Signal Chain

**undefined1211** · 05-16-2007

listen...just to clear this up...im really more intellectual than you make me out to be. im of always getting simple ass awnsers.

why buy a killer preamp if it all depends on me?. if it dosent improve clarity..why would i want to buy one other than to power my mic? im lookin for really technical awnsers.im tryin to learn as well and not just pass off a 'ok" sounding recording.So for future reference, i know that i have to be recording a good artist to get a good sounding song...but im lookin more towards the hardware/mixing aspect and ill find good artists as they come.i want to be set up completely for recording 1 mic. so please no more garbage ass awnsers like " it takes a good artist" if all it took were good artists Jeezy would be rappin on a MXL 990.

no offense to sleepy...just i need real awnsers

**sleepy** · 05-16-2007

You can be as intellectual as you like but you're clueless about recording. That's not meant as an insult but it's obvious.

There is not "1 mic" that will be perfect. This is why having the "right mic for the job" is emphasized all of the time. Same thing goes with the pre-amp but you're generally safe with a transparent pre over a pre with a colored sound.

A pre amp does not power you mic. You can use the pre-amplification part of a pre-amp without the phantom power part of a pre since some mics might have or even need their own power supply.

Capturing a performance is not about how to make someone sound good. An u87 is a more expensive mic than an SM58 but it definitely will not be the better mic for the job all of the time if even half of the time.

Your questions have simple answers, it's not complicated.

For recording applications, the best chain is mic, pre, recording device. For mixing, it really depends. If you recorded right, you might not have to do much of anything to the sound in the mixing stage at all. Those are real answers. BBS provided some great tips also. I don't know what you were expecting.

**undefined1211** · 05-16-2007

like i pointed out previously..the response dosent really anwnser my question...

whats the purpose of buying a nice preamp..besides powering my mic?

and i never said that thats all they are used for or cant be used with out phantom power...just how will it make any difference? right now i have a 65 dollar pre amp so how will i tell the difference between that and a 300 dollar preamp? and when i say 1 mic, i dont mean 1 microphone only...i mean recording though 1 mic at a time. my mic collection will soon grow and i know not 1 mic fits all. but i dont need a preamp with 8 channels when im only runnin 1 mic at a time through it.

so i guess il word it this way to get the response i need...

if you were buying a preamp in the range of $300 - $400 what would you pick and why? what makes that preamp stand out from the other ones? and how will it differ from the sound i get now with my Art Tube MP Project Series Preamp?

**Blue Bear Sound** · 05-17-2007

You will *never* get "killer-sounding" anything with cheap budget-oriented gear.... mediocre mics and pres tend to sound thin and small in comparison to the high-end stuff...

And you're right - there's almost no difference between a $99 pre (like the ART stuff), and a $200-300 pre. Cheap gear is cheap gear.

The high-quality stuff starts at about the $1200 mark.

In between cheap and high-end, there is the middle-line - which is far better than the cheap stuff, but not quite up to the high-end.... Grace 101, FMR Audio RNP, True Systems P-Solo, Groove Tubes Brick - all are very usable and a significant step up from the budget crap. These start at about $500 or so...

**junyadrin** · 05-17-2007

Liten man I think what you're wanting to hear Is that it's the circutry that sets one pre-amp apart from another , you know the analog to digital and digital to analog converters. for instance At the studio i intern at we sent off our avalon to get upgraded with a different sounding tube that babyface loves so much for r&b vocals and we also did something to make the avalon also have a faster attack

**Pase** · 05-17-2007

Originally Posted by undefined1211

like i pointed out previously..the response dosent really anwnser my question...

whats the purpose of buying a nice preamp..besides powering my mic?

and i never said that thats all they are used for or cant be used with out phantom power...just how will it make any difference? right now i have a 65 dollar pre amp so how will i tell the difference between that and a 300 dollar preamp? and when i say 1 mic, i dont mean 1 microphone only...i mean recording though 1 mic at a time. my mic collection will soon grow and i know not 1 mic fits all. but i dont need a preamp with 8 channels when im only runnin 1 mic at a time through it.

so i guess il word it this way to get the response i need...

if you were buying a preamp in the range of $300 - $400 what would you pick and why? what makes that preamp stand out from the other ones? and how will it differ from the sound i get now with my Art Tube MP Project Series Preamp?

I'll try...First the pre doesn't power the mic, it amplifies the signal from the mic,there is a difference. Mic pre's introduce a certain amount of noise/color to the incoming signal.Cheaper pre amps add more noise to the signal and add "color" (which has to do with the quality of the components inside the pre)to the signal that can be heard in the recording (turn up the gain on your pre and listen). The end result is a recording of a great vocalist, who gave a great performance that has extra crap in it that you don't want there. Not just noise, but even a change in the tone and feel of the performance. Remember that a lack of clarity isn't the only issue you can have. You can have a crystal clear recording that sounds thin and tinny.Better pre's introduce less noise to the signal and tend to "stay out of the way" of the original recording. Thats not to say that some high end pre amps don't "add" to a recording either, but they tend to add things that are considered pleasing but when in doubt your beter off with a pre that does less to the signal than more, and a cheap pre is always gonna do more than you want it to. Also 300 to 400 isn't a lot to pay for a pre amp. You may not notice that much of a difference between a $100 pre and one thats $300 but you would notice a difference between a $100 and a quality pre.

**dvyce** · 05-17-2007

intelligible and clear? that is more about the vocalist and the performance.

Nobody said the "guideline" is "EQ to compressor"... it was said that it can go either way and that each option will treat the sound differently. What you do is dependent on the sound you require in your particular situation.

I couldn't tell you what mic pre to buy in the $300-$400 range... aything in that range will be pretty low quality....

but a good pre will get you a better representation of what you are recording and a more robust recording and a more detailed recording... but the pre is just one link in your audio chain... every link is important to the quality of your recording.

**undefined1211** · 05-17-2007

aight awesome! them are the awnsers i been lookin for... so whats a " good" preamp cost?

**Pase** · 05-17-2007

There are a few that are recommended on here often like the grace 101 or the true p solo. Also the GT brick are in the $500 range. but high quality pre's start in the 1000 range and keep goin.