Preamp Importance

Thatbastarddon

Thatbastarddon

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Something that I’ve preached over and over, over the years, in relation to home recording…preamps…they can play a huge part in home recording results. I know that I’ve successfully communicated this to @BFT Gibson , and he’s often publicly acknowledged it.
…Well…I bumped into this video today, and I thought it did a pretty decent job of explaining and illustrating my feelings on the topic.


I found this guy’s approach pretty clear(no pun), and easy to get a grasp on. So I wanted to share it here.
Particularly from around 14:50 onward.
 
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Thatbastarddon said:
Something that I’ve preached over and over, over the years, in relation to home recording…preamps…they can play a huge part in home recording results. I know that I’ve successfully communicated this to @BFT Gibson , and he’s often publicly acknowledged it.
…Well…I bumped into this video today, and I thought it did a pretty decent job of explaining and illustrating my feelings on the topic.


I found this guy’s approach pretty clear(no pun), and easy to get a grasp on. So I wanted to share it here.
Click to expand...
Yeah man, preach it brother ! my GAP 73 & JoeMeek 6Q are as much a part of my sound as anything these days. That is the final thing before the interface, i want no sound color out of my Steinberg interface just nuetral interpretation of what signal was crafted right before it.

Have figured out my signal chain ,to capture exactly what is in the room. Depend on those 2 preamps to do 2 completely dif things , but compliment one another !
 
IMO, it isn’t necessarily about having a pile of big $ preamps around(although… :hmmm: ), as it is about finding the best uses for what you have…or can afford to have…in the toolbox.

Now…I like my choice of interface, for me…my habitual way of working/playing. I like my “mixer” format. I like the routing it allows, and the way it integrates with the other stuff that I’ve collected over time. Does it have the best preamps? No…not by a long shot, but they are useable for a good amount of things. They are also not my only option with this interface. I can easily make use of my other outboard gear…and that’s the way I like it. I can easily use any of the channels on my old GB mixer(which I do think are pretty darned good), or whatever else I want/have, just by patching in and routing properly to the DAW.

Personally, I would encourage anyone looking to get into the home recording thing to give some thought to investing in at least one “good” outboard preamp(or channel strip) to run into a line input of their interface…particularly if they plan to record vocals, or acoustic instruments. It can be a real game changer.
 
I don’t produce professionally anymore, so I sold my UA 610 preamp and just use an interface now. The only thing I’m recording with a mic is the occasional vocal, and my vocals are far from being worthy of a special pre. Frankly, there’s not much of a difference. I had a friend who dropped $3,500 on a massive preamp, and plugged a Neumann into it. He still made poor recordings.

Knowing what you’re doing is more important than what you do it with.
 
I've never spent the insane amount of money of purchasing a singular $3500 preamp, but I have to admit it that when I was once upon a time in full GAS mode....I fell prey to the overstated accolades of purchasing preamps and wasting my money in the process. To my way of thinking, preamps are solely a tool to increase gain without "colorizing" or adding a perception of "warmth".
YMMV
 
Seamus OReally said:
I don’t produce professionally anymore, so I sold my UA 610 preamp and just use an interface now. The only thing I’m recording with a mic is the occasional vocal, and my vocals are far from being worthy of a special pre. Frankly, there’s not much of a difference. I had a friend who dropped $3,500 on a massive preamp, and plugged a Neumann into it. He still made poor recordings.

Knowing what you’re doing is more important than what you do it with.
Click to expand...
I am not saying anything about $$ layout…I certainly don’t deserve anything too crazy. I feel like I have that covered with my UA-6176s, and I only have those because I was patient, and found really good deals.

Although the average interface preamps are much improved in comparison to some of their predecessors, there are options.
Options that would present an upgrade, and at reasonable prices.

The person in the above video, I felt, was able to sum up what I feel about the subject pretty well. In his summary, toward the end, when he explained that one may be happier with their results if they capture tracks that don’t require much surgery in post.
His choice of a $250 preamp seemed to do a bang up job of showing that it doesn’t have to be super expensive to get excellent harmonic content.
 
Just tracked a Super lead 100 at volume, the preamps were so important. Could precisely gain stage without changing my amp settings and tone i worked so hard to place in this mix.

I would tend to think, preamps are way more important if you are using mics on real speakers from real amps vs things already set up in digital world .
 
Since i don't record vocals or acoustic drums, i don't use 'real' amps in the studio anymore,
and my personal aesthetic is all about the 'lo fi' thing nowadays ...
i'm perfectly happy with the results i'm getting from the preamps in my Scarlett 2i2.
https://soundcloud.com/frostyjr2%2Fexp-dj-set-8-everythings-zen
If it was too pristine going in, i'd just have to dirty it up in post.
Different strokes for different folks, y'know?
:D
i do have a couple of other options, though:
my Fosi MC-331 tube headphone amp can be used as a preamp, and i also have a JHS Colour Box V2
(basically a Neve pre in a stomp box) for the rare times i might need to record a super clean track or two.
 
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frostyjr2 said:
my personal aesthetic is all about the 'lo fi' thing nowadays anyhow
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That’s a whole genre of preamp style in itself. Again, I’m not talking all high $ pristine stuff…definitely not what it’s all about. There’s a lot of lo-fI stuff to play around with too…from old tape decks, to old mixers, and beyond. Personally, I like old mixers and shabby old rack mount fx units for the lo-fi vibe…but I wouldn’t mind getting hands on an old tape machine for some fun…hacking into the preamps on those machines can yield some interesting results.
 
Thatbastarddon said:
That’s a whole genre of preamp style in itself. Again, I’m not talking all high $ pristine stuff…definitely not what it’s all about. There’s a lot of lo-fI stuff to play around with too…from old tape decks, to old mixers, and beyond. Personally, I like old mixers and shabby old rack mount fx units for the lo-fi vibe…but I wouldn’t mind getting hands on an old tape machine for some fun…hacking into the preamps on those machines can yield some interesting results.
Click to expand...
i hear what you're saying, and i think we're in sync.
:)
 
frostyjr2 said:
i hear what you're saying, and i think we're in sync.
:)
Click to expand...
I think we all are, key thing is just make music, as much as we can with what time we got left in life vs fussing.

You make music a lot like I do, it is part of our life, who we are.

We are all very fortunate we can record, mix & master in the comfort of our homes because of the technology that is available.
 
Surprise new song out of nowhere this morning, got to get the rhythm tracked before i lose the vibe. & overthink. Favor the raw first take always for the foundation of the song. I will nail the theme, especially Verse & chorus while i have them linked emotionally before the mind takes over,
My preamps will be a huge factor as have 1 mic out in the room, will settle the phase issues if any before i hit record.

What a glorious day, SL 100 cranked for main sound of the song ! Underdog is resting on the Supro before his ears get pummeled !
SL 100 mics.jpg
 
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