Check the listing for details. Useful Arts Hornet Microphone Preamp/DI. Condition: New. Listed at 349.00 USD. The Compact, Colorful Preamp Everyone is Buzzing About! Useful Arts has impressed studio engineers at Sweetwater with their meticulously handbuilt, sonically superior mic preamps and DIs, which have earned endorsements from some of the industry’s top professionals, including Vance Powell and Neil Citron. The Useful Arts Hornet is the latest addition to their hive of killer gear. A compact, affordable microphone and an instrument preamp, the Hornet is ideal for chucking in an equipment bag for remote sessions or hanging out on your studio desktop. Use the Hornet’s color control to slather on some saturation, sweeten harmonics, and enliven your tracks. You’ll get crackier snares, grittier bass guitars, and vocals that leap to the front of the mix.