Mic Preamps

[HB1978]

How important is mic preamps. If you have a good mic let's say the Sterling Audio ST66 is the mic pre still necessary?

[buckkillr8]

A good mic isn't going to be any good through a shitty preamp. A not so great preamp will never show what a good mic is able to do. It'll only be as good as it's weakest link.

[HB1978]

Originally Posted by buckkillr8

A good mic isn't going to be any good through a shitty preamp. A not so great preamp will never show what a good mic is able to do. It'll only be as good as it's weakest link.

I have an APHEX 207 two channel tube mic pre. Is that a pretty good mic pre? Or shall I upgrade?

[KineticSound]

I like those Aphex units. No frills; just good, clean gain. Paired with the Sterling 66, I imagine that sounds pretty nice.

What's the medium? Vocals? Acoustic instrumentation? Both?

[HB1978]

Originally Posted by KineticSound

I like those Aphex units. No frills; just good, clean gain. Paired with the Sterling 66, I imagine that sounds pretty nice.

What's the medium? Vocals? Acoustic instrumentation? Both?

Forgive me for being stupid, but I don't understand your question. Can you rephrase it?

Sorry, I just got it. I'm doing Vocals.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by HB1978

How important is mic preamps. If you have a good mic let's say the Sterling Audio ST66 is the mic pre still necessary?

Mic preamps are fairly important if you have a decent microphone.

But there is also another factor to consider; how well the mic and preamp match up. If you have a mic that requires (just for example) an amp with 65dB of clean gain in order to get the signal up to line level and you have a cheap preamp that's only rated for a clean 50dB of gain, you're going to have trouble getting a full signal.

Similarly, but arguably not quite as crucial, is that typically you want to look for a preamp that has a rated input impedance of somewhere in the 5-10x grater value than the rated impedance of the microphone in order to get decent performance matching. This i usually not a problem, but some cheaper preamps are designed at much lower impedances than that.

Not that the proper amount of preamp gain and impedance matching will guarantee a quality sound, but it can be hard to get that sound without them.

G.

[HB1978]

Originally Posted by SouthSIDE Glen

Mic preamps are fairly important if you have a decent microphone.

But there is also another factor to consider; how well the mic and preamp match up. If you have a mic that requires (just for example) an amp with 65dB of clean gain in order to get the signal up to line level and you have a cheap preamp that's only rated for a clean 50dB of gain, you're going to have trouble getting a full signal.

Similarly, but arguably not quite as crucial, is that typically you want to look for a preamp that has a rated input impedance of somewhere in the 5-10x grater value than the rated impedance of the microphone in order to get decent performance matching. This i usually not a problem, but some cheaper preamps are designed at much lower impedances than that.

Not that the proper amount of preamp gain and impedance matching will guarantee a quality sound, but it can be hard to get that sound without them.

G.

My mic is 200 ohms and my pre is 1M ohms input. I get a pretty good signal already. My mic is connected to a Pro Tools MBox 2. With all that said I still do have turn up the gain on the MBox to almost the max to get a fuller signal. But I will try using the pre in the signal chain.

[KineticSound]

Originally Posted by HB1978

My mic is connected to a Pro Tools MBox 2. With all that said I still do have turn up the gain on the MBox to almost the max to get a fuller signal. But I will try using the pre in the signal chain.

Wait a second... you have a $600 Aphex pre and you've been bypassing it and going directly to the MBox?

[HB1978]

Originally Posted by KineticSound

Wait a second... you have a $600 Aphex pre and you've been bypassing it and going directly to the MBox?

Yep.

Does the pre only give gain? Is that the only purpose of the pre or is it suppose to make the vocals clearer? Forgive me for the stupid question.

[KineticSound]

Correct. The preamp provides the gain to the mic. The MBox is also capable of this (although on a much more limited basis as you have found). Assuming you're using the standard MBox 2, the max gain is only +50dB. I think the Aphex's have more like +65dB.

Ideally, run the mic to the Aphex, then the Aphex out to the MBox's line in. If you've got the digital version of the Aphex, then you can run S/PDIF directly to the MBox's digital input.

[HB1978]

Originally Posted by KineticSound

Correct. The preamp provides the gain to the mic. The MBox is also capable of this (although on a much more limited basis as you have found). Assuming you're using the standard MBox 2, the max gain is only +50dB. I think the Aphex's have more like +65dB.

Ideally, run the mic to the Aphex, then the Aphex out to the MBox's line in. If you've got the digital version of the Aphex, then you can run S/PDIF directly to the MBox's digital input.

Great input! I will do that. Unfortunately I don't have the digital version. However, I may be thinking out of the box on this next question:
How about running my Triton Workstation Sampler Keyboard throuhg the pre, how do you think that would work?

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by HB1978

Does the pre only give gain? Is that the only purpose of the pre or is it suppose to make the vocals clearer? Forgive me for the stupid question.

That's it's function, it's job in life, yes. The idea to to boost the voltage from the microphones, which by design are low-voltage devices, up to the kind of "line-level' voltages for which all devices in the rest of the analog signal chain are designed to operate.

That said, however, for many technical reasons, different preamplifier designs can often have some effect on the total quality of the sound as well. Matching mics and pres, however, can be a black art not always predictable; i.e. one cannot simply look at the specs and determine exactly how a preamp is going to sound, or for which specific mics it will work "best". One can look at specs and determine if a preamp will provide inadequate gain, but beyond that, there's not a whole lot of predictability.

That said, I'm with David on this one; there is a distinct difference in quality between the Aphex and the MBox preamps. Only you can decide which combo will give you the sound you want for any given mix, but IMHO it would be silly to just let the Aphex sit there while you're pumping the ST66 through a bargain, entry level preamp like the MBox.

G.