Preamp questions (total newbie)

I

idrisguitar

New member
What exactly does a preamp do?

and how do i know which ones to choose.

say if i have a studio now, and its got a miked up guitar amp and a miked up acoustic guitar.

and they are currently going straight into the mixer, and then to the computer.

what would adding preamps specific to the type of instruments add to the setup?

and they would come after the mics and before the mixer in he chain right?

and as i said before how would i know which preamps to look for to get the best sound.

hope you can help
 
idrisguitar said:
What exactly does a preamp do?
Click to expand...

It amplifies a microphone signal.

and how do i know which ones to choose.
Click to expand...

Do some research and try to find the best one in your budget. If you're using a condenser microphone, most of them need 48v phantom power, so the preamp would need to supply that.

If it's a dynamic, they don't need phantom power.

say if i have a studio now, and its got a miked up guitar amp and a miked up acoustic guitar.

and they are currently going straight into the mixer, and then to the computer.

what would adding preamps specific to the type of instruments add to the setup?
Click to expand...

Chances are, if you have mics hooked into your mixer, then the mixer already has preamps built in to it.

It might also have line-inputs so you can bypass the preamps on the mixer and use one of your own.

People usually do this if they want to use a better preamp than the ones that are built into the mixer.

and they would come after the mics and before the mixer in he chain right?
Click to expand...

Yes.

and as i said before how would i know which preamps to look for to get the best sound.
Click to expand...

What is your budget, what kind of mics are you going to use with it, and what are you recording?
 
thank you mate, you have told me a lot

yeah my mixer has line ins to bypass the mixer and at the moment im plugging everything through xlr to the mixer and it sounds good.

theres just so much talk of preamps that i was wondering whether i was missing out on something crucial.

i might update my mixer when i have more money as well.
 
Look into Great River preamps when you get a chance when you get tired of the preamps on your mixer. They're not bad.
 
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