Compressor

J

jaybriggs84

New member
I'm borrowing my friends tube compressor and it's the only piece of ourboard gear I have, unless you consider my Firepod to be one. Anyways, is it a common practice to run a mic signal to the compressor before the preamp? I know I can't do it with mics that require phantom power but is it OK to run an sm57 -> compressor -> preamp(firepod)? It seems to work that way, but is it better to go through the preamp first, out to the compressor, and then back in to my firepod via line in?
 
jaybriggs84 said:
I'm borrowing my friends tube compressor and it's the only piece of ourboard gear I have, unless you consider my Firepod to be one. Anyways, is it a common practice to run a mic signal to the compressor before the preamp? I know I can't do it with mics that require phantom power but is it OK to run an sm57 -> compressor -> preamp(firepod)? It seems to work that way, but is it better to go through the preamp first, out to the compressor, and then back in to my firepod via line in?
Click to expand...

What exactly are you micing and why do you want to compress it?
What kind of "tube" compressor are we talking about?
How does it sound?

...and to answer your question - yes - you can do that.

Do you need to ....and should you are my questions. ;)
 
jaybriggs84 said:
I'm borrowing my friends tube compressor and it's the only piece of ourboard gear I have, unless you consider my Firepod to be one. Anyways, is it a common practice to run a mic signal to the compressor before the preamp? I know I can't do it with mics that require phantom power but is it OK to run an sm57 -> compressor -> preamp(firepod)? It seems to work that way, but is it better to go through the preamp first, out to the compressor, and then back in to my firepod via line in?
Click to expand...
you could but your threshold would be so low you would not be making the most of the compressor. Send the mic to the preamp first and then out your inserts to the compressor. That's usually how it's done and for god reasons.
 
NL5 said:
Please. Do tell. LOL. :D
Click to expand...
Well, if you use the compressor before the preamp you are using it at the lower end of it's gain range since the mic signal is much quieter which means you are closer to the noise floor of the compressor itself. Therefore you have more noise in your signal. Then when you use your preamp you amplify the usable signal with the noise and end up with a fairly noisy product.

Happy?

LOL yourself.
 
jamacian said:
Well, if you use the compressor before the preamp you are using it at the lower end of it's gain range since the mic signal is much quieter which means you are closer to the noise floor of the compressor itself. Therefore you have more noise in your signal. Then when you use your preamp you amplify the usable signal with the noise and end up with a fairly noisy product.

Happy?

LOL yourself.
Click to expand...


Read what I quoted the first time REALLY SLOWLY.............
 
ok thanks guys. When I first tried it that it wasn't going to work going to the compressor first, but to my suprise it did. I have some TRS cables ordered so I will be able to go to the preamp first.
 
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