V
Vega_
New member
I'm using an SE X1, with a Behringer Xenyx as my preamp, and I want to know which preamp will give me the best results for rapping with this mic. Thanks
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
Um, which of what preamps?
Time to take some good time reading. The world is your oyster and there is much to learn from this site before asking a question that has not been self studied before asking.
Similar would be to ask 'what color pants should I wear in the summer to impress a 35 year old attorney from Ireland who is married'? I don't friggen know!?!
lol!
There are way too many variables to consider. The preamp or mic does not necessarily make any difference unless you know what the differences are yourself. Just because you specify 'rap' means nothing for your own particular voice. No one mic or preamp is good for everyone/everything. A better question would be to ask 'how can I make what I have sound better'? Now that is a viable question. Then likely you will get answers that involve treating your room, improving your technique, or upgrading.
You should describe in more detail your room, setup and expectations/goals. Much more help will be given if you spend the time to understand what or why you are asking.
Read man. Read...
Time to take some good time reading. The world is your oyster and there is much to learn from this site before asking a question that has not been self studied before asking.
Similar would be to ask 'what color pants should I wear in the summer to impress a 35 year old attorney from Ireland who is married'? I don't friggen know!?!
lol!
There are way too many variables to consider. The preamp or mic does not necessarily make any difference unless you know what the differences are yourself. Just because you specify 'rap' means nothing for your own particular voice. No one mic or preamp is good for everyone/everything. A better question would be to ask 'how can I make what I have sound better'? Now that is a viable question. Then likely you will get answers that involve treating your room, improving your technique, or upgrading.
You should describe in more detail your room, setup and expectations/goals. Much more help will be given if you spend the time to understand what or why you are asking.
Read man. Read...
B
bongoboy
a clown without a circus
Is the attorney male or female ?
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
See, we don't even know that either! lol!
B
bongoboy
a clown without a circus
Must be ugly. Or way too pretty.
kip4
Well-known member
Mic position within the room.
Room treatment.
Mic technique.
So many thing to play with before considering pre swapping.
The lawyers a killer blonde with legs upto her neck and she's gonna make you her slave.
All you have to do is figure out how to make the best of the situation.
Good luck.
Edit should have read all of Jimmy's post first. Oops
Room treatment.
Mic technique.
So many thing to play with before considering pre swapping.
The lawyers a killer blonde with legs upto her neck and she's gonna make you her slave.
All you have to do is figure out how to make the best of the situation.
Good luck.
Edit should have read all of Jimmy's post first. Oops
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
B
bongoboy
a clown without a circus
Then pants color doesn't matter. They only have to have a loose fit.
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
Doesn't that depend on the gender/taste of the Irish attorney? Lord knows it would be different if he/she still had an accent...
Armistice
Son of Yoda
You forgot "for under $100"...
ashcat_lt
Well-known member
I have found that most of the stuff in which I am most interested existed between the neck and the legs...
Guitargodgt
New member
Use the preamp you plug the microphone into.
E
ecc83
Well-known member
Right Vega!
The usual slag at the Behringer mixer, that the pre amps are noisy* is not going to matter a jot here because..
1) that is a Large D capacitor mic and will have a healthy output.
2) This is rap!
No, your problem could be the other way, you could easily overload the front end of the bellringer, they are not noted for high headroom. So..Mixers 101.
Set the Main Mix to "0" i.e. 12 O'clock, same for channel level. Set gain to minimum. Now have a yodel and slowly increase the gain until the FIRST LED at -20 begins to flash, the next LED at 0 should flash only rarely on peaks and NONE of the others, ever!
The channel EQ should be set "flat" but you might find some bass cut useful for clarity.
However, how are you getting this signal into a computer? Is that the USB Xenyx? If so be even more careful about levels.
Agree with all said about the room and SE make that very useful Reflection filter y'know!
*The pre amps must vary a lot. I have had several Behringer products and have always been quite impressed with the noise levels of the pre amps..Not in the Grace or Red class but more than good enough for general use, even SM57 on acoustic guitar.
Dave.
The usual slag at the Behringer mixer, that the pre amps are noisy* is not going to matter a jot here because..
1) that is a Large D capacitor mic and will have a healthy output.
2) This is rap!
No, your problem could be the other way, you could easily overload the front end of the bellringer, they are not noted for high headroom. So..Mixers 101.
Set the Main Mix to "0" i.e. 12 O'clock, same for channel level. Set gain to minimum. Now have a yodel and slowly increase the gain until the FIRST LED at -20 begins to flash, the next LED at 0 should flash only rarely on peaks and NONE of the others, ever!
The channel EQ should be set "flat" but you might find some bass cut useful for clarity.
However, how are you getting this signal into a computer? Is that the USB Xenyx? If so be even more careful about levels.
Agree with all said about the room and SE make that very useful Reflection filter y'know!
*The pre amps must vary a lot. I have had several Behringer products and have always been quite impressed with the noise levels of the pre amps..Not in the Grace or Red class but more than good enough for general use, even SM57 on acoustic guitar.
Dave.
ashcat_lt
Well-known member
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
That's what got them their bad rep....
E
ecc83
Well-known member
I agree. But on the cloning point. The mic pre that B's used (until the X32 I would guess) is a hybrid, bipolar transistor+op amp deisgn that has been on the infernalnet forever!
Dave.
D
delirium trigge
New member
It took me a long time to be able to tell the difference in pre amps. But after recording music for a few years I can tell the difference easily. But, for ME, and this is just what works for me, the pre amps that have impedance knobs and low cut filters allow me to get a lot of sounds out that I really like. I have an ART MPA II, which is a 299 two channel pre amp. I also have some FMR stuff which is not the most expensive stuff in the world, but if you look anywhere on any forum people will tell you that the FMR will blow the MPA II out of the water. Such as the RNP, which is around 500 dollars I believe. To other people, maybe it does. But to me it doesn't come close to what I can do with the MPA II.
I even use some really cheap pre amps before going into the saffire pro 40, like the Bluetube two channel pre amp. Some people will say that it makes no difference to use something that cheap. But it does if you know what you're using it for. Such as bass guitar.
The main reason I always use separate pre amps before the interface pre amp is all the head room I get. Of course I don't turn any of the interface pre amps up on the saffire pro 40.
If I had the money I'd probably use Focusrite's really expensive pre amps as I like them a lot. But I don't have the money to own them yet.
When people ask what to use, it means they are new, so they probably won't be able to tell what an external pre amp vs the pre amp in their interface is doing. You can use a combination of the pre amp on the interface and the external pre amp for different results too.
I just wish all pre amps had that impedance knob and a low cut filter. I realize I can EQ the low cut in, but it's so much easier with an acoustic guitar or drums to just have that. And the impedance knob changes the way the entire microphone sounds.
How are the pre amps on the Behringer ADA8000? Any of you guys got one of those hooked up to your interface for the extra 8? I thought about getting one but I think I'm gonna go for two saffire pro 40's. I'd rather do that and have two interfaces rather than get the Octopre and pay the same exact price for the pre amps with no interface. I only record at 48 anyway.
I even use some really cheap pre amps before going into the saffire pro 40, like the Bluetube two channel pre amp. Some people will say that it makes no difference to use something that cheap. But it does if you know what you're using it for. Such as bass guitar.
The main reason I always use separate pre amps before the interface pre amp is all the head room I get. Of course I don't turn any of the interface pre amps up on the saffire pro 40.
If I had the money I'd probably use Focusrite's really expensive pre amps as I like them a lot. But I don't have the money to own them yet.
When people ask what to use, it means they are new, so they probably won't be able to tell what an external pre amp vs the pre amp in their interface is doing. You can use a combination of the pre amp on the interface and the external pre amp for different results too.
I just wish all pre amps had that impedance knob and a low cut filter. I realize I can EQ the low cut in, but it's so much easier with an acoustic guitar or drums to just have that. And the impedance knob changes the way the entire microphone sounds.
How are the pre amps on the Behringer ADA8000? Any of you guys got one of those hooked up to your interface for the extra 8? I thought about getting one but I think I'm gonna go for two saffire pro 40's. I'd rather do that and have two interfaces rather than get the Octopre and pay the same exact price for the pre amps with no interface. I only record at 48 anyway.
E
ecc83
Well-known member
" Of course I don't turn any of the interface pre amps up on the saffire pro 40. "
One would hope not! You are surely not feeding a pre amp into the Pro 40's pre amps? Because if so your headroom has gone to H in a handbasket for the max input is only +8dBu (for a terrible 1%thd!) whereas the line inputs can cope with the rather stupendous +28.5dBu!
You can always REDUCE the resistance the mics see you know? Just make up some XLR "tails" with MF resistors in them but the received wisdom is that modern dynamics and especially ribbons want to see much higher than the usual 1.5 to 2k, up to around 10k Ohms. Very old designs MIGHT benefit from a 600R load, transformerless capacitors generally don't give a hoot.
If you are contemplating the Behringer the new ADA 8200 is reviewed in the Sept 2013 issue of Sound on Sound. Hugh Robjohns gives it a cautious welcome saying that all the old niggles have gone. The MOTU ADAT glitch, the pesky "cogged" controls. The converters are better (but still not Benchmark!) and the pre amps Midas "infuenced" and thus rather better. The biggest advance is the cooler running and hopefully more reliable SMPSU!
Dave.
One would hope not! You are surely not feeding a pre amp into the Pro 40's pre amps? Because if so your headroom has gone to H in a handbasket for the max input is only +8dBu (for a terrible 1%thd!) whereas the line inputs can cope with the rather stupendous +28.5dBu!
You can always REDUCE the resistance the mics see you know? Just make up some XLR "tails" with MF resistors in them but the received wisdom is that modern dynamics and especially ribbons want to see much higher than the usual 1.5 to 2k, up to around 10k Ohms. Very old designs MIGHT benefit from a 600R load, transformerless capacitors generally don't give a hoot.
If you are contemplating the Behringer the new ADA 8200 is reviewed in the Sept 2013 issue of Sound on Sound. Hugh Robjohns gives it a cautious welcome saying that all the old niggles have gone. The MOTU ADAT glitch, the pesky "cogged" controls. The converters are better (but still not Benchmark!) and the pre amps Midas "infuenced" and thus rather better. The biggest advance is the cooler running and hopefully more reliable SMPSU!
Dave.
Bobbsy
Boring Old Git
Use the pre amp in the Xenyx. There are about a hundred things you could do that would improve your quality more than buying a pre amp. The sE X1 is a good mic for the money and, as ecc says, it's got a good high output so you will hopefully not run into the downsides of the Behringer pre amps.
In all things you need to match the quality levels of your gear. Adding one expensive item when the rest of your gear is entry level won't help much.
In all things you need to match the quality levels of your gear. Adding one expensive item when the rest of your gear is entry level won't help much.
D
delirium trigge
New member
I agree with you, but I'll give you an example, a Rode NT-1A say for a starter, going through saffire pro 40 pre amp, doesn't compare to something like the Really nice pre amp that FMR makes. I've experimented with this and notice huge results.
I know people fight that the ART MPA ii, two channel rack pre amp will do someone no good. And it does. It is a night and day difference plugging the NT-1A into that or plugging it into the interface.
Right now I don't use any of my saffire pre amps. I have enough pre amps that I run before them and I just getter results.
I know people fight that the ART MPA ii, two channel rack pre amp will do someone no good. And it does. It is a night and day difference plugging the NT-1A into that or plugging it into the interface.
Right now I don't use any of my saffire pre amps. I have enough pre amps that I run before them and I just getter results.