Preamps, noise, & microphones

[tappmusic]

I just bought a supposedly good mic preamp (ART Tube MP Studio) and I'm kind of disappointed by the result I'm getting. If I adjust the settings enough to give me a good hot signal, the noise is really bad! My studio is very small and I assume that the reason for this (the noise) is because the 1/4" jacks on the preamp are unbalanced. I have the line running straight into my front panel 1/4" MIC IN jack (soundcard: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS), which I believe are balanced (not that it matters with an unbalanced input).

I'm using a Shure mic, but it's the Prologue series, which is older and not nearly as good as the newer models.

Is there a technique that may help me take these basic pieces of equipment and get the best signal to noise ratio possible? I'd appreciate some advice from those experienced sound engineers out there. Thanks!

 

[EleKtriKaz]

I really don't mean to be insulting, but who told you that was a good preamp? If you bought it at Guitar Center on the recommendation of one of their "experts", take it back and tell them you don't appreciate their sales people pushing crap on you. Or you could keep it around for color and other special occasions, and buy a more high quality pre.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Yup... they're useful as a more-than-decent bass DI, but not as an actual mic preamp..........

 

[TripleJ]

Try going into your Line IN, instead of Mic IN. You will get much much better results.

 

[TimOBrien]

Yup, the MIC IN is for those crappy little $5 stick mics.

The LINE IN is what you want to push your pre-amp into.

Then we'll talk about the quality of your Creative "prosumer" gamer card.

The type of connector (balanced/unbalanced) is irrelevant.

 

[tappmusic]

Reply to everyone's input

I appreciate the input. I read multiple customer reviews on many different mic preamps and this is the one that seemed to have the best quality within my price range. I'm building my studio, which implies that I'm very young in this arena, and therefore I have to use other peoples comments and experience to learn and acquire the right equipment. I most likely will return this preamp if it is as bad as you say. I don't know why the reviews I read were so good. Maybe they aren't as picky as me.

Any suggestions on other good mic preamps for a home studio? Thanks again!