Preamps for the MR series

[Alden_Sloe]

Just bought the MR16HD. I'm betting it uses the same preamps as the MR8HD which by most accounts are barely adequate.

We'll try to get by without pre-amps at first but what are some recommendations? Is it mic specific or more specific to the instrument you're trying to record?

What about recording from a turntable. I'm interested in using it to burn CDs of some old 78's and a few LPs that were made by family members "back in the day". Of course I can always use the line out jacks from my Yamaha integrated amp; which I'm almost sure to do for the stereo 33-1/3 recordings. I was just wondering if a preamp bought for a mic would be better sound quality.

Is there a do it all pre-amp solution? What about a piece of gear with multiple pre-amps (like four) in one box?

 

[pschaafs]

I use a mixer for this, and take each channel out of it to MR8 HD via the insert jacks.

 

[Alden_Sloe]

Looks like on the MR8HD and the MR16HD the only "insert" jack is on input A. I think it's designed to use a "stereo" or "balanced" cable to send the signal out and accept the processed signal back. Haven't figured out yet if a standard instrument cable will work if you're only trying to input a signal to the recorder instead of creating a loop for external effects?

Looking at the lables for the preamps they say "line" for the full CCW position and "mic" for the full CW position. This leads me to believe that if you have a line level input (as in you are using an external preamp) then turning the "gain" knob all the way "off" would pass the original signal and "bypass" the internal preamp. Haven't yet had a chance to try this out.

 

[ncsmith]

I use two Behringer Tube Mic200s and they work very well

 

[pschaafs]

I meant the insert jacks on the mixer, out to the inputs on the MR8. Using a standard 1/4" cable plugged halfway in on input A I bypass that preamp. The others I try to boost the signal on the mixer enuf that I can minimize the trim on the MR8.

 

[Alden_Sloe]

I meant the insert jacks on the mixer, out to the inputs on the MR8. Using a standard 1/4" cable plugged halfway in on input A I bypass that preamp. The others I try to boost the signal on the mixer enuf that I can minimize the trim on the MR8.

Mmm, I bought a Roland MMP-2 mostly to see if it's preamps were noticibly better than those stock on the MR16HD. From what I can tell the difference is marginal. Not sure if that means the Fostex pre's are better than people tend to give them credit for, the Roland is worse or (as has been expressed in other threads recently) it's pretty darned hard to hear the difference between preamps

From what I can tell turning down the trim/gain all the way on the Fostex recorder esentially bypasses the internal preamp and fuctions as a line in. I think it's even labeled "Line" for the far CCW direction of the knob.

I have noticed that the dedicated Guitar jack on input A seems to have more noise/hum than the other inputs. Mostly I've been using XLR cables from microphones so perhaps it's the cable (unbalanced? ) and I know the guitar (cheap, two single coil pickups I believe) is noisey.

It seems a certain amount of noise is inherent with electric guitar. My next step is to see how the guitar input for the Roland MMP-2 works. I'm also curious to play with the EQ on both the Roland and the Fostex. I think a High Pass filter might work to at least eliminate 60 cycle noise from the AC mains. Playing with some of the other settings should at least help get a handle on what type of noise I'm hearing.

 

[starbuck26]

From what I can tell turning down the trim/gain all the way on the Fostex recorder esentially bypasses the internal preamp and fuctions as a line in. I think it's even labeled "Line" for the far CCW direction of the knob.

That is absolutely the case. I still remember the day when I had the revelation that I could completely bypass the shitty mr-8 preamps. What a lovely epiphany.

I only use my mr-8 these days for live recordings. I stick my dmp-3 in front of it with 2 omnidirectional mics, and that's that. Virtually every standalone recorder I've used can bypass pres like this. It just makes sense... If you're using a mixer to combine a few signals, you don't want to add gain at the end of your chain.

 

[billisa]

That is absolutely the case. I still remember the day when I had the revelation that I could completely bypass the shitty mr-8 preamps. What a lovely epiphany.

I only use my mr-8 these days for live recordings. I stick my dmp-3 in front of it with 2 omnidirectional mics, and that's that. Virtually every standalone recorder I've used can bypass pres like this. It just makes sense... If you're using a mixer to combine a few signals, you don't want to add gain at the end of your chain.

Is this really the case? I had heard a while back that even with the trim/gain turned all the way down, you are still going through the onboard preamp circuitry.

 

[MCI2424]

Mmm, I bought a Roland MMP-2 mostly to see if it's preamps were noticibly better than those stock on the MR16HD. From what I can tell the difference is marginal. Not sure if that means the Fostex pre's are better than people tend to give them credit for, the Roland is worse or (as has been expressed in other threads recently) it's pretty darned hard to hear the difference between preamps

From what I can tell turning down the trim/gain all the way on the Fostex recorder esentially bypasses the internal preamp and fuctions as a line in. I think it's even labeled "Line" for the far CCW direction of the knob.

I have noticed that the dedicated Guitar jack on input A seems to have more noise/hum than the other inputs. Mostly I've been using XLR cables from microphones so perhaps it's the cable (unbalanced? ) and I know the guitar (cheap, two single coil pickups I believe) is noisey.

It seems a certain amount of noise is inherent with electric guitar. My next step is to see how the guitar input for the Roland MMP-2 works. I'm also curious to play with the EQ on both the Roland and the Fostex. I think a High Pass filter might work to at least eliminate 60 cycle noise from the AC mains. Playing with some of the other settings should at least help get a handle on what type of noise I'm hearing.

You can't bypass the pre-amps in anything until you can get rid of them. The "Insert" input to the channel is the place to bypass the internal pre-amp as it has a "return" line that enters the channel after the pre-amp/line amp. Turning the gain down to "0" only turns the gain down to minimum, the pre-amp is still in there with any of the bad artifacts intact.