Your Mic Pre's

B

bbe

New member
I've been looking to expand my home studio recent, and I was just wondering about the amount of mic pre's you guys use. Do you guys use one, solid, multipurpose preamp that sees action with all instruments, or do you guys prefer a different preamp for every job (i.e. a preamp devoted to drums, one for vocals, one for bass, one for guitars, etc) ?
 
I use one pretty much for everything, except I use a shitter for extra channels.

I would rather have one primo one than lots of pretty good ones. The same for a mic.
 
I use different pres for different things depending on what I'm recording. For example, for acoustic instruments, I'm more likely to use Millennia or Pendulum. For vocals I'm more likely to use Peavey VMP-2 or Groove Tubes MP-1, unless I'm using a ribbon mic or an SM7 - then I might use an A-Designs P-1 or an API. For electric guitars I'm more likely to use an API or a P-1 or a Purple Audio.

That said, these are tendencies. You still have to try out the recording chain and see how the parts work together. Keep in mind that the differences between pres are far more subtle than many people might lead you to believe. Oh yeah, and all those hit records from the 70s and 80s were made on boards with a single kind of pre (e.g., API, Neve, etc.). Having multiple pres is nice, but not essential to a good recording.
 
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bbe said:
I've been looking to expand my home studio recent, and I was just wondering about the amount of mic pre's you guys use. Do you guys use one, solid, multipurpose preamp that sees action with all instruments, or do you guys prefer a different preamp for every job (i.e. a preamp devoted to drums, one for vocals, one for bass, one for guitars, etc) ?
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If you can afford to get 1 or 2 really nice channels, then use them for everything.

I have had loads of different preamps, but as soon as I got my first Great River I immediately understood what I had been missing. When I had all the other less expensive preamps and pres built into my interface I would juggle them to figure which worked best with what. With the Great River (and more recently with the SCA N72) I just use them on every source I can. If I run out of those channels I back fill with FMR RNP's, which I think are fine utilitarian preamps.

Try to save and buy something that will last you for ever.
 
I use two well matched channels of pres for everything. Whatever suits your purpose. I've got two pres on my USB interface, nothing grand / to write home about. I've got two pres on my Korg MR-1000 that are decent, but have faults. I've got two Sound Devices MM-1's that I like for their function. A little noisy if you push the gain, but really nice on the bottom three clicks of low gain. But mostly there to boost low end and extend battery life for the field recorder. And in that regard, they serve their purpose well. Having stepped gain also helps keep matched stereo pairs matched.

All you technically need is one good channel, and you can use that on everything. It really depends on how you want to manage your resources and time. I pretty much use two channels on everything. Even if I'm only going to use one channel in the final mix. It lets me A / B two different mics on one source. Plus one more chance to make it better. It's there, so use it. Disk space is cheap and the delete button conveniently placed.
 
I believe in 2 matched clean channels. Then add colored channels as budget allows. I use mostly Avalon AD2022, and switch to Joemeek or Pendulum for color. I use the Joemeek twinQ for aggressive compression going in, or Pendulum MDP-1 for more colored tube sound. The Pendulum can also be run pretty damn clean, but the Avalon is my preferred weapon for that application. Either one is an all purpose badass dual pre. The twinQ is a prize winner in its price range. Although a little outclassed by the others, it holds its own, and doesn't break the bank quite as badly as the other 2.-Richie
 
I use different pres. :-

Focusrite ISA One - Vocals / acoustic instruments

GAP PRE73 - Vocals, bass electric guitar

DMP3 - Acoustic Guitar
 
It kind of depends on how you record. If you're multitracking you'll need a number of pres.

If you're recording one track at a time make sure you have 1 really great preamp. As was mentioned before you will notice the difference when you upgrade.

It is better to have 1 great preamp than 8 mediocre ones. Then add different flavors of pre-amps later.

Charlie
www.intuneaudio.ca
 
I accumulated a bunch of preamps, but I'm a long way from fully understanding how to use them. As for using different preamps for different things, consider that doing so can be useful to avoid setup/teardown time (they could all be the same model, of course) - particularly if you're recording drums, it can be nice to have a dedicated setup so that you don't spend a bunch of time plugging in cables and stuff. I'm increasingly of the opinion that setup/teardown time (which could have otherwise been spent recording) is one of the biggest banes of the home recorder.

Of course, if you've really got your act down, you've got a desk and patchbays and know how to use them so that you can re-wire with minimum effort - that's not me at this point, though.
 
I have a Sebatron VMP-4000e, A Hamptone HJFP2 Jfet 2 channel, and a Hamptone HVTP2 tube 2 channel. I love all three pres and use them for everything. My interface is a TC Electronics Studio Konnekt 48. It has 4 pres too that are decent, but not in the same class as the ones mentioned above. Great pres really do make a difference !!

David Blackmon
 
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