mic pre headroom

[jugalo180]

okay, i am concerned about getting only what i need out of my equipment. i read that a good mic pre will leave you a lot of head room in your recordings. my setup is an at4050 condencer mic running through a mackie 1202 classic mixer, into a lynx one sound card. i'm recording in vegas video and cubase sx. my instruments have been recorded from fruity loops; therefore they remain in the digital domain, and there is no need to run my instruments through any mic +micpreamp+soundcard. i just got a triton this weekend so things are subject to change now.

my question is, would an MP-2NV or great river give me a huge(1k's worth) noticable result in my recordings than the pre's in the mackie mixer has if i'm only using one channel in the mackie for recording my vocals?

in my setup i'm only concerned with having one channell. since i'm only using pre's to record my voice then head room shouldn't be a problem with the mackie am i correct?

will the upgrade be worth the investment or should i stick with what i have since the pres in the mackie will only be used on vocals instead of an entire mix?

and only because i have a triton now will the higher end mic pre's come into play?

 

[chessrock]

AT4050 > Great River > Lynx I

Very nice.

If it's just one channel, though, I'm sure you'd be equally as happy with a Grace Design and the cash you'd save.

Headroom is a good thing, but I'm assuming there are a lot of other factors involved with the higher-end pres, obviously.

Sorry for not answering your question. I've never worked with a Great River, so my post is basically useless.

 

[jugalo180]

cool

thanks chessrock, i was trying to figure out if me only needing one channel will cut down the cost of me mic pre purchase. so is the mackie pre that terrible? i'm really excited about getting something that will blow me away, and not my pockets. i'm trying to do this without moving lateral.

 

[chessrock]

Re: cool

so is the mackie pre that terrible?

Not at all.

i'm really excited about getting something that will blow me away

Not sure if a better pre will blow you away or not. It might just be a modest satisfaction and greater feeling of security. Get a better mic if you want to be blown away, although I rather like the AT4050. I've been blown away once or twice by some of the BLUE mics . . . then there's the Soundelux I've heard so much about. That one might be "blow me away" material.

 

[Recording Engineer]

I'd stick with the 4050 (it IS a "good" mic under the $1k or so mark) and buy a preamp. The Mackie 1202 classic certainly wouldn't be an option for me (the XDR preamps in the 1202 now is my "minimum recommendation" usually), but you could do worse I suppose.

As for headroom, most of the time, the preamps' +14dBu max. input in your 1202 classic will do fine with most vocals on most hot output condensers. However, you WILL every once in awhile find occasions where you're exceeding their headroom on a vocal!

As for a mic preamp you buy, it's a matter of personal preference to the "sound" or lack thereof (for the current purchase condiseration), the application, what other preamps you currently own, and how long you anticipate it will be before you purchase another preamp.

Then you decide if'd you prefer a "colored" or "transparent" type preamp? And if colored, what type of "color"?... And all for this particular purchase.