Preamp questions...Veeery important.

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mrhotapples

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I'm taking out a loan within the next month to purchase a new preamp. An expensive one. A Great River or a one of these so I can have it for a few projects that are gonna make the money back pretty quickly.

What else am I gonna need to get so that when I make a sound and a mic picks it up, it gets into my computer and shows up in Sonar? I've got a Firepod right now so I'm not used to having separate mic pres.
 
Mic -> Cable -> Mic Pre -> Cable -> Firepod line input -> Sonar
 
This won't degrade the quality of the preamp, though? Would the only difference made this way be by the Firepod's converters?
 
mrhotapples said:
This won't degrade the quality of the preamp, though? Would the only difference made this way be by the Firepod's converters?
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There is also a preamp built in the Firepod. (Okay, several.) As long as you keep the volume of the Firepod down it should simply pass the signal through mostly unchanged. In other words, the Firepod will not color the signal as long as it is not boosting the signal. If you rely on the Vintech to get the signal level up to a usable level then the Firepod shouldn't need to be turned up.

If you want to avoid the Firepod all together, then you will need some sort of digital converter or another preamp that has one built in. Here is an example of one that's built in. (If you order it with the Firewire/USB option, that is.)

Hope this helps.
RD
 
That does help. I'm buying one of those for coloration, the Firepod's pres are so neutral...I'd like the option of having something to make certain instruments stand out. I guess I'll be cool then. Thanks!
 
You can totally bypass the pres on your firepod... If you use the line ins from behind, you´ll be bypassing the FP pres and just using it as AD converter.
HTH.
 
How are the ADA converters on the Firepod? I've heard that MOTU's fw devices are better equipped. What would, in the end, be the best quality vs. price AD converter I could buy? I apologize for the questions, heh.
 
Why the hell are you taking out a loan on recording gear?

Save it for something you might need ... like a car or a house.

.
 
mrhotapples said:
What else am I gonna need to get so that when I make a sound and a mic picks it up, it gets into my computer and shows up in Sonar? I've got a Firepod right now so I'm not used to having separate mic pres.
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If you honestly dont know the answer to that, dont blow a fortune on a pre-amp. In the grand scheme of things it wont do much unless every other piece of the puzzle is of the same quality. High end mic, high end room, high end monitors, high end performers. :D

If I had one of those preamps, there would be very little difference from my m-audio interface. I dont have the right room or the right mics, it would sound close to the same I bet. It doesnt work magic, having one piece of the puzzle doesnt cut it unless the whole deal is there. You would probably get the same results with the Presonus.
 
DavidK said:
If you honestly dont know the answer to that, dont blow a fortune on a pre-amp. In the grand scheme of things it wont do much unless every other piece of the puzzle is of the same quality. High end mic, high end room, high end monitors, high end performers. :D

If I had one of those preamps, there would be very little difference from my m-audio interface. I dont have the right room or the right mics, it would sound close to the same I bet. It doesnt work magic, having one piece of the puzzle doesnt cut it unless the whole deal is there. You would probably get the same results with the Presonus.
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Second.

You could also go with an upgraded mic pre that runs in the 500-600 dollar range, which wouldn't empty your pockets so fast. A well respected model around here is the Grace 101, and while I HAVE NOT USED IT (note the caps, for importance :)), it gets a lot of good press around here.

Perhaps it is a clean pre, so it won't be "coloring" the sound as you might want, but as others have said, it sounds like you have a lot to learn before actually being able to get the mileage out of a Vintech, etc. I don't have the expertise myself, so don't think I'm trying to be condescending - I'm just tryin to save ya some cash, and models like the Grace 101 won't become doorstops at any point, even if you do end up upgrading down the line.

Just another two cents to throw in your penny jar :)
 
cusebassman said:
Second.

You could also go with an upgraded mic pre that runs in the 500-600 dollar range, which wouldn't empty your pockets so fast. A well respected model around here is the Grace 101, and while I HAVE NOT USED IT (note the caps, for importance :)), it gets a lot of good press around here.

Perhaps it is a clean pre, so it won't be "coloring" the sound as you might want, but as others have said, it sounds like you have a lot to learn before actually being able to get the mileage out of a Vintech, etc. I don't have the expertise myself, so don't think I'm trying to be condescending - I'm just tryin to save ya some cash, and models like the Grace 101 won't become doorstops at any point, even if you do end up upgrading down the line.

Just another two cents to throw in your penny jar :)
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I think David's point was, why bother upgrading. Moving up to a $500 dollar pre is going yield an even smaller difference, he might as well just pick up some fairly clean cheap pre's to add to his collection.
 
Hmm, good point. The pre's on a... firepod, was it? Are probably halfway decent, as far as I've read around here.

But, if he were looking to really upgrade those suckers, the models mentioned and the price range will make some difference.

But yes, for all that's been said, an upgrade in some other area is probably better-spent money.
 
Loans are so easy to take, and so hard to pay back. This really only makes business sense if this is THE piece of gear that completes an otherwise pro caliber equipment list in a pro caliber facility, and revenue generation hinges on it. It doesn't sound like you are at a point in the learning curve to make an informed decision on what this piece of gear, the money it costs, and the real cost after interest, is really going to do for you. There's sooo much more to making good recordings than a top shelf preamp, and you may easily find that you end up in debt with little improvement in the final output of your process.
 
Robert D said:
There's sooo much more to making good recordings than a top shelf preamp,
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Yes. AND, very good recordings can be made with a presonus or similiar unit. If ya cant make a good one with a Presonus................... ;) :D
 
Id invest the money in a nice Neumann U87.





I'm kidding, I swear - don't come to me complaining that a Neumann u87 + Behringer Ultra100 pre and a Portastudio 2-track is givin ya bad results :)

I wonder how that *would* sound.

Or more appropriately, couple that U87 with a really good pre, and THEN go into the Portastudio... mwahaha
 
In all honesty though, what is the rest of your chain lookin like - mics, room treatment, etc.?

If anything, I'd say the preamps you've got will suffice for most applications, and perhaps a few mic upgrades or additions might be in order. Nothing outrageously priced, but there is always room for improvement in how many different ones you have for different applications.
 
eh...without getting into the whole question of whether he should be buying a vintech or not, i can tell you that running the vintech into the presonus w/ the presonus @ unity gain shouldn't really degrade the input signal

my school used to have a mackie d8b that we did most of our stuff on, and the preamps on those were nothing special - you could still definitely tell the difference when patching in the vintech 1073's, focusrite 110's, UA 2-610's, etc. etc. through the d8b's signal path
 
Yeah - one would hope that after bypassing the onboard preamps, that one wouldn't hit too many electronic roadblocks before getting to the converters on the firepod.
 
yea...who knows. i wouldn't imagine there would be that much between, though. hell, even on my mackie onyx, i can tell a clear and distinct difference between the onboard pres and my outboard when hitting the line in @ unity gain
 
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