interface = pre-amp?

[fender27]

Im not exactly clear on this topic. If I have a firewire 410 interface going into my mac (recording using garageband), does the firewire act as a pre-amp for my mics, or should I get a separate pre-amp (rack) unit?

[KineticSound]

fender,
The 410 has built-in preamps, so that should get you started without the need for any external gear.

Essentially, the interface is just that - it interfaces between an audio signal and a data signal in order to get your wonderful music into the computer. The preamp is a device that boosts the signal of the microphone (or instrument or whatever) to a level where it can be heard. In the case of your 410, you have a combination interface and preamp (well, actually two preamps to be more specific).

At some point in the future, you might like to use a different preamp, which you can certainly do, but the 410 along with a decent microphone should get you started just fine.

[antichef]

yes -- what kinetic said...

If you wanted to get separate components instead of an interface, you'd have to get 1) a preamp (or several), 2) an analog to digital converter (with several channels), 3) a word clock, 4) probably some way to get a clunky digital signal into your computer, like a S/PDIF or ADAT card, 5) a digital to analog converter, 6) a headphone amplifier (in most cases)

Of course (with the exception of the S/PDIF thing, I guess) you can find higher quality units for each of those functions in standalone mode (and spend *A LOT* more money), but most us home recordists are happy with what we get in the interface (for a while anyway ). If the interface has enough different kinds of ins/outs, then it's also possible to replace those functions one at a time in most cases while interoperating with the remaining portions of the interface, and the preamps are usually the first place to look, since that tends to be where the biggest opportunity for improvement is.