Tube preamp?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jonny Nilsson
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Jonny Nilsson

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I'm not sure wether I should incorprate my small tube preamp in the recording chain or not. Is this more likely to introduce more noise (raisning the noise floor level) or is it more a question about proper gainstaging?

What I'd like, is to use it mainly for vocal recordings.
For acoustic and electric guitars I'm perfectly happy
with the setup I use now.

My current equipment:

Preamp:
ART TUBE MP

Mics:
SE Electronics SE2200a
TSM 87
Shure SM57

Mixer:
Behringer XENYX 2442FX

Soundcard:
M-Audio Delta AUDIOPHILE 2496

Also I'm not sure if I should use the XLR output in to the mixer
or the 1/4", and should this be going to the mic or the line input of the mixer?

Grateful for any advice you could come up with on this.
Maybe Noob question? :confused: I don't know.
 
I used the same ART preamp for recording vocals on an all out live take. The vocals sounded classic, a little less refined, less digital, but no noticable extra noise that off set the production. I did notice the vocals sounded "robotic" through headphones but that color wasn't present on playback; might have been the headphones causing the robotic sound. The ART tube preamp worked great to capture a "live" feel to the songs, which is what the band was going for.

I use a Tascam US1641 interface and all the inputs were taken by drums, guitar, bass. I had extra inputs in the back but they require a preamp, so I picked up 2 ART project studios ($30, the one with the analog meter) and 1 of the $70 ART's. I preamped the bass, organ, and vocals and everything came out sounding really good. I'll be using these preamps for other recording applications whenever possible to get more experience with the way they sound. I definitely have to be more cautious of the gain knobs because I think I tracked the bass too loud.

As for the mixer input question, I'd go 1/4" line in. I'm still new at this whole recording thing too but the way I'm thinking is the preamp is taking place of the mixers preamp, going XLR in might add too much power to the track, making them real "hot". Get a stereo 1/4" cable to go from preamp out to mixer line in.

Someone else may be able to clarify or correct.... Happy tracking!
 
I think you're right about bypassing the interface/mixer's preamp if you're using an outboard preamp. You don't want to preamp a preamp.
 
fdr1972 said:
it's really not going to make a difference.;)
Click to expand...

Preamping a preamp sounds like it'll totally make a difference in how "hot" and strong the signal received would be. The are 2 gain knobs to work with instead of 1.

The only way around the extra gain (if say a 1/4" line-in was not available) would be to put the mic gain all the way down (or maybe just a little gain for flavor) on the mixer input and adjust the gain on the preamp. This is how I understand it.

If you could explain why it wouldn't make a difference I'd like to hear for learning purposes... peace!
 
Thnx nb508! :-)
That was kind of what I thought too.
I'll experiment a bit with it in the week to come.
 
balanced

XLR is generally better than 1/4" because it is balanced. Only some 1/4" are balanced. Also, once you preamp the signal with your tube pre, the signal is line level so you'll want to use the line in of the mixer. If the signal is weak you could use the mic in to add a little gain, but it will get noisy, especially with the cheaper consumer-level gear.
 
All the 1/4 inputs on the board should be balanced so it depends on what it is on the preamp. Usually boards have a -20 db pad on the 1/4 ins so if its a line level xlr that's at +4dbu then you should use the 1/4 to reduce the risk of clipping the board, but you could use a female xlr to 1/4 in case the 1/4 isn't balanced and then you get the -20db so your less likely to clip.
 
With all due respect, no it doesn't. I use a Grace Designs m101 micpre into a Tascam2488 and it (the tascam) has built in micpres. I control the level of my input signal with the Grace. :)
 
if the interface has a line in use it... and do a search for starved plate tubes... the bottom line being it does sound different but not really the classic tube sound... ya gotta get @200V on a tube to get it excited...
 
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