Preamp into a Preamp

[lordmike]

Good morning everyone! This is my first post on HomeRecording.com. I've been reading for years, just never felt the need to ask anything... until now. So, I believe I have a pretty great setup (which I will list below) but as I'm mixing/mastering I'm finding that my tracks don't have that certain "sparkle" that you really want from a top notch recording. Mind you, I'm generally happy with everything (we're often played on the radio and we sound more polished than the other local acts) but I'm looking to make that bump to the next level. I also understand that I'll never get a million dollar studio sound out of my home studio. Aside from any skills I lack (poor craftsman blames his tools...) I think some of the lifelessness comes from my interface, a 2nd gen Scarlett 2i2. It has been a great little unit but I'm questioning if it reproduces audio at a level required for critical listening. With the help of my salesman at Sweetwater, I've really settled on getting an Apogee Element 24. It sounds great in every demo I've heard and I read it is really well suited for rock (my band sounds like NIN and Blondie had a baby). But then I noticed the MOTU UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid and the MOTU 8A 16x18 and now I'm lost. One of the things the Apogee really touts is how great the preamps are, but I already have a Blue Robbie preamp that I really like. So how much sense does it make to pump one great preamp into another great preamp? That is is why I'm considering the MOTU stuff, they have line level inputs WITHOUT preamps. Plus, they have more outs for more routing options like reamping and the like. I used to work at a studio with a MOTU interface and it was so so so clear, but I have no idea if the converters in the ones I listed are even close to the old one I used. So, after settling on the Apogee, I'm confused. What do you guys think? Also, if you have another suggestion, I'm all ears. I can spend a lot more than either of those options, I just don't need a ton of inputs. Oh, I'm also more interested in mixing than mastering. I understand that mastering is a completely separate art that requires a unique skill set and lots of high end gear. I'm perfectly content sending my mixes out to be mastered.

Setup
Mac Mini - Catalina, 3.2Ghz 6 Core i7, 32gig Ram
Reason Studios Suite with gobs of rack extensions and vsts for Recording/Mixing
Ozone 9 Advanced for Mastering
Focusrite 2i2
Blue Robbie
Blue Baby Bottle
Blue MixFi headpones
KRK Gen 3 Rokit 5s with a KRK Sub
Mostly treated room, it is pretty dead but I'm getting more panels soon.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Hi there,
The differences between converters can be very subtle or even impossible to hear, in track-vs-track comparisons,
but the difference can be much more obvious once multiple tracks are recorded and layered up.

The same is true of the differences between preamps, instruments...anything, really. With multiple layers of recordings any differences become more and more apparent.

No matter what chain you use you probably want microphone > mic preamp (mic in, line out), > D/A converter.

There's not really a good reason to run one preamp into another preamp but it makes perfect sense to run a preamp into a line input on an interface, as the line input goes straight to the converters.
Some interfaces have combo inputs mic/inst/line and, often, the line input there is padded down and does go through the preamp so that's a little bit different.
Whether that's good or bad...It's just something to know,
but dedicated line inputs like you'll find on the back of these Motu interfaces, etc, generally go straight to D/A.

Motu don't get bad press at all but they're not usually held up as being a cut above either.
Their converters probably got better rep than their preamps over the years, I think.

RME and Apogee are more often talked about as being a substantial step up in both areas.

This is all just general info, though. Maybe share some of your final products, pre + post mastering?

 

[lordmike]

Here are a couple of MP3s. I hope they don't trash the sound too much to make it so you can't hear what I'm talking about. I just exported both of these without listening. I hope they aren't a mess...