buy a mic preamp or use the ones on my board??

[metalj]

Hey gang, tough questions for me. I have a carvin c1644p powered board, and a Boss Br-1600cd DAW.

all the talk about mic and instrument pre-amps seem to point to pre-amps being one of the most important factors of a quality recording.

my questions is, should i just use the preamps on my mixeing board Vs going out and buying a seperate preamp?? I was thinking about pugging in my mics into my board then using the direct out, by plugging in my patch cord 1/2 way in to get the direct out feature on my board, then to my DAW.

does anyone know by doing the above if i will get the benefit of the preamps, and if those preamps are compareble to any decent pre's you can go out and buy, and finnally and most importantly.......

will it make much of a differnce going through the Carvin Pre's, then into the Boss Br-1600 pre's? This is just to do some good "demo" style recordings into a boss br-1600.

I know, I know, try it and see if it works, and there are a hundred different scenerios. I will, but just wondering before i go out and spend $50 or more on a patch cord snake. Oh yeah, i probably wouldnt spend much more than $200-$500 on a Mic/Instrument Pre-amp anyways.

thank you to anyone that can help.

yours if I can help.
metalJ

 

[Track Rat]

I've never used Carvin gear so I won't go there but in general, a stand alone pre will out perform the preamps in lower end consoles. That's just about any console designed for sound reinforcement. That's not to say that you wouldn't get acceptable results from what you have. Personally I'd want some stand alone mic pre's and the console pre's for the DIFFERENT, not better sonic color. Sometimes a straight wire with gain can be boring.

and most importantly.......

will it make much of a differnce going through the Carvin Pre's, then into the Boss Br-1600 pre's? This is just to do some good "demo" style recordings into a boss br-1600.

You don't want to daisey chain a preamp into another preamp for anything other than a particular (read lofi) kind of effect. Conventional wisdom is to go from preamp out to recorder LINE in.

 

[slobbermonster]

are you not like the sound of the Boss pres? in the prices your talking I would just consider using them until you have the cash for better stuff

 

[metalj]

are you not like the sound of the Boss pres? in the prices your talking I would just consider using them until you have the cash for better stuff

The Boss's pre's seem fine to me. I have just been reading alot about mic pre-amps on this web, and books and stuff. Just looking to improve and experiment. Trying to find that line of will it make much of a difference vs the cash, and considering my current equipment.

I have the cash to buy whatever I want (with tower clearance of course..aka my wife). But will there a differnce in sound quality between using say a $300-$500 pre, vs using the pre's of my board?

i originally bought my br-1600 just to write songs for myself, then to present to the band, but i am finding it does make some excellent sounding "demo" recordings that rival some of my local pro studio's. probably due to the time i put into making mine sound good vs them only haveing limited time based on what their clinents can afford them to spend on their recordings.

thanks, please continue if you have more to add.

metalj