How important are preamps?

S

SeaOwl

New member
Hi!
I am going to record a project on a Tascam 424MKIII with a Rode NTK vocal mic and (probably) one or two Oktava MK-012's for the acoustic guitar (any suggestions for good and affordable acoustic guitar mics besides this?).

I'm on a budget, but still want to get the best sound I possibly can.

I'm curious how important a preamp for the microphones would be in achieving this goal. In another post, I saw someone recommend a Mackie 1202-VLZ/1202-VLZ Pro as a very good and affordable preamp. Given the other gear I'm using, would it make a noticable impact on the overall sound quality?

Any opinions?

I must get the gear very soon so I sure hope someone here can help

Sincerely,
Dave
 
Is the Tascam 424MKII equipped with mic pres and phantom voltage (for the condensers)?

If it is, I'd try them first to see if they do what you want them to do. If it doesn't have preamps, then the Mackie VLZ series mixers would be a great way to get a bunch of good preamps for a reasonable amount of money. And, they'll throw in a good mixer for free! ;)
 
Yo Sea Owl:

You would, indeed, be a wise bird if you got a decent mic pre. I did an A/B/C test with a musician friend of mine and you can check out the results in the "Equipment Reveiw Forum."

Also, if you can get an issue or two of Tape OP, you will find many mic pres advertised and reviewed.

And, if you can get to a major vendor, you can listen to them and decide.

Woooooooooooooo It's Halloween soon.

Green Hornet:D :p :p :cool:
 
hey kid klash, the tascam has no phantom power, but does have a decent mixer
but yeah, i'm thinking the mackie might be the best idea as i may have 3 condensers running at once and can't afford to buy two decent 2 channel pres

green hornet, tthanks for the advice. i'll do a seach and find the post you mentioned in the morning. halloween is an amazing holiday

Dave :)
 
SeaOwl,

I recorded a song using a friend's 424MKII about a year ago, and I wasn't real happy with it's built-in pre's (I used only dynamics - no condensers).

I'm sure you could get a couple of used middle-of-the-road 2 channel pre's for the same price as a Mackie. I guess it all depends on your future plans for the gear you're buying, but I think you could go either way.
 
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