Pre Amp

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Hi Guys ,

Memorial Day weekend . Looking to buy some good stuff :)
Just wanted to know :

How important is a Pre-Amp and Whats the main purpose it ?


Thanks

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If you need to ask, you probably don't need it.

Got a microphone? Not happy with the results?
Only if both are answered with yes, a preamp might help. But is no guarantee it actually does...

Go search SoundOnSound or GearSluts on the subject if you really want to know more but still be left puzzled.
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As someone that's never used a good pre-amp (i.e. anything that costs more than $150) I'm kinda guessing that the main difference is the noise level as you jack up the gain. Having only used the cheapo's it always seems that just as I start getting a good signal level I start hearing the jet-engine whine sound start increasing in the background so I probably end up recording a little weaker signal to compensate. I've always assumed that would be less so with a higher end pre-amp. That said, for me and the kind of music I do, by the time it's all mixed that noise becomes less noticeable (though I'd imagine it's cumulative and doesn't help the final product). In short, it's probably more important if you're doing music where the mic'ed sound it out there "on it's own" a lot and not drowned out by the rest of the mix. But, you can probably tell, I'm a definite relative novice....

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Better preamps do have less noise, but also better overall sound quality. The same is true for microphone as well as line/instrument preamps. A few months ago I recorded an analog drum machine with a low output level (for a sample library), and the difference between various preamps (or none / straight to audio interface) was huge. A main reason that all available samples of that drum machine range from horrible to barely mediocre, with poor detail, transients and frequency response, is bad or no preamplification.
"Music is spiritual. The music business is not." - Claudio Monteverdi

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Like a lot of physical things there is usually a non-linear cost/benefit curve where spending a little more at the low end gets you a lot more obvious benefit vs spending a lot more at the high end. That is to say the difference from a $5000 unit to a $10000 unit may only be apparent to a pro with trained ears vs the difference from $50 to $100 being probably obvious to anyone. That said, in general where is that sweet spot financially where you get the most value for money do you think (or anybody that knows think)?

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I think you can get the most value for your money from 500 series preamps (in a 2 units rack, or 6 units "lunchbox"), ranging from ~$400 to ~$800 per channel. My highest recomendation is API 512C, but there are cheaper ones that are hardly worse, mostly "different". Higher cost per channel doesn't give you any higher quality, just some different balance which you may prefer, at best. There are some specialized super low noise preamps (not in 500 series), but hardly anyone really needs that, and their sound doesn't have better clarity.

Anyone could argue about what is the best value for money in preamps and where exactly the threshold is, but unless you try different ones yourself, you won't really know just how much of a difference it makes. It's easy to believe that cheaper preamps are "close enough" and it's just "nuances", but I would recommend to try it for yourself before you decide. In my experience it's far more than nuances. Some preamps are just designed better, by people who really know what makes a great preamp, and great preamp design doesn't necessarily mean the most expensive components and definitely not who has the most features.

You wouldn't necessarily need a very high quality preamp for everything, because there is hardly a difference with some sounds, so you could use "standard" preamps for "less important" things. It especially makes sense in case you need to record something live with like 5 or more mics and can't afford to spend a ton of money. But it makes sense to have at least 1 or 2 high quality channels, if you're serious about recording. If you're not serious, then "good enough" is always good enough.
"Music is spiritual. The music business is not." - Claudio Monteverdi

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