I've got an Alesis Studio board (into ADATs) & I want to buy an external mic pre. Will I just run the mic pre into the board & still use the "gain" knobs (on the board) to adjust my signal, just not as much because my mic pre will be doing most of the boosting? Just confused & don't want to run the chain wrong. Thanks.
Mic Pre into Mixer question
- Thread starter ssseals
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northsiderap
New member
Line stuff
Make sure you're not using the 'mic' in on your board. Set everything at unity gain. (/)
Tweak.
Make sure you're not using the 'mic' in on your board. Set everything at unity gain. (/)
Tweak.
Yes! Very much I would appreciate some advice pertaining this man's question!! Because its the same as mine! Wow I just logged on and there it was before I could even say it. I'm seeing how it is that I'll stereo record by running two Meek 3Q's into a digital recorder(Boss BR864) that only has ONE XLR and ONE RCA In(the 3Q's OUTS have a pair of 1/4' jacks in each one), and on the boss only one channel input can be selected at a time as well 
Is there another way to run a total of 4 1/4' jack OUTS from both of these pre's to the recorder besides using a mixer? Would using the preamps through the mixer rather than "directly" to the recorder cause a slight degrade in signal/preamp sound quality??
And if running an external pre into a mixer I believe I heard on another board that its best to run them into the stereo line in channels, and if I'm not mistaken unity mean "middle" or "neutral", nob place in top middle?
If you could help this guy and I you'd kill two birds w/ one stone.
Is there another way to run a total of 4 1/4' jack OUTS from both of these pre's to the recorder besides using a mixer? Would using the preamps through the mixer rather than "directly" to the recorder cause a slight degrade in signal/preamp sound quality??
And if running an external pre into a mixer I believe I heard on another board that its best to run them into the stereo line in channels, and if I'm not mistaken unity mean "middle" or "neutral", nob place in top middle?
If you could help this guy and I you'd kill two birds w/ one stone.
SouthSIDE Glen
independentrecording.net
When coming out of a mic preamp, the signal is no longer at mocrophone levels, it has been amplified to line level. Hence the term "preamp"; a mic preamp's sole purpose in life is to pre-amplify the signal to bring the microphone's signal levels in line with everything else before going to a recording device or speaker amplifier or whatever else you have downstream.
Therefore you would run the output from the mic pre into the "Line In" and not the "Mic In" on the channel strip of the mixer. By doing that you are bypassing the built-in mic pre on the mixer, which you no loner want or need. You then set the levels on the channel strip the same way as you normlly would; set the fader at 0 (a.k.a. "unity gain") and adjust the trim accordingly. You want the maximum signal without clipping or distorting coming out of the mic pre and into the mixer; you should not have to turn the trim high, and in fact may have to keep the trim turned down if the output from your pre is strong enough.
Personally, I'd be tempted to bypass the mixer altogether and chain the preamps directly to the ADATs. Keep the signal path as short and as clean as possible. But either way will work.
G.
Therefore you would run the output from the mic pre into the "Line In" and not the "Mic In" on the channel strip of the mixer. By doing that you are bypassing the built-in mic pre on the mixer, which you no loner want or need. You then set the levels on the channel strip the same way as you normlly would; set the fader at 0 (a.k.a. "unity gain") and adjust the trim accordingly. You want the maximum signal without clipping or distorting coming out of the mic pre and into the mixer; you should not have to turn the trim high, and in fact may have to keep the trim turned down if the output from your pre is strong enough.
Personally, I'd be tempted to bypass the mixer altogether and chain the preamps directly to the ADATs. Keep the signal path as short and as clean as possible. But either way will work.
G.
SonicAlbert
Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert
I'd suggest running your preamp directly into the ADAT as well. The signal will then be running through a lot less electronics and should sound better.
It's worth mentioning that simply running your preamp into a line input on your mixing board may *not* be bypassing the preamps. You need to study the signal flow chart in the manual to determine this.
What is very common on budget small format mixers is for the line input to be attenuated, then run through the onboard preamp, and only then finally to the channel strip. So that's a lot of extra electronics your signal is going through, and whatever you've spent on an outboard preamp is kind of wasted because you are still getting your signal colored by whatever cheapo preamp is in the mixer.
The way to avoid this is to run your external preamp to a channel on your mixer that has *only* a line input, not a mic and/or line input. The other way is to run the signal to an insert. That should bypass the attenuation/mic input thing as well.
But again, running your signal to a line input on a channel that also has a mic input will probably not be bypassing the internal preamp.
It's worth mentioning that simply running your preamp into a line input on your mixing board may *not* be bypassing the preamps. You need to study the signal flow chart in the manual to determine this.
What is very common on budget small format mixers is for the line input to be attenuated, then run through the onboard preamp, and only then finally to the channel strip. So that's a lot of extra electronics your signal is going through, and whatever you've spent on an outboard preamp is kind of wasted because you are still getting your signal colored by whatever cheapo preamp is in the mixer.
The way to avoid this is to run your external preamp to a channel on your mixer that has *only* a line input, not a mic and/or line input. The other way is to run the signal to an insert. That should bypass the attenuation/mic input thing as well.
But again, running your signal to a line input on a channel that also has a mic input will probably not be bypassing the internal preamp.
The point I was trying to make is that the word "ALWAYS" really has no place in making music and recording. There are lots of "rules" that are fun and even beneficial to break. I just hate it when people insinuate that there is only one way to do things. I feel it is really important to encourage people to experiment a little, or even a lot. It is also important to know the basics because often times the "accepted" way of doing things also turns out to be the "best" way to do it.