What is a channel strip?

[e_rock]

Hey all.

I have read several times here about channel strips. How do they differ from preamps? I'm a little confused.

Thanks.

 

[scrubs]

Hey all.

I have read several times here about channel strips. How do they differ from preamps? I'm a little confused.

Thanks.

Channel strips generally contain other tools that you may want when recording a vocal track, such as compression/limiting, EQ, noisegates, etc. Sometimes it is desireable, because it gives you a signature sound (like joe meek stuff) and saves rack space. Other times, it may be a waste of money because you don't end up using the other features.

Personally, I add effects after tracking, so a channel strip doesn't fit my needs. Your mileage may vary.

 

[e_rock]

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks, Scrubs.

 

[bennychico11]

he's right in a sense...but also channel strips are mostly considered the entire verticle "strip" of a channel on a mixer. it's called a strip because it's a narrow section on a mixer with a bunch of knobs....and on many mixers there are a several strips, generally one for each channel. and on these individual channels there usually contains, Preamp gain, EQ, maybe a compressor (usually the high end consoles have these), a pan control, a channel fader, etc. So ANY signal, not just vocals, can go through a channel strip

 

[notbradsohner]

also, nowadays, a channel strip does not have to be from a mixer. It can be a seperate rack unit not taken off a mixer.

 

[Raxy]

Baby, a channel strip is like a lap dance but it costs more money and you have to plug it in to make it work

 

[tubesrawsom]

preamps just do there thing
channel strips are preamps with eq compression and lot of other toys in it