Nice Preamp + Cheap Mixer?

[joshw]

I decided to take the plunge and to splurge on an Aphex 1100 preamp. I have a cheapish 8-channel Roland VM-3100 Pro digital mixer (which pipes audio into my computer), and I was previously plugging my mics into it and cranking up the internal gain.

Now, once I have the preamp, I'll be able to plug its output into my mixer and turn the mixer input level for that channel all the way down to "Line", bypassing the mixer's preamp. My question is this: will the mixer (even with bypassing the preamp) be a weak link in my chain?

I know it's probably hard to say with any specificity, but this situation must be common, and I'm curious how much of effect an average mixer has when just dealing with line-level signals. Thanks!

PS: I know the Aphex 1100 has digital IO, but humor me here.

 

[SonicAlbert]

Your signal is only as good as the weakest link. No doubt the addition of the Aphex will improve your sound, but putting the Roland in there will mean that you won't get the most out of the Aphex. I'd suggest you use the digital output of the Aphex into the digital input of the Roland, and then go digitally from the Roland to your sound card. Or bypass the Roland entirely when recording, using the digital output of the Aphex directly into the digital input of your sound card.