What Do PreAmps Do

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JoeyPazera

JoeyPazera

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Alright No one Laugh! :D

What exactly do preamps do, and what are they used for and are they built into my alesis mutlimix mixer? And how do they change the sound?

thanks
-Joe
 
JoeyPazera said:
What exactly do preamps do
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Preamps make the tiny signal generated by microphones into a signal suited for further processing. Pre + amplifier.

JoeyPazera said:
what are they used for
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See above.

JoeyPazera said:
are they built into my alesis mutlimix mixer?
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Yes. The gain or trim knobs control how much the signal is increased. You want enough to use, not so much that you get distortion.

JoeyPazera said:
And how do they change the sound?
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Depends. :D
 
Thanks, So im guessing better preamps wont improve my sound a whole lot will it?
 
JoeyPazera said:
Thanks, So im guessing better preamps wont improve my sound a whole lot will it?
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Delete this post before everyone chimes in.

Yes they do, but IMO other things like the room acoustics make a bigger difference. (just a suggestion before someone convinces you to go spend $2k on a preamp.)
 
well, ill tell you my room specs and tell me if there a huge problem.

13x13 i have 7x7 squares of the egg crate bedding on each wall and another 3 x 6 peice on the lower peice of the wall in front of the bass drum.
 
Wow...you own a pair of BX8a's and Multimix 16 and don't know what the primary function of a preamp is?
 
i always shoot for good stuff, im not a cheap guy! I am a beginer to recording so. I said DOnt make fun of! lol
 
JoeyPazera said:
well, ill tell you my room specs and tell me if there a huge problem.

13x13 i have 7x7 squares of the egg crate bedding on each wall and another 3 x 6 peice on the lower peice of the wall in front of the bass drum.
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Square rooms are an acoustic no-no, and eggcrate foam doesn't really do anything but burn readily, I'd say you have a bigger room problem than a preamp problem.
 
If you want acoustic absorbers, build yourself several fiberglass mineral wool panels and see how better your room sounds by being cheap! :D
 
ermghoti said:
Square rooms are an acoustic no-no, and eggcrate foam doesn't really do anything but burn readily, I'd say you have a bigger room problem than a preamp problem.
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I think you're thinking of egg crates. They're made of a paper product, not foam, and thus they don't do much at all as far as absorption, but since they are fairly hard, they can probably help with the slapping echo that you get with parallel walls. That said, they're probably not a great solution....

However, I don't think that's what the original poster meant. Eggcrate foam is just plain old foam that's shaped like an egg crate, commonly used as a foam mattress pad. It makes a fairly decent absorber, though the density is probably not ideal.
 
dgatwood said:
I think you're thinking of egg crates. They're made of a paper product, not foam, and thus they don't do much at all as far as absorption, but since they are fairly hard, they can probably help with the slapping echo that you get with parallel walls. That said, they're probably not a great solution....

However, I don't think that's what the original poster meant. Eggcrate foam is just plain old foam that's shaped like an egg crate, commonly used as a foam mattress pad. It makes a fairly decent absorber, though the density is probably not ideal.
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yeah see i used the bedding stuff, and man does it help, i mean when you have the doors open and then close them, its like night and day.


Another thing is, i have a sound shield, that i keep at my church. Say i was to put that in front of my drums, would that help out alot or just make madders worse?
 
ermghoti said:
Square rooms are an acoustic no-no, and eggcrate foam doesn't really do anything but burn readily, I'd say you have a bigger room problem than a preamp problem.
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Don't envite anyone over to your place once you get that stuff on your walls unless you want to get close to White Snake's manager :eek:
 
JoeyPazera said:
i always shoot for good stuff, im not a cheap guy! I am a beginer to recording so. I said DOnt make fun of! lol
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you said alesis right ;) (just kidding i used to have a little alesis board wasnt as bad as alot of people will say)
 
punkin said:
Don't envite anyone over to your place once you get that stuff on your walls unless you want to get close to White Snake's manager :eek:
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i really dont get it?
 
The stuff is really flamable...the band Great White performed in a club where they had unapproved materials on the walls and/or ceiling. The place went up in flames, people died and were injured. The band manager has been convicted and sentenced to several years in jail.

If you're planning to apply sound/acoustic treatments on or in the walls, make sure it's suitable material for the application. Egg crates are not in that category.

We'd like to see you hangin' out here for a long time to come ;)
 
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OooopssSS :o CRAP...yea...I mean Great White.

Too much crack...it's tough on the brain cells.
 
heh, oh, i didnt know that. well! i tested this stuff actually and it kind of just burns out really fast. doesnt really catch, its wierd.
 
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