Preamp a Necessity?

mobodcubism

New member
Hey guys,

I'm currently attempting to record an old upright piano and have been wondering weather a preamp is something I actually need or not for the recording process.

my current set up is pretty simple:

2 Oktava MK-012's mounted on two mic stands
Zoom H5 Field recorder with phantom power


Is a preamp something I should consider adding to my set up? Is it really needed/worth it?


Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks :)
 
Out of curiosity, why is a preamp not necessary in this application? When is a preamp necessary? (for my own learning).
 
A pre amp raises the output of your microphones from "mic level" to "line level" and is pretty well always needed for any kind of recording.

However, the Zoom H5 has it's own built in pre amps on the XLR inputs on the bottom. You'd have to spend a lot of money to get anything better than the built ins...probably not worth it with the rest of your system. The Zoom pre amps are "okay" and a quality match for the rest of your gear.
 
However, the Zoom H5 has it's own built in pre amps on the XLR inputs on the bottom. You'd have to spend a lot of money to get anything better than the built ins

This is the key bit of info.
Buying a preamp would be a replacement or upgrade, not an addition.
 
Bit of "historical"?
Back in the day, the only microphones available were dynamic types. SM57/58, SM7b, the Electrovoices and a few ribbons. All these mics are characterized bY low or very low sensitivity. In other words you needed a high gain, low noise pre amp to raise the level to drive a tape machine.

These pre amp circuits were either valves and an expensive input transformer or discrete transistors, again with a costly traff. For cost and technical reasons these amp were not usually built into tape machines except for low grade domestics (where they were unbalanced crap) and a few portable and "semi-pro" recorders.

But, about a decade ago we were blessed with very cost effective capacitor (aka condenser) mics. These had sensitivities ten, twenty dB or even greater than the old dymos and the need for REALLY high G low noise pres diminished.

We have come almost full circle. With modern ICs and some clever circuit design very good pre amps are now possible at low cost and are fitted to many interfaces and mixers alike.

Dave.
 
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