Preamp for Drum mics...

[AumStudioBrian]

I'm tottally in the dark reguarding preamps for recording drums. I'm currently running 10 drum mics into a Mackie mixer into soundcard into computer. I heard someone mention they used a preamp for their drums and I was wondering what are the pro's and con's of doing so and which are good prospects? I know the importance of vocal mic preamps and the huge difference they make in recording vocals or even guitars ect... But why is it that I haven't really heard of this being done with drums? If it makes as much as a difference as the preamps for vocals do for vocals, I'm definetly interested. Anyone have experience using preamps on drums????

[tmix]

You probably realize this, but I'll say it anyway.
By plugging the mics into your Mackie you ARE using preamps, they are just not stand alone dedicated pres. The issue comes with how much headroom and signal the pre can take and still sound clear and full (somewhat an oversimplification).

The Mackies are fine for getting started, however I have noticed a big difference when I started using the FMR RNPs for tracking my drums (as well as tracking everything else). They are able to handle high input signals (voltages from mics) without crapping out so they sound clearer and have more guts AND dynamics.
There are other multichannel high headroom mic pres people have used for drums that have gotten fabulous reviews such as the Davisound TB-6 and the API / Neve clones and the Sytek 4 channel job.

Anyway... you are right in investigating if it works better for vocals whether it should work better for drums. Many people forget that the higher the dynamic range of an instrument, the more critical it is to have a pre capable of handling / reproducing the dynamics.

tmix

[theletterq]

I run my overheads through an M-Audio DMP3. Is like night and day compared to the pre's on my Fostex DAW.

I would imagine that your mackie pre's are just fine for recording drums, although you may want to look into running say, your kick, snare, and overheads through a good pre to obtain additional clarity and high end detail.

Just a thought.

[AumStudioBrian]

good advice. thanx. Lookin at the M-Audio Pre you noted on musicians friend right now... looks nice. and cheap. maybe i'll look into it--