what's the best option?

[MPR]

This is either a mic question or an audio interface question, I figured the two go hand in hand so..
I have a MAudio MoblePreamp. I also have a simple mic as well with the standard mic cable/plug-in. However, when I attach it to my preamp I can only plug it into a left or right channel. I asked around thinking there was some sort of Y cable to get both channels but I was advised that this is never a good solution as it takes away the power/quality. However, there is a 1/8 stereo mic jack in the back but if I get an adaptor cord for the mic to plug in there instead is this going to be less quality as well? Or, is there a better solution to this?
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[FALKEN]

for what purpose are you trying to get both channels?

 

[MPR]

I'm only trying to get one mic plugged in to I can record voice with it. I don't want just one side going and the other silent. I'd like the sound to come out of both the left and right. I would think this set up would have a simple mic plug in instead of splitting it up for left and right. I guess I don't understand why that is.

 

[JeffLancaster]

You're m-audio mobile-pre is a 2 channel unit. This means you could record using 2 mics at a time - for example, if you were stereo miking a guitar, you would use 2 mics and both channels at once. It doesn't mean it's supposed to be used to record a single mic source in stereo (is that what you're asking?). Typically, you're going to record your vocals with a single mic. Just pick one of the channels and hook your mike to it. Select that channel as the track source in your recording software and go

 

[MPR]

Oh, I see. So I should be using my recording software (in this case Sonar Producer Edition) to tell my preamp how to use the channel? I didn't think the software could talk to the preamp like that but then again, I didn't try that, let alone think of it.
I'm sorry, I should've linked to the device in question to make it easier.
front
back

 

[JeffLancaster]

Oh, I see. So I should be using my recording software (in this case Sonar Producer Edition) to tell my preamp how to use the channel?

Exactly. With Sonar and the mobile-pre, just plug your mic into one of the inputs (say you're using channel 1), insert a new audio track into your Sonar project, select "m-audio channel 1" as your input source, and record. Make sense?

 

[SRR]

Just to add one more thought, make sure you are adding a mono track to record on. I don't have Sonar, but I do have Cubase and thats how it works in Cubase.

 

[MPR]

perfect sense.
Thanks for your help!

Cheers

 

[XLR]

Yeah, you don't gain anything by recording the same mic to two different tracks. If you want to make it into a stereo file it's simple to do it later in the software. And a touch of stereo reverb added afterwards, also in the software, can do a pretty good job of making it sound like it was recorded in stereo originally.

Tim

 

[maestro_dmc]

I'm guessing the "stereo mic" input on the back is for something like this:

http://www.pmelectronix.com/product_info.php?products_id=1933

That's a mic for a camcorder, if actually has two mic elements: a left and a right.