OT: Gear Question

I am using the toneport DI gold as my interface. I have 2 mics a Shure SM58 and a Shure SM48. My problem is I can't get enough input level to record properly with my mics. I have three options for fixing the problem and was wondering which one you guys would recommend as they are all about the same price. 1) Blue Icecicle XLR to USB converter preamp 2) Xenyx 802 Mixer with built in Mic pre 3) Tube preamp (TubeArt I think)

I got great results with my SM58 and the dbx 286a. Dunno the other stuff you mentioned, sorry.

That looks sweet but a little out of my price range at the moment. The 3 things I listed range in price from $59 to $79 @ musicians friend.

Don't know those unit you mentioned, but as a rule I'd stay away from everything that mention "tube" in low cost hardware. Those are not real tube amp design, but what some refer to as "starved plate" which just means the tube operate at low voltage; all it does is add indiscriminate noise to the signal and make the unit hot, as useless as useless can be. If I was purchasing a pre in the sub 200 buck range now, I'd get a DMP3.

Thanks for the advice guys. I will check ebay and see what I can find.

+1 on the M-Audio DMP3. Sounds great here with SM58, SM57, Studio Projects B1, Audix D6, and AKG C1000 so far. A little more than your budget but well worth saving for (and two channels). Michael