Ins and Outs

[Ziller]

Not sure if this is the best forum for this. Maybe a forum called 'Hooking It All Up' would be good

Could someone give me a brief rundown on the different levels put out and expected by gear in the recording chain (in general). For instance, I know that mic inputs (balanced) must go through the pre amp in my board, but does the un-balanced? On the board I have, I have an XLR input for mic, and a 1/4" labeled 'Line', though this must not expect the same voltage level as a 'line level', or I could plug my guitar directly into my recorder. But when I mix down, and plug the 'line outs' of my recorder into these 'Line' inputs on the board, it works fine.

I'ld look at the manuals, but I don't have any of them!

Does the internal circuits in the board run at the typical line level that the recorder does? This would suggest that Mics get pre amped a lot, guitars a little, and line in levels from the recorder none.

Also, do external pre amps boost the level to line level (of a typical recorder), or that of a guitar?

Ziller

 

[Tom Hicks]

Hi Ziller
The 3 pin connector on your mike is XLR.Stuff with this connector is best signal to noise ratio!Next after that is line-level unbalanced 1/4",basically this stuff has been amplified.Stompboxes,processors,your mixer,all this gear has little amps inside to boost the level to a useable amount.Worst is passive unamplified guitars,basses or unbalanced cheapo mikes with 1/4" plugs.At a minimum,the passive stuff should be sent to a direct box first,then to the XLR input on your mixer.
Level matching is tricky.All this different stuff is putting out various amounts of voltages and the engineer's job is to balance that out evenly with direct boxes,dedicated mike pres and processors as well as your onboard pres.
Balanced XLR is the best way to inject signals to the board because it rejects induced hum even over long cable runs.Amplififed passive (line level)signals are hot in terms of voltage but (as unbalanced lines)subject to problems with cable runs over about 20 feet.The passive unbalanced stuff (like unamplified electric guitar)will sound thin and weak because the voltage is too low and also subject to hum induction as mentioned above.
The cheap solution is a direct box (under $100).More "hip" are the various dedicated tube-buffered mike preamps like the Tube MP and Presonus ($100-150).
Hope this all makes some sense!

Tom