Fredenstein V.A.S. MicPre

We bought it to use it as a preamp for RME interface. as a good quality Di and mic pre.
With good reviews, it seemed like a good idea. However, it seems that corners were cut to reach such a low price.
It sounds really good, incredible for its price, it gets 4 stars, as there are of course better-sounding preamps, but those come at un-proportionately higher price.
On our unit, Gain know is flimsy, feels wiggly and unprecise, also it is not linear at all, it has a tiny area somewhere around 1/3 where you get almost two times gain at a slight touch of the knob, not good.
What is worse, when TURNED OFF there is audible clicking from inside of the box. It is going back to Thomann and I doubt we will try another unit, as these are signs of poor components being used, so future use seems risky even with a unit that works as intended.
If you want good sound and want to risk, get it. I would gladly take less characterful preamp that is built to last.

The Fredenstein V.A.S. is a open transparent tool with a nice body, a toneprint of the discrete OP-AMP driving a good transformer. On vocals it shines, used with SM-7B sounds amazing, full, open, rounded. I use it with a T-Bone SCT-140 on acoustic instruments, snare sometimes, all with great results. Excelent design, wide array of options, Power Supply PSU inside, XLR and JACK ins and outs, headphone amp to check sound when positioning the mics. I give it a 5 star. Hutch Hutchinson (ex chief designer at Manley Labs) and the team did a great job. Did I mention the price?

Like some others have mentioned, from new, the headphone pot makes a scratching noise. Other than that it's really good.
I find the tone nice and round, it really shines a a bass DI.
It has lot of useful features that come in handy.
I also use as a guitar DI.

Update September 2021 - the unit has started acting erratically and became unusable after 6 years of extremely light use. A front power switch might have reduced the on time as it was nearly always turned on in the rack because of the power switch location, even when not in use.

A bulging capacitor near the opamp got replaced only to bulge again instantly.
Here's a picture.
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If I could go back in time to slap myself for not buying this a few years back...

It is simply the best sounding piece of gear, not only in this price range, but way above. The next step in quality would be 4x times this one.
I can't belive that this even exists, because it brings a very good quality of sound to any home studio gear.

If you have a simple homerecording setup, then it is a must. Don't rely on your interface preamp, because it will never get as clean as this one. I record through an AT2020 microphone for years now. And sadly up until now I used only my scarlett 2i2 interface. I know the sound of this mic. Finally decided on this preamp, and I was blown away with the first couple of recordings I've made using it. I record acustic guitar very often. Up till now I've always had to EQ a lot to get some preferable results. With the Fredenstein MicPre it was as if the recording was the live sound. Which was my very goal. I always try to make the magic happen before the mic.
Cristal clear and very natural sound. I've read a whole lot of comments about other products in comperison, and a lot of people agree that this one is pretty much the most natural.