skimping on preamps

D

drewvta

New member
I'm saving up for a decent preamp, but in the meantime I need something to get me by. Can I use either (insert shutter here) my peavey guitar amp or my home stereo receiver as a make-shift preamp.

I need the preamp to bring mic levels to line levels for vocals. System is Shure sm58 mic, lynxone soundcard, dual 400 mHz pentiums on W2k OS. Software cool-edit pro and n-track.

The peavey is a small "bronco" practice amp and the stereo receiver is a pretty basic kennwood.

Thanks,
-drew
 
Most stereo equipment doesn't have mic level inputs. The Peavey should work if it's got a line level output, although it's likely to be a bit noisey.

Twist
 
...be careful.... even with a low-powered amp, you can blow the living hell out of your soundcard if you send too much power to it. I'm not familiar with your amp, but make sure your running out of the preamp section, and not the amp.

This may be obvious to you, but I figure it'd be better to give obvious advice than have somebody smoke their sound card :)
 
does anybody have an opinion as to whether the Presonus Blue Tube Preamp is worth the extra money over the AudioBuddy. Or would you guys recommend going with the AudioBuddy until I can save up for a more mature preamp?

thanks,
-Drew
 
and Seanmorse79, thanks for the caution. I haven't done any recording in about 7 years, so I definately don't mind having the obvious pointed out to me.
 
save yourself some trouble

http://www.8thstreet.com/Product.asp?ProductCode=3416&Category=Mixers buy that. its cheap, it will sound better then a guitar amp? which really wont work as a mic pre amp... different impedence, whole different story... you will not be able to make anything listenable. and it will make monioring simpler unless you already have a mixer for playback. don't use. and hopefully $69 doesn't set you far back for your higher end preamp. do yourself a favour. get a this little dinky mixer, or the step up which is $99 and has 4 pre amps. dont use your guitar amp.
 
She's right. Actually, I use the 6 channel version of that same mixer ($99), and it's done me pretty well for the price. ...I speak very carefully, because there are avid Behringer haters lurking everywhere (and justly so, if your going for high-quality pro sound), but it'd give you what you need for cheap, it's got phantom power and a separate monitor mix if you need it. If and when the time comes to upgrade, go with a Mackie.
 
the amp will work if you are very careful as stated....you have a very nice soundcard so I wouldnt chance it.....

my suggestion is either the Audio Buddy or an Art Tube Mp......
the Audio Buddy has better preamps than the Behringer....no question in my ears....as far as the Blue Tube, if you are gonna fork over that much $$$, look at the Delta DMP-2 preamp from Delta, 2 channels for $179......

so far, every piece of gear in your setup is very good quality...dont go blow it by getting a Behringer mixer.......
 
well, i think for headphones and such, and an interim deal until he gets a better pre amp. $69 is the smallest amount of cash to hand over. also, he can continue to use it to listen back (headphones) after he gets a better pre amp just using the line ins (if it has them :) i really dont know if it does hehe).
 
The Joe Meek VC3Q does look nice especially since I really only need one mic channel at a time.

Bayview has a street price of $199 which isn't too much more than $69. I guess I'll just be patient and hold out for the Meek.

I guess the VC3Q adds the equalizer feature over the previous model VC3. Is this a very helpful feature? I would thing that most recording would prefer a flat preamp and save messing with eq. levels till later on in the mixing phase? Any comments?
 
Yes, I'd agree with that. Unless you're getting a boomy response from your mic (which is screwing up your input levels), I try to leave everything flat and natural on the way in.
 
Start with the audio buddy. Its much cheeper than just about everything else above and its probley the best clean sounding preamp of them all.

I'd get a better vocal mic before I go for anything better.
 
Yep Id start with the Audio Buddy for $79 and save up for a Marshall MXLv67 mic.....that Joe Meek is one nice preamp for vocals, but how good will it make a sm58 sound?....
 
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