Does the quality of an audio interface matter if you have a preamp?

[ForeignFaraz]

Hello, I’m an aspiring audio engineer and I am looking to build a home studio for Rap/HipHop. I have a few questions I couldn’t really find anywhere online, the first one being that does the audio interface matter if I’m purchasing the preamp. I am aware that there are preamps built into the audio interface, but i want to achieve a cleaner and better sound by buying the pieces separately. So I’m curious if I purchase a preamp separately, does it even matter what preamp I purchase? What is the benefit of having a better interface with a separate preamp other than translating vocals into line format before it hits my DAW. I want to spend more money on a better preamp if that is the case. Thank You so much!

 

[keith.rogers]

For most folks, the extra preamp accomplishes two things - it gives extra gain that is needed for some of the less sensitive dynamic mics out there (like the SM7b) when the interface cannot provide sufficient clean gain, and it can also provide some "color" to the signal vs. the mic preamps in the audio interface, which nearly everyone describes (enthusiastically, if the manufacturer) as clean, colorless, etc.

You won't generally get a cleaner sound (from an external preamp), unless your interface's preamp is simply not up to the task of providing enough clean gain for the mic and voice being recorded.

In almost any case, if you get an external preamp, which one you get matters more than the interface, because the preamp is what will determine how the microphone signal sounds when it reaches the interface, which will largely become simply an A/D box for that track. If you get a preamp that only provides a clean gain, and expect something that adds color, or vice versa, you will be disappointed.

So, let's start with the mic you have, or are planning to get. Which one is it? Then, do you have any interfaces you are considering or perhaps already have? What preamps are you looking at, and why?

 

[ForeignFaraz]

For most folks, the extra preamp accomplishes two things - it gives extra gain that is needed for some of the less sensitive dynamic mics out there (like the SM7b) when the interface cannot provide sufficient clean gain, and it can also provide some "color" to the signal vs. the mic preamps in the audio interface, which nearly everyone describes (enthusiastically, if the manufacturer) as clean, colorless, etc.

You won't generally get a cleaner sound (from an external preamp), unless your interface's preamp is simply not up to the task of providing enough clean gain for the mic and voice being recorded.

In almost any case, if you get an external preamp, which one you get matters more than the interface, because the preamp is what will determine how the microphone signal sounds when it reaches the interface, which will largely become simply an A/D box for that track. If you get a preamp that only provides a clean gain, and expect something that adds color, or vice versa, you will be disappointed.

So, let's start with the mic you have, or are planning to get. Which one is it? Then, do you have any interfaces you are considering or perhaps already have? What preamps are you looking at, and why?

Wow thanks! I believe the worded my question wrong I'm sorry, what i was necessarily asking was IF i get a really good pre amp does the audio interface i get matter? So my question really is if i purchase an external preamp thats decent does the quality of the audio interface matter, does it matter if i get a good or bad audio interface if the pre amp is doing all the work? Can i use any audio interface with a Really good pre amp? Wow some help building my home studio would be great! I'm going to be recording rap/hiphop music, and the mic I'm looking at is an Audio Technica 4050 which I heard is almost an industry standard for rap music and is what i see in a lot of people's lists, i also considered the TLM 102 but it is a little bit more pricey. Give me some more options you think are great I do have a budget though haha. The pre amp was going to be a Golden age 73 but I was considering the JR since I'm only using just a single mic? are the 73 and the 73 JR the same quality or is one better quality wise or do you recommend any non tube pre amps under $500 for rap?? as far as interface I was waiting for an answer to my question to before making that decision lol! If the audio interface doesnt matter then I was simply going to purchase a focusrite scarlett. I also want to buy a compressor as well do you recommend any budget compressors under $100 -300? Thank You so much for the Help!

 

[keith.rogers]

Well, I thought that's what you were asking, i.e., does the interface matter, but IMO it's still important to understand why you think you need a preamp.

Almost any consumer interface will work well with that mic. I don't even think about what the interface is doing, but I do care about the features, like whether it shows levels, how many inputs/outputs it has (I use almost all of mine), etc. I do prefer interfaces with external power, a power switch, and a couple headphone jacks or extra balanced outputs for a headphone amp. (I have an older Focusrite Saffire model.)

I don't have any mics in that price range, but I'm a fan of AT equipment, and that model's specs and reviews wouldn't have me looking any farther. Others more familiar with better mics and your genre might be able to suggest others to look at, but I'd imagine that the 4050 would do you fine. (Demos I've heard of the lower end Neumann's have left me cold, TBH.)

I have a GAP 73 (Dlx, I think, but whatever, with Carnhill upgrade). I think it's very flexible, but tends to be fairly colored, though easy to dial back to clean operation. No complaints whatsoever. The Jr was tempting but I got a very good price on my model when they closed them out so that decided it. I got it specifically for the ability to add color, though, and if you're not doing that, it's kind of pointless IMO to get any preamp unless you have a mic that requires it. I use it all the time for DI, too.

 

[ForeignFaraz]

Well, I was reading/watching a ton of posts about recording rap vocals and building a studio around that. What those videos were saying is that buying the audio interface pieces separately would provide a better & more professional sound. So what i was going to do was a interface chain, Mic > Pre > Comp > cheaper interface (Focusritescarlett), If the interface doesn't matter lol! Great you own the Golde age Pre-73, would you think its a good purchase for this chain, and theres no difference between the 73 and the 73JR sound wise?

---------- Update ----------

Well, I thought that's what you were asking, i.e., does the interface matter, but IMO it's still important to understand why you think you need a preamp.

Almost any consumer interface will work well with that mic. I don't even think about what the interface is doing, but I do care about the features, like whether it shows levels, how many inputs/outputs it has (I use almost all of mine), etc. I do prefer interfaces with external power, a power switch, and a couple headphone jacks or extra balanced outputs for a headphone amp. (I have an older Focusrite Saffire model.)

I don't have any mics in that price range, but I'm a fan of AT equipment, and that model's specs and reviews wouldn't have me looking any farther. Others more familiar with better mics and your genre might be able to suggest others to look at, but I'd imagine that the 4050 would do you fine. (Demos I've heard of the lower end Neumann's have left me cold, TBH.)

I have a GAP 73 (Dlx, I think, but whatever, with Carnhill upgrade). I think it's very flexible, but tends to be fairly colored, though easy to dial back to clean operation. No complaints whatsoever. The Jr was tempting but I got a very good price on my model when they closed them out so that decided it. I got it specifically for the ability to add color, though, and if you're not doing that, it's kind of pointless IMO to get any preamp unless you have a mic that requires it. I use it all the time for DI, too.

Well, I was reading/watching a ton of posts about recording rap vocals and building a studio around that. What those videos were saying is that buying the audio interface pieces separately would provide a better & more professional sound. So what i was going to do was a interface chain, Mic > Pre > Comp > cheaper interface (Focusritescarlett), If the interface doesn't matter lol! Great you own the Golde age Pre-73, would you think its a good purchase for this chain, and theres no difference between the 73 and the 73JR sound wise?

 

[ecc83]

As far as what difference the choice of interface makes I would say "practically none these days". That is assuming you buy something in the $150-$200 range for a basic 2in, 2out AI and pro rata for more channels. The $1000 "exotica" with have better converters but I doubt you could hear the difference unless you had very expensive monitors in a very good, expensively treated room. You would need a source of impeccably recorded, complex music as well.

As to the AT 4050 being "a rap standard" this deeply uncool old fart would not know! The mic has a medium sensitivity at 15mV/Pa and a 10dB pad and 80Hz low cut filter, those bode well for a clean "bottom" and less likelyhood of clipping the AI's input and, although I personally DON'T think you need a pre amp at this stage* it is a fact that separate pres (and mixers) tend to have better input headroom than many AIs.

*Could in fact make things worse. The output of the pre amp would go into the line input of the AI and many of those cannot handy "pro" levels all that well.

Dave.

 

[ForeignFaraz]

Thanks alot Dave! Very Helpful!

 

[jimmys69]

That is actually a question I can't really give an honest opinion about because it has been years since I had an interface under $700.

That being said, I have used products as inexpensive as the Lexicon Alpha when I first started recording at home. Noisy weak preamps. And the driver sucked.

Bought a Behri U-Phoria UM2 for my son. Wanted to test it out but it did not have it's own ASIO drivers. I was not about to download ASIO4All to my recording computer so never had a chance to test the preamps.

Even my interfaces have no line inputs, but they are very clean and have a I believe -24dB pad on input channels that works very well with my Vintech X73i Neve clone preamp.

That being said, if you want cheap and have a external preamp, I would look for a interface with direct 'line level' inputs. That way the interface preamp is not in the chain.

Best!

 

[Chili]

That being said, if you want cheap and have a external preamp, I would look for a interface with direct 'line level' inputs. That way the interface preamp is not in the chain.

AFAIK, most of the consumer level interfaces have only one pre-amp per channel; used for both mic and line-in. The Line Ins go through a resistive network to lower the voltage down to mic levels, then it goes through the same signal path as the Mic Ins. If you were to plug an external mic pre into the Line In of something like the Focusrite 2i2, the signal will still pass through the mic preamp. May not be a bad thing.

The mic pres on most of those types of interfaces are clean and quiet. I can't speak for all of them, but I wouldn't have a problem plugging an external mic pre into the 2i2. If.... that mic pre was giving me something unique.

Here is a diagram from the Tascam US-800 showing a common signal path. Look at inputs 3 and 4.




I know the UAD Apollos have separate signal paths for the Mic and Line-Ins.



To get a purer signal path, you could purchase your mic preamp and a standalone converter, but those converter only units are expensive.

To reap the gains from spending that much money, you would have to have a nice listening environment which includes great monitors and a great room. I used to have a focusrite Mic Pre and Lavrys, never heard a difference from my other interfaces because my room isn't that great.

 

[cyrano]

That "line input through the mic preamp" mantra is strange. You'll read quite often that it's better to go for an interface with TRUE line inputs. Mostly from the same people who adore vintage preamps.

They just seem completely ignorant from the fact that most vintage mic preamps use pads for the line input too...

There really is no disadvantage, even if it seems stupid to attenuate a signal to amplify it again. That will add less than 0,1 dB of noise in the gain stage, but might avoid more noise due to less ideal wiring or board layout.

You just have to trust the designer.

 

[ecc83]

That "line input through the mic preamp" mantra is strange. You'll read quite often that it's better to go for an interface with TRUE line inputs. Mostly from the same people who adore vintage preamps.

They just seem completely ignorant from the fact that most vintage mic preamps use pads for the line input too...

There really is no disadvantage, even if it seems stupid to attenuate a signal to amplify it again. That will add less than 0,1 dB of noise in the gain stage, but might avoid more noise due to less ideal wiring or board layout.

You just have to trust the designer.

Indeed! The fact is the bog S balanced line input found on almost all equipment that has dedicated line inputs is fairly noisy anyway (some 15dB more than the same op amp arranged as an unbalanced input) due to the necessity of 10K + input resistors. If a mic channel is already low noise a 20dB or so pad will not add very much noise, few line sources arrive from a -110dB noise background anyway!

It is possible to do the attenuation in such a way as to worsen common mode rejection but then this is rarely a problem with line levels.

Dave.