The FMR Audio RNP 8380 - Stereo Mic Preamp



This is going to be a short read. Short and to the point.

Many of you by now are familiar with the RNC, the famed FMR Compressor that has sold nearly 20,000 units to my knowledge. The philosophy is simple, the owners of FMR, Mark and Beth McQuilken want to provide people with high quality and a very low price. They aren't in it for the money that's for sure. They work very hard, and they are doing a great job. Quality control on FMR products is excellent. What that boils down to is VALUE.

If you need a 2 Channel budget preamp, get an RNP. It's the ultimate in guerilla budget recording. It's not a toy and it's about as cheap as you can get for professional results. The RNP has balanced +4 outputs and it can actually balance your RNC (which BTW the RNC is also +4, I get asked this question a lot about how to match the RNC with +4 gear, there is no matching, just plug it in just like you would anything else. It is however unbalanced, but this is different from the nominal output level). The RNP supplies 48V phantom power. It also has DI. It's clean sound and is ideal for many sources. It's not "ultra" clean. Think of ultra clean as a glass pure spring water, and the RNP as a glass of pure spring water with 2 teaspoons of sugar.

It is versatile on primary sources like vocals, guitar, keyboards, synths, piano, drums, bass, etc. It works well with all types of mics, it has phantom power for condensers. It has enough gain for ribbons and dynamics too.

In my experience with the RNP, it is not harsh, it is not bright, it is not artificial, and it is not boxy. The RNP is natural and euphonic. It has a little hint of character, it does slightly effect the sound in a good way. In a side by side comparison with a Grace 101, you can certainly tell that the RNP is somehow making the source sound "better" than real life, whereas the Grace caused the brighter and less pleasing frequencies to be accentuated IMO.

I would recommend the FMR Audio RNP preamp to anyone who is looking for quality on a budget. If you need 8 channels of better preamps, you can get 8 channels of RNP for $1900, there are no 8 channel quality pres available in my opinion for the under $2000 budget. Sure, there are a lot of other preamps that are "better", but none of them for $475.00 for 2 Channels! The next step up would be the Vintech 1272, or OSA Pair of A's or C's. Put it this way, if it was in a fancy chassis, this preamp would easily be DOUBLE. It's little, portable, handy, a real work-horse, and it sounds "Really Nice".

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Best Regards
Nathan Eldred
atlasproaudio.com