Stupid Recording Chain Question: pre->mixer?

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bpr103

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I've got a Mackie VLZ with three usable preamps, the other three have a very loud hum when I put the trim up halfway. But the TRS line ins on these three preamp channels sound fine.

Now, if I were to get a good 2-ch preamp with balanced XLR outs to replace the damaged mixer pres, where would this go into the mixer? Would using the bad preamp inputs on the Mackie nullify the clean signals from the outboard pre? Put another way, could I just keep the Mackie levels at "Unity Gain" to keep the outboard preamp gain unaltered?

Thanks for the responses.
 
just get an take two xlr to trs cables out of the outboard preamp, and into the line inputs of the Mackie. that should get the job done; and yes just set the faders at unity, and control the level from the outboard pre.
 
I'd run a line from the outboard pre direct to your recorder and another (if your pre has 2 outputs) to the line in of the mackie for monitoring
 
Feeling daring...

It's sounds pretty coincidental that three channels are good and three channels are bad. Might be that there's a seperate circuit board for each three channel strips. Could be that you could reseat the second board and resolve your problem...

Just a thought...
 
Interesting, Lemon. Is this because the Mackie might add noise to the recording signal? even if set to unity?

mofo - afraid of solder. :eek: I was thinkging that there's a break in the grounding chain in those three (2, 4, and 6, so the pres aren't sequential) or something. but again, afraid of solder. :eek:
 
you want the most direct route to your recorder, as in Pre to tape, pre to hard disk, whatever. Anything you add inbetween will degenerate the source.

A lot of Pre's will have a balanced XLR output and a balanced or unbalanced output on TS or TRS jack. So, you run the balanced XLR to your recording device and use the other into the line in on your mixer for monitoring what you're recording. Keep it clean ;)
 
Could be a press fit... or ribbon cable... I'm not familiar with the interior of the mackie boards... their harddrive recorders are notorious for loose connections...

Did the problem just crop up out of nowhere, or was it after you moved the board... If you rap on the strip does it impact the audio?
 
Lemon - got it.

mofo - the problem just cropped up after ten years of abuse in tikki bars. It's probably sand in the pots for all I know. I'll knock on it, see if that makes any difference., and I'll have a look under the hood, see if it's just something unplugged.

Thanks all for the replies. It's five o'clock somewhere, and somewhere is here. Happy Thanksgiving to those in the States.
 
Which VLZ do you have there?

The only thing I would say is that you should plug the external preamp output into line inputs on the VLZ that *don't* also have preamps. This is because the line inputs on preamp channels are attenuated and then routed to the preamps, and then to the channel strip. So on those channels you don't avoid the preamps by using the line inputs.
 
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