NEW HERE! generic question...

[edwardsforest]

setup: alesis io26, pc laptop, cubase sx3, waves plugins.

I would really like to have recordings that are 'standard' or have volume. With this I will need a preamp - something I do not have.
I am looking for something for guitar, mainly for heavy distorted guitars - if that matters - and would like something for drums, particularly snare(I know compressors come into this, is a compressor a alternative?) and kick. I don't have a huge budget and definitley cant afford no millenia, that means I really can't afford a multi-channel preamp, even though there arent many of those out there for a decent price.... I guess I am just asking what you all think to be the best route for a intermediate home recorder who does stuff for friends and himself. I just need volume and to make my recordings less weak - can't take it anymore!
I know presonus has small one-channelers, and art makes a crappy one in one out, but are these alright just for volume? Will they push my signal enough? I am not really out to get the best tube pre. I just want decent volume in my recordings. I know all this comes with good technique as well, but hell, I don't even have a preamp in my setup.... The alesis io26 claims to have built in pres like every other interface but not cutting it.

I am sure you have seen this multiple times on this board...... sorry! I will continue to search the archives!

thanks

[WhiteStrat]

Originally Posted by edwardsforest

setup: alesis io26, pc laptop, cubase sx3, waves plugins.

I would really like to have recordings that are 'standard' or have volume. With this I will need a preamp - something I do not have.
I am looking for something for guitar, mainly for heavy distorted guitars - if that matters - and would like something for drums, particularly snare(I know compressors come into this, is a compressor a alternative?) and kick. I don't have a huge budget and definitley cant afford no millenia, that means I really can't afford a multi-channel preamp, even though there arent many of those out there for a decent price.... I guess I am just asking what you all think to be the best route for a intermediate home recorder who does stuff for friends and himself. I just need volume and to make my recordings less weak - can't take it anymore!
I know presonus has small one-channelers, and art makes a crappy one in one out, but are these alright just for volume? Will they push my signal enough? I am not really out to get the best tube pre. I just want decent volume in my recordings. I know all this comes with good technique as well, but hell, I don't even have a preamp in my setup.... The alesis io26 claims to have built in pres like every other interface but not cutting it.

I am sure you have seen this multiple times on this board...... sorry! I will continue to search the archives!

thanks

Exactly how much gain do the alesis pres have? You're lack of volume isn't likely to be caused by preamps. The job of a preamp is simply to bring a mic up to a "recordable" level. Your alesis is either doing that or it's not--and if you're making recordings with it, I'd say it is. I think the "volume" you're talking about has more to do with how you're recording and what you're doing with the tracks after they're captured.

Put simply, I can make VERY loud recording with the cheap preamps built into my interface. I use other preamps for other reasons--a certain character, or maybe they're cleaner etc.

After you get to 5 posts you can post a link. So make a few more posts and then upload an mp3 somewhere and come back to this thread and give us the link so we can listen to it and hear what you're dealing with.

[Light]

It is very unlikely that your preamps are your problems. It is far more important to have a great player, great amp, a great room, and a great engineer than to have a particular preamp. You'll get a lot further by reading Slipperman's tome and practicing what he talks about than from buying any new gear.


Light

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