Tube MP Studio V3 BK : Useable tube preamp & DI

First of all, I have to say I love the looks of this piece of equipment with its old-school VU meter. Aesthetically it looks much nicer and like a more expensive machine compared to the higher grade Art preamps.

There are a number of presets with the main difference in sound between them being different eq profiles, principally more treble or less. The other difference is whether you want the (preset and non-user-adjustable) limiter to work or not. Honestly I couldn't tell the (very subtle?) variations between the "neutral" and "warm" versions of the presets.

It's a good active DI as well.

It does add a subtle pleasant sonic aspect to the sound thanks to the magic of the tubes--this magic mostly consisting of a natural soft compression inherent to the design of the tube itself. I used it for recording and even during practice to alleviate the digital harshness of most of the equipment we get to use these days. Recommended for both its sonic properties and DI usefulness.

However it's not quiet like a thousand-dollar piece of gear and there is a great difference in the input level of the presets with the limiter always on as opposed to the sounds without the limiter. Their outputs are not matched well and the VU meter and the red overload light function at completely different levels. The decay time is quite long on the limiter facility so you want to make sure that the signal never triggers it greatly as the significantly squashed sound will result in poor recordings.