regular guitar. It has a K & K pickup and I my amp is a JBL EON powered speaker, which, for this instrument sounds better than any jazz guitar amp. I have used the Zoom A-3 preamp as well as an L.R. Baggs Venue DI. They are both very good but I'd say the Grace Alix is the best I've found. It has great features you can read about but I must say that the sound of my guitar with the EQ set flat is strong, clear and simply amazing! It's very well thought out. Worth the price.

Looking for pro-quality equipment with a starter budget...this is the preamp for you. This preamp was provided the perfect quality for the 'at-home' recording studio I needed, plus the guidance by the B&H staff, it was made it super easy to put my system together.

I bought this device in order to mix my acoustic guitar preamp, which requires phantom power, and my electric guitar. I can match the respective output levels and process a single signal or pan them stereo and process separately. Works perfectly for my application. Haven’t used the USB interface. Not sure if I ever will. I was also surprised at how heavy it is. Time will tell how robust the components are, but the chassis is very solid and has the feel of piece of pro gear.

Don't be put off by the bargain price, this is a wonderful amp mic, period. The RSM5 is impressive sounding on guitar amps or speaker cabs. In that application, it's better combine the RSM5 w/ another non-ribbon mic, like condenser or dynamic. I get great results combining RSM5 with a ShureSM57. The RSM5 adds a delightfully smooth, warm low end girth & the SM57 adds presence, cut and sparkle. Experiment with positioning the mics on the speaker cone. As with all bargain ribbon mics, be sure to check your RSM5 for loose ribbon tension before keeping it. Google the issue and how to do a test. The tension inside mine was perfect out of the box. The RSM5 takes EQ great, yet doesn't need much to fit into a mix. It's very low noise. I have not yet really tried the RSM5 on other sound sources. Like all passive ribbons, this one needs lots of preamp gain or a mic booster to get a good level with quiet sources. With a loud source like guitar amp, that's not an issue with the RSM5. The preamps built into my Steinberg UR44 interface are more than powerful enough to get great results with Nady RSM5 on amps. I even briefly tried it on my male spoken voice, for which the preamps had to be turned up quite a bit, but I think even that would work without any extra preamp booster. I suspect that on quieter voices, or acoustic guitar from a distance, you'd need a gainier preamp, or FETHEAD or Cloudlifter to get a good level with the RSM5. The RSM5 has presentable build quality, and it sounds much, much better than I imagined, especially at this price point. It's downright unbelievable! I love the tones I am capturing having this mic as part of the mix. I have been playing music seriously for 40 years, and am fanatical about good tone. Nonetheless, given the great results with the RSM5, I could not justify the extra cost of the high end ribbon mics.

I read a lot of reviews of this preamp which complained about the lack of headroom and tendency to distort the signal easily, producing a wooly, dark, or muddy tone. If you are looking for a clean, all-purpose preamp with very little character then this is not what you are looking for. However, if you are after a warm, dreamy tube-driven sound then this is a great low-price preamp to add to your arsenal. It's become my favorite preamp for a classic acoustic guitar tone paired with a beyer ribbon mic-- beautiful warm, woody sound with a little gentle tube compression. Happiest I've ever been with an acoustic guitar.

I use this cable to connect my ENGL guitar preamp to my QSC poweramp. My ENGL preamp has the option to run a balanced stereo signal out and my QSC poweramp has balanced inputs as well. I was using standard instrument patch cables but this allowed me to use just one cable and the signal is now balanced. I was suprised that is a nice rubber cord, not the harder plastic style i was expecting at this price. The jacks are metal and feel heavy , they have a nice tight fit as well.