Do i need a better pre-amp?

Posted on

Member Since: Jan 04, 2006

Hey,

I have my mic running into my mackie 1202vlz pro mixer and I was wondering if the preamps in the mixer are good for vocals or if I should buy a better preamp. If so, what is a good preamp?

Thanks so much for the help.

David

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Prince CZAR-ming
Member
Since: Apr 08, 2004


Jan 05, 2006 05:37 pm

Depends on how great your Mic is, and how great you want your product to be.

If you're looking for radio quality, and 'better than demo' quality, then don't worry about the mackie, they're fine.

If you have a $3000 mic, plus a $2000 converter, and want nashville quality, then yeah, you'd probably want to upgrade.

Some here want better preamp quality, and go with better outboard gear, like tube pre's and such, but if you are just a home-studio kinda person (like me) then I wouldn't worry about it.

To get a better preamp, will also take some research on your part, for some are better in some areas than others, and vice versa. You could take what one person loves, and it may not work out well for you, and vice versa. Generally, quality is quality, but without knowing what you're looking for, you could be misled.

I'd think that until you spend in the 500+ money range, you won't notice the difference between your mixer preamps, and a 2000$ one.

Course, that's just my opinion. Other's may have better advice.

Welcome to HRC, btw.

Member
Since: Jan 04, 2006


Jan 05, 2006 05:47 pm

awesome, thanks a lot - that def. helps

btw wwhat is a converter?

The Quiet Minded
Member
Since: Jan 01, 2003


Jan 05, 2006 05:55 pm

Mackie's pre are excellent, if you are intending to have a home studio to do home recording they are just fine. Great preamps are worth only when you are using very high quality gear and audio professionals. For example, it makes no sense to have a Neve or a Avalon if you will end up monitoring in poor monitors in a non-accoustic treated room. A have seen many people asking questions about gear aroud many forums, but what they just dont get is the fact that the most important thing is that thing placed between the chair and the monitor, the producer! I have heard many amazing mixes done with very basic hardware and even more bad productions done with tons of expensive equipment. Your mackie's pre are fantastic to record anything you may want to record. The better thing you may do to improve your sound is to record as much as you can, study as much as you can to learn as much as you can, that will surely make much more difference than having a Neve or an old mixer pre.
Good luck!

Member
Since: Jan 04, 2006


Jan 05, 2006 06:23 pm

thanks bruno - very helpful

Prince CZAR-ming
Member
Since: Apr 08, 2004


Jan 05, 2006 06:29 pm

converter is the step that transfers the analog signal (sine wave) to digital (bits and bytes), and then later transfers them back to analog again after you've processed the digital files. You can spend big $$$ on very good converters (both A/D and D/A) plus spend big $$$ for a clock. Look at Apogee products to see what I mean.

So there's a mic, then the preamp, then the converter, which feeds into your computer / software. Most consumer level stuff has the converters built into the sound interface. Just plug in your analog signal, and you'll see the digital file show up in the software.

Bruno makes sense, learning is your best improvement you can make.

Member
Since: Jan 04, 2006


Jan 05, 2006 06:41 pm

lol yeah i dont think ill ever be spending money on a converter any time soon :P -- thanks pjk

Member
Since: Apr 27, 2002


Jan 06, 2006 11:57 am

callaway,...if you dont use any converters then what do you record onto?

Member
Since: Jan 04, 2006


Jan 06, 2006 12:16 pm

well wontdieinPA, i just meant im not going to go spend "big money" on a converter.
"Most consumer level stuff has the converters built into the sound interface." --- that would be me.

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