preamp

[Foo-bu]

stupid question ...but what is a preamp? i keep reading all these threads that mention them but i have no clue what they are. are they always necessary? i use my fostex 280 by directly plugging in the mic to the mixer and it works perfect. is this a bad way of setting up?

 

[The Green Hornet]

Yo fooBu De Bu of Boo:

Preamps? About two zillion threads on this site for you to look over.

But, just for general information, pre amps treat the incoming signal of either voice or instrument or whatever and give it presence and boost and lots of circuits that I know little about.

You can start at 100 bucks and move up to thousands for mic preamps.


Most DAW's come with pre amps; some are pretty good and some are mediocre.


I use a pre amp and then boost that with the DAW pre amp.

Lots of techniques; you need to read here and study and try and get live demos at vendors' stores.

Jump in.

Green Hornet

 

[sjjohnston]

"Preamp" can mean any of a number of different sorts of preamps, but by context I think you're talking about a microphone preamp.

It takes a low-level mic signal and amplifies it to line level.

If you're plugging a microphone directly into your box and it works, that probably means your box as a mic preamp in it.

An outboard mic preamp (a separate mic preamp in box by itself, or pretty much by itself) might (or might not) produce better results.

Other variables that come into play:
- Your decent recording mics generally have a low-impedance output. They will work best if the mic preamp is intended to work with a low-impedance input.
- Almost all outboard mic preamps supply phantom power, which you may need for a condensor mic.
- Some other signal processing may be included in the same box with a mic preamp.
- Different mic preamps impart a slightly different "character" to the sounds passed through them.

 

[treb311]

The Mic Preamp that I own is a Tube ... and a tube usually gives your sound a warm tone