signal chain question

[dzara 4]

im brand new to this so i hope i make sense asking this question.

What arrangment in your opinion works best in regards to a signal

chain.

mike --- pre amp ----compressor--- eq's ---- workstation

or possibly


mike---- gate--- compressor --- pre amp --- eq --- workstation


or anything else you can think of.

would love some advice

thanks

[chessrock]

Personally, I think it should go preamp > compressor > gate > microphone.

All the great hits of our time were secretly done that way. Try it.

.

[NYMorningstar]

I'd say mic->pre->workstation. The shorter the chain the better IMHO.

[soundchaser59]

For recording:

mic - preamp - record.


Then if you need compression, do it on playback. My comp has a gate built in, so that is easy enough. I like to compress after eq, cuz eq tends to mess with levels. (unless it is an insert, many of which are pre-eq).

But if you must compress going in, I like to do mic - preamp - compress+gate - record. Try not to eq on the way in.

[littledog]

Gating while recording is very dangerous - you could render the whole session useless. Almost no reason to take that chance - you can always add in the gates at mixdown.