in an audion interface - isn't phantom power a type of mic pre-amp

  • Thread starter Thread starter diannaZ
  • Start date Start date
OP, really the only way is to read reviews etc.

Sure you can ask and wait for everyone on this board to recommend the one they have,
Or you can just have a wee read and see what's what. It's all here.

I have a presonus firestudio mobile and it's great.
Two channels, good amount of gain, clean sound, and phantom power.
 
diannaZ said:
thanks but the question is not "which" interface is right for me but what should I be looking for at the specs of an audio interface to make sure the audio interface I'm buying has a reasonable mic preamp built in it? are there different types of built-in audio interface preamps ?
Click to expand...

Okayyyyyyyy... How do you define "reasonable"? Because mic pres can run the gamut from hideous to truly spectacular. Which of those mic pres would qualify as "reasonable" for you?? You probably don't know. You just want something that is going to work with the 57/58 that you're going to buy. The 57/58 will need about 60db of gain and most every audio interface with built-in mic pres will give you that. I doubt anyone here will compile a list of specs for you, I know I won't. You can take my recommendation or do more research and come up with something on your own.

Have fun,
 
Well, even if somebody could compile a list of specs, chances are it would be useless for a couple of reasons.

First off, as soon as you start looking at the details for audio interfaces, you'll find big differences in how the specs are structured and what information they give. Unless you actually understand what you're looking at, you won't necessarily know when the manufacturer is being economical with the truth.

Second, what you need in an interface/mic pre will vary a bit with your choice of mics. As has already been hinted at, some mics need more clean gain than others.

Finally, all the specs in the world won't tell you how a mic pre actually sounds!

That's the bad news. Now the good:

If you stick to the main, known brands of interface you see discussed all the time in these forums, you'll be fine. M Audio, RME, Motu, Presonus, Tascam, Focusrite and probably a few others I'm forgetting all make pretty reasonable gear. So long as your mic choice is also "conventional" you needn't worry unduly and, once you have a mic and interface pairing you're thinking of buying, you can always double check in here.

Okay, to finish, a few of the basics to think about for yourself when choosing an interface:

-How many channels do you need? (i.e. how many things will you record at the same time)

-What mix of mic inputs and line inputs? (i.e. how many mics vs how many things like keyboards)

-Do you need phantom power? (The answer is "yes" because, even if you don't have a condenser mic now, you will eventually)

-Does it offer direct hardware monitoring? (Because you need this for latency-free headphone monitoring when recording)

Hope this all helps.
 
Chili said:
...The 57/58 will need about 60db of gain and most every audio interface with built-in mic pres will give you that....
Click to expand...

this is what I want to know. now I know I need my audio interface to give me 60db. this is what I will look for the audio interface I want to buy.
 
Sigh.

As Chili said, pretty well every interface will give you that--it's pretty normal. However, a simple gain figure is, in itself, meaningless unless it also includes noise figures.

However, I fear you're over thinking things here.
 
Now what are you going to record diannaZ when you get your set up in place?
 
Then you need a basic audio interface with at least one, preferably 2 mic inputs. I say two because, although not essential, many of us record acoustic guitar in stereo and it's likely you'll want to experiment with that technique. For the cost difference which is relatively minor, you build in a lot of future proofing with 2 mic inputs.

You have a lot of choice at that end of the market. Two that I can personally recommend would be the M Audio Fast Track Pro and the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2--there are plenty of others but not that I've used for myself. Both have decent mic pre amps, direct hardware monitoring, 48 volt phantom for any move to condensers in the future and a decent reputation for reliability.
 
Bobbsy said:
the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2--....decent mic pre amps, .
Click to expand...

I've been thinking of getting the scarlet 212 for mobile purposes, specifically a violin. Do you think the mic pre is similar to other Focusrite products? Have you ever compared it to the Platinum series?

thanks!!
 
I've never used other Focusrite interfaces so I can't compare the mic pres. However, they sounded pretty good to me.

I was also using it for mobile use (I'd had an M Audio Mobile Pre but somebody stole it from my car during the job--I borrowed the 2i2 from a friend for a couple of weeks until I had time to replace mine. To my ear, the pre amps sounded a bit warmer and nicer than the Mobile Pre. I've heard that if you crank them up above 3 o'clock they can get a bit noisy (but then most mic pres do). However, the gain was sufficient that with a mix of different mics in use I never got close to that level.

Like most mobile interfaces, it can be bus powered--a very useful feature--and the metal case was great for the bumps and bangs of use in the field.

Sorry I can't answer your specific questions but I quite liked the unit.
 
Bobbsy said:
Then you need a basic audio interface with at least one, preferably 2 mic inputs. I say two because, although not essential, many of us record acoustic guitar in stereo and it's likely you'll want to experiment with that technique. For the cost difference which is relatively minor, you build in a lot of future proofing with 2 mic inputs.

You have a lot of choice at that end of the market. Two that I can personally recommend would be the M Audio Fast Track Pro and the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2--there are plenty of others but not that I've used for myself. Both have decent mic pre amps, direct hardware monitoring, 48 volt phantom for any move to condensers in the future and a decent reputation for reliability.
Click to expand...

thanks for the recommendations, I'll make a thread requesting recommendations for an audio interface and in that thread I will list features I need.
I think that would be best.
 
I just went through figuring out the phantom power thing with my new Tascam 2488Neo and new Shure PG42 studio vocal condenser mic. Phantom power is 48volts that the condenser mic needs to operate. The condenser mic does not work when I plug it into a channel on my Peavey PA, but all my dynamic mics do. There is no phantom power on my PA, but there is on the first 4 inputs of the Neo 24-track. I consider each indivdual channel volume on the PA as a sort of mic/instrument pre-amp. I might get some arguments on that, but I consider any amplification before the main amplification as a pre-amp. Ziggy.
 
ZiggyMax said:
I just went through figuring out the phantom power thing with my new Tascam 2488Neo and new Shure PG42 studio vocal condenser mic. Phantom power is 48volts that the condenser mic needs to operate. The condenser mic does not work when I plug it into a channel on my Peavey PA, but all my dynamic mics do. There is no phantom power on my PA, but there is on the first 4 inputs of the Neo 24-track. I consider each indivdual channel volume on the PA as a sort of mic/instrument pre-amp. I might get some arguments on that, but I consider any amplification before the main amplification as a pre-amp. Ziggy.
Click to expand...

LOL! Thanks.... Welcome to the forum Ziggy. :D
 
Dianna it REALLY sounds like you would benefit from reading the stikies on this forum. It may seem like alot but a medium amount of preparation will save you aLOT of back tracking later. Another good resource to check out would Tweakheadz.com which is a great guide to introduce you to computer audio, it's also a good read that will make all the techincal jargon not so boring.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top