Question about mic preamps

[TripleM]

I currently use a Mackie 1202 vlz mixer and its preamp. I record my own stuff only. The style is pretty standard Pop/Rock. It's typically 2 guitar parts, a bass, three part vox/harmony, and fake drums. I record to a computer, and have a Delta 44 sound card.

I've been interested in getting a better mic preamp. If I were to get an M-Audio DMP3, how much "better" do you think I would like it (a lot, a little, not at all)? What differences would I likely notice in the recordings? What other choices are there in that price range? Are they better?

I also noticed the Tampa on their web site. A bit more money (more than double the DMP3), but how much better are the recordings? What else is there in that price range?

Is there anything else you need to know to answer the questions? Please let me know. Thanks in advance.

[Recording Engineer]

chessrock can probably answer this one quite well. I have a hunch it'll be closer to a side-step though. But I guess you never know until you give it the old college try...

[chessrock]

Depends on your situation.

If you've got all the other pieces in place . . . all your bases covered in terms of gear, tracking/mixing skills, monitoring environment, accoustics, etc. then I'm sure you'll notice at least some small difference.

If there are other weak spots in your signal chain, or with any of the above factors and intangibles, then you probably won't hear any difference at all. It probably should be one of the last things for you to seriously address. A Mackie board isn't all that bad, and most everything else in your signal chain will generally make a much bigger difference -- particularly the instrument itself and the room treatment of both your tracking and monitoring environment.

[Recording Engineer]

Pretty much my thoughts too... What's this world coming to? chessrock and RE sharing the same thoughts? No surprise really though... chess is truly a recording engineer! You should hear a few samples of his work! In an ideal world, chessrock and RE would be running a studio together!

[Chris Shaeffer]

Dear god! What crap is this that you guys are feeding us?!

Look, TripleM, they're yankin' yer chain! Outboard, dedicated pres are ALWAYS better than some cheap mixer pres. The DMP will probably sound 3 or 4 times better than your Mackie. I've never used either one, but I know what I'm talking about!
























Sorry. I actually agree with them, but I had to say something stupid just to make sure you know I'm NOT a real recording engineer.

[fishtop_records]

Your mackie has pretty decent preamps for a cheap mixer.
There are way too many places to spend money
than on low dollar mic pres. Now if you
are thinking of something like an FMR RNP or
a Grace 101, then it may be worth doing
after you have good monitors, mics, A/D convertors,
etc.

I have to admit that my RNP makes my Beyer M500
sound a like better than my Mackie did, but
for the first ten mics or so, don't worry about
the preamps.

Or, spend money, make the economy grow. We need
lots of people to spend lots of money.

[jake-owa]

Buy some mics first so you have something to test out on the new preamp.

[chessrock]

Originally posted by Recording Engineer
In an ideal world, chessrock and RE would be running a studio together!

Just so long as Hayne Davis can be our chief technician. Then I'm in.

. . . on second thought, we probably wouldn't get much done. I can see us spending a lot of down time arguing about Stephen Paul mics, Davisound and Sytek mic pres, etc. etc. etc.

Clients might tell us to go get a room or something.

I guess we could always get Hotsauce and Father Time to be our runners, though. Ripping and taunting on the runners could give us a united front. I can see the possibilities, now.