Mic Pres .. going to Line In or Direct to Recorder?

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promesis

promesis

Black Knights of the 4H.
I have 2 RNP's, 2 ART Pro's and a Mackie 32x8 console .. is it better to go straight to the my recorder (Alesis HD24) from the pres .. or are the "Line In" signal paths of the Mackie transparent enough to route the pres thru the board for a "smidge" of EQ before "printing"... or should my "smidge" of EQ be deferred at Mix Down? Any insights, experience or strong opinions about this?

-thanks
 
Minimal signal path is the ideal... so the quick answer is yes, it's preferable to bypass the board completely. That being said, if you want to EQ some tracks before hitting the recorder, then do so......
 
For the cleanest signal, go directly to the recorder. The thing to understand about the Mackies is that the line in goes through the preamps. What happens is that the line level signal is attenuated to mic level, then sent through the preamp to be re-amplified, and only then goes through the rest of the channel strip. So the signal goes through a fair amount of electronics before it even hits the boards' eq.

This is not unique to the Mackie. Most budget boards have this setup, no matter the manufacturer. It's important to take a look at the signal flow schematics of any board you use, just to see what is actually happening to the signal.

There is a way to bypass this routing, at least with Mackie boards. You plug into the insert jacks just to the first click. The inserts are line level and don't go through the preamps. Again, consult your boards' schematics, but I'm quite sure this is how it works.

So, if you want the most pristine signal, then you need to go straight from the preamp to your recorder, bypassing the board. Then eq later when mixing.
 
It is preferable to go into the recorder directly, but monitoring can ba an issue if you do this. It all depends on how you are monitoring your tracks. In most circumstances you would want to go directly to the recorder. Especially given that you have a Mackie VLZ. I would use software EQ's before I used those on a mackie vlzX.
 
I have a Mackie board and I wouldn't use the EQs unless I had no other option and the mics were glued in place. They're as bad as the worst software EQs.
 
ryanlikestorock said:
I have a Mackie board and I wouldn't use the EQs unless I had no other option and the mics were glued in place. They're as bad as the worst software EQs.
Click to expand...

They are fine for cutting. If you do a lot of boosting that's when you want something better.
 
Thanks for the insights .. a couple of things:

I don't have a "control room" .. so the board is in the tracking room .. not the best set up .. but I only have that to work with. This of course, negates the ability to monitor while tracking. I just set up the mics and get levels and run some tape (or turn some platter - HD24) . Then I listen to the recorded signal and figure out better mic placement for sound quality and equalling out the "bleed" between mics. So going directly from the pres into the HD24 sounds like a winner... at least from the aspect of not compromising the most pristine sound sources.

When EQing I almost always try to use what I call "subtractive EQ" ... cutting the worst offensive frequencies as opposed to "boosting".. which to me is simply adding more distortion to the signal path. This being said, sometimes there is a bit of "additive EQ" - I really wasn't aware that the Mackies EQ section was so bad.

What outboard EQs should I look into between $200 - $600?
If I used these outboard EQs then I most certainly wiuld have them in the channel inserts with the EQ section of the channel "disengaged" .. thus still giving me fader and aux send control during mix down.. right?

In general, what are your opinions of EQing at tracking .. ?

One last thing, now that I am leaning towards "direct from pres" : is the Neutrik Patchlink SPL neutral enough to patch into the recorder? Currently all 24 Inputs to my HD24 are connected directly to the Direct Outs of the Mackie. If I go direct to the HD24 for 8 channels at a time with the pres, now I would consider connecting all 24 tracks to the Neutrik utilizing the Half-Normalled scheme with the Direct Outs into the top rear of the Neutrik and then patch cables from the rear bottom jacks into the HD24 - then when I use my pres.. I could just patch from the Pres into the front "grey" Normalling jack of the corresponding channel I wish to record- breaking the signal from the Direct Outs and feeding the Pres signal to the HD24 - I think I have that right .. what is the thought of this? Does this simply add more "poop" to the signal (much like routing thru the Board itself) .. or is the patchbay neutral enough to avail myself to the ease of connectivity utilizing the patch bay scheme?

-thanks for your patience and advice!
 
As Blue Bear stated, the signal chain should be as short as possible. Most people use patch bays anyway, for convenience and to save wear and tear on connectors of main line gear. If your patch cables are good quality, the difference should be negligible. I agree- *don't* use the Mackie's EQ when tracking, or at any other time.-Richie
 
you can monitor the signals using the outputs of the HD24. From the pre's to the recorder then out of the recorder to the Mackie. I do this with an HD24 and a Yamaha O1V.
 
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