I'm fairly new to recording and I'm wondering how much a preamp for vocals is needed? Would it really hurt the sound if I don't? Right now I don't have the kind of money to get one, and I probably won't anytime soon and my band is trying to put together a demo before summer begins. Is there anything I can use as an equalivalent to a vocal preamp? I've got a Eurorack MX 1604A Behringer Mixer and a soon-to-come Delta 44 sound card in my setup and I'm going to be recording with Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 and editing with Cool Edit Pro 1.2. Please help. Any help will be very, very much appreciated.
While behringer pres are not horrible they are not great and your tracks will not sound as good as tracks done with quality pres. Obviously. In terms of guaging how much a quality pre is needed...basically, if youre writing great music and have a great singer and your mixing skills are up to par- it will not make a major dif and you can get your music out and people wont laugh at you. If however you are not writing great music and you dont have a great singer and your mixing skills are not up to par then you have to ask yourself why you are recording in the first place. hehehe. Like many other aspects of the recording process, pres are a somewhat subtle thing that in the aggregate will definitely effect the general quality of the recording. Clearly, if given the choice between a good mic and a good pre..the mic is the way to go. (Although some would argue that behringer just makes it in the crap category) It really depends on what your goals are.
If youre getting the delta 44 I would get an omni i/o with it. M-audio put out some quality and very underrated pres in the DMP2 which are also on the omni. I have seen reviews that give the DMP2s a better rating than the mackie pres The DMP2 goes for a little under $200 and the omni i/o- without the card- for a little over $200. Considering all the kickass routing options you get with the omni I would go with that for the extra $30 or so.
