preamp noise comparison

  • Thread starter Thread starter dobro
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dobro

dobro

Well-known member
Help me to understand this.

I record two tracks at a time, with two Rode NT1s. One through an ART Tube pre, one through a Joemeek VC6Q. I set everything up, and looking at the screen before I click on RECORD, I see that the Rode through the ART is at about -33 dB, and the Rode through the Joemeek is lower than that, by maybe 10 dB. Okay, so I record the song. Listening to it later on, I find that the ART Tube pre track is completely quiet, but the Joemeek track has some noise. What's going on??? I would have thought that the track registering the lower noise before recording would have been the quietest track afterwards.

BTW, I switched mics just to see what would happen, and the same result obtained.
 
How loud is the "noise" that ends up on the track? Load a quiet part (recorded silence if possible) from the same slice of each into a .wav editor and check the level of the envelope for this section. How many dB apart are these numbers and where are they in absolute terms (-20dB, -30dB etc.)?
 
I had a noisey preamp-turned out to be a phantom power problem.Probably won't help you though!just thought I'd mention it:D
 
The Joe Meek is supposed to be a quieter unit than the ART.
You mention monitoring the level at the pc,but how did you gain stage the two pres?Both these units have a level-matching preamp circuit as well as the output level circuit.I assume its LEDs on both.
Retry your experiment with the PREs pres very low and the main output more raised and see if that changes your results,paying specific attention to the Meek.
When an ART MP distorts its front-end, the sound is kinda harsh and grainy.You said the ART sounded better so I'd suspect the settings on the Meek.

Tom
 
doc - not sure if I know how to do what you suggest, but even if I can give an objective measure to the noise, the salient, pungent chief feature for me is that I can *hear* it...

Tom - yeah, I'll experiment. The Meek has a level LED, but it measures the level of the signal BEFORE the output setting. Go figure. So I use the onscreen meter to measure the level going to the hard disk. Also, I use the Meek for compression and EQ on the guitar - it's mild compression and EQ, but it's there to deal with peaks and boominess - that's what I love about using channel strips. Will the compression and EQ add noise?
 
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