Before You Buy A High End Preamp

After recording pretty much full time sense 2001, I’ve made about one hundred billion mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes of all has involved preamps. Yes, I know that just about every recording forum on the planet goes on and on and on about how important preamps are. They talk and talk and talk about the differences between one Neve 1073 clone and another Neve 1073 clone. This is all fine and dandy. If everything in your recording chain is so perfect that the difference between one 1073 clone and another 1073 clone becomes significant, than you are SMOKING!! In fact, if your chain is that good, your next recording should have no problem competing with major label recordings. You should probably look into booking major label caliber talent immediately.

The truth is there are very few singers who deserve to get to sing through a $2,000 preamp. Let me reword that a little bit. There are very few singers who will sound noticeably “better” through X preamp. A bad singer sounds bad through anything. The only time, in my opinion, a great preamp even matters is when the singers is GREAT! When I say “GREAT”, I mean that this singer sends chills down your spine. I mean you really think you’ve got something completely magical in this person and you feel lucky to record them. Few “local” singers are going to have what it takes.

If you think you are going to make up for a piss poor performer by switching to a $2,000 preamp, you are out of your mind. It’s just a volume knob!!!

My First Preamp

When I do something, I try to do it right. I always end up falling short of the goal, but that doesn’t stop me from going all out. I was reading on forums back in 2001 trying to figure out the gear I needed to start my recording rig. I stumbled on some threads about preamps. I was led to believe that if I didn’t have a great, professional preamp Continue Reading...

Preamps are an essential part of professional audio recording. The preamp boosts the minuscule signal created by a microphone to a level you can actually use. Preamps are in many audio consoles and external processing equipment. This will make your life as a recording engineer easier and make your creations sound with quality.

Set your input The first thing you need to determine is whether you’re using a mic or line input. A mic input will typically be an XLR cable plugged into a microphone. The mic signal needs a huge amount of boost to get to a workable level, make sure your are using the right choice. This signal is already loud so it doesn’t need boosting. A preamp is still useful on a line input, though, because it can add color and character to the sound.

Gain adjustment The gain is the main factor for the signal level. Increase the gain until you get a good level on the preamp, and then check the level on the recording source, such as a computer (DAW) or a tape machine. There is probably a meter or LEDs on the preamp that will give you an idea of the output level.

Fine tuning Many preamps have a gain with fixed increments and another knob or controller called fine gain or trim. Use this to dial in the level to precisely where you want it.

External filter or EQ Many preamps feature some form of equalization. Sometimes you will find a filter that cuts out low frequencies. You may also have a low cut and high cut, which allows you to cut low frequencies and high frequencies in a specific range. Some High-end preamps come with a parametric EQ built in.