Preamp theory

K

KenekeBarnes

New member
In recording, I seem to be recording low and turning the volume up in post, thereby causing more background noise hiss. I've heard over and over that pre-amps help with a low mic level when recording. However, wouldn't an amplifier increase all noise across the board, including hiss? Or is there something about the way a pre-amp works that I am missing?

Thanks again
 
Yes, the preamp will amplify noise as well, but the thing is, the preamp is at the front of the chain so that there should be less noise there to begin with, so only ambient noise in the room and microphone self noise should be amplified (the preamp adds some noise of it own). This output is now MUCH higher than the noise in the chain following that point, and furthermore, the noise in the rest of the chain need not be amplified now because the signal is already at a good level. If you were to turn up the volume in the mix, you're turning up the noise of the ENTIRE system, since that step is at the very end of the chain.
 
Yes, the key with recording levels is getting the best signal to noise ratio you can, which basically means the level of your actual signal should be far higher than that of the noise you record along with it... if you record a low signal off the bat, you're getting a poor ratio as reshp1 described.
 
The way I think of it....turn the gain up in each stage starting at the source.
In other words, put everything at unity gain (if you can) so that there is less noise introduced through everything. Then start with the instrument...can you turn that up anymore?? For example, the guitar amp? Next, can you move the mic closer to the source? If not...how about the preamp, can you turn that up? How about the channel fader if you're using a mixer...or your main outs? Lastly, the actual recording itself.

Whenever problems arise, start at the source and go from there.
 
That's why it is important to have gear with low noise floors.

The concept of recording as hot as possible comes from when tape was the main choice for tracking. The hotter you record, the less tape noise you had to deal with and the less noise from your outboard gear/board you were tracking through. Now it can be less of an issue with digital, and that is why a lot of people end up with digital clipping when they hit the interface too hard.
 
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