Mic Preamp - Quick Question

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PaddyGordon

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I have an Apogee Duet which has built in Phantom Power, do I need a pre-amp on top of this or not?
 
In this context, the issue of phantom power is irrelevant.

The only time you would need a stand-alone preamp would be if your interface does not have one.

So, what you need to determine is if your Apogee Duet has built-in preamps.

Phantom power is only required if you are using condenser mics.
 
Phantom power is relevant to the extant that it indicates the Apogee has its own preamps, therefore no additional one is needed. Plug a mike straight into the Apogee and you are set to go. bdenton is on the money when saying that the only time you need a stand-alone preamp is when the interface doesn't have one.
 
Thanks for the replies, any recommendations of a decent one I can get?
 
Crap. Don't listen to me. I was thinking of the Rosetta. No you don't need a mic pre. But I disagree on the pemise that you don't need a mic pre if you have one built in. Different mic pre's have distint charictaristics and options. Some have on board eq's or compressors to allow you to shape your source going in.
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Elton123 said:
Crap. Don't listen to me. I was thinking of the Rosetta. No you don't need a mic pre. But I disagree on the pemise that you don't need a mic pre if you have one built in. Different mic pre's have distint charictaristics and options. Some have on board eq's or compressors to allow you to shape your source going in.
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This is true, but it's not necessary. You way want a pre-amp, but you don't need one. After you have explored recording for a while, you may decide that you would like greater control, or more subtlety. For an OP who is asking profoundly basic questions, a pre-amp is an option that is probably best left alone at this stage.
 
gecko zzed said:
Phantom power is relevant to the extant that it indicates the Apogee has its own preamps, therefore no additional one is needed. Plug a mike straight into the Apogee and you are set to go. bdenton is on the money when saying that the only time you need a stand-alone preamp is when the interface doesn't have one.
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The reason I answered why I did regarding phantom power is because there are stand-alone boxes out there that do nothing but provide phantom power.

So, one cannot make an assumption that just because there is phantom power there is a preamp.

I'm trying to avoid setting up a three page thread, two pages of which will just be asinine comments, where a newbie will ask, "Somebody told me I needed phantom power for my mic, so the guy at Guitar Center sold me one. So why can't I get any sound out of it?"
 
bdenton said:
The reason I answered why I did regarding phantom power is because there are stand-alone boxes out there that do nothing but provide phantom power.

So, one cannot make an assumption that just because there is phantom power there is a preamp.

I'm trying to avoid setting up a three page thread, two pages of which will just be asinine comments, where a newbie will ask, "Somebody told me I needed phantom power for my mic, so the guy at Guitar Center sold me one. So why can't I get any sound out of it?"
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It is not an assumption when you know that the Apogee is an interface, not a stand-alone phantom power supply.
 
bdenton said:
The reason I answered why I did regarding phantom power is because there are stand-alone boxes out there that do nothing but provide phantom power.

So, one cannot make an assumption that just because there is phantom power there is a preamp.

I'm trying to avoid setting up a three page thread, two pages of which will just be asinine comments, where a newbie will ask, "Somebody told me I needed phantom power for my mic, so the guy at Guitar Center sold me one. So why can't I get any sound out of it?"
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It is not an assumption when you know that the Apogee is an interface, not a stand-alone phantom power supply.
 
Try recording Paddy, you have the SM27 Condenser and the phantom power, see what the levels are like. If you have to bellow like a banshee with the levels on max you might want more. I set all my digital levels to 0dB and use my pre-amp on the analogue side of the chain to determine the gain. According to the trim pot I have to give most vocals about a 30dB gain (almost half the maximum of the pre-amp) on a balanced line.
 
That link says it does 10 to 75 dB of gain in mic mode.

Sounds like a mic pre to me, but it doesn't say if the gain is analog in the device itself or digital (in the host computer). I don't know if it's possible to add that much gain digitally.
 
Paddygordon
That's how my mic sounds through the duet, it's definitely loud enough :P but I wasn't sure what the preamp's purpose was as I'd always used mixer amps live when djing and at open mic nights etc.
When recording I'd plug my SM58 into my computer through a mixer/amp, I got the duet and again, didn't need a preamp or anything, and the SM27 sounds good through just the duet, but just incase a preamp would bring out anything or make the mic sound considerably better etc.
 
It's probably a combination IMO. But that'd just be a guess at the internal hardware. It's in proximity of $500 MSRP, so that's $250 a channel for preamps if it was just preamps. So it could very well be analog gain, and good. Or the price is entirely related to the software bundle.
 
I don't know anything about the Apogee Paddy, but if the levels are good (and not noisy) then you don't need a pre-amp... you already have one.
 
but just incase a preamp would bring out anything or make the mic sound considerably better etc.
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I think the equation goes something like this:
70% YOU (the engineer)
22% Mic
8% Preamp
*Figures are approximate ;)
 
About right lastdays... I would add another parameter to the equation... :D

0 to 100% (depending on the style) ... how compelling the vocal and melody is.
 
But if any one of the three is 0%, you have no result. But they have computers that can take the place of the engineer now. (or will shortly).
 
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