obviously the mic-pre is first cos that's how the small mic level is gained up to the line level that most of the other gear will work at.

The AD is last cos it's the D for digital that goes into the DAW.

As for EQ and Comp well that's a matter of choice and the effect you are after.

Comp and Limit and Distortion are all level dependant effects.
More level - more of the effect.
EQ is a level changing effect. It changes the level of the signal based on frequency or to put it another way ... it can change the level at different frequencies.

Take a simple Hi Pass filter. Yes it is a simple EQ type device.

If you use this before the comp you can remove much of the over explosive PUFFS from the signal before it enters the comp and so not allow these PUFFS to over excite the compressor circuit.

The reverse woule leave the low stuff in the compressor and this would change the way the effect is applied.

Sometimes these EQ's are put into the side chain of the compressor.

Practice and experimentation is the only way to get this sort of stuff clear in your own mind.

:wink:

Hi,

I suggest:

1. Good microphone (e.g Neumann)
2. Good mic pre and 3. Good AD (e.g. Apogee mini-me)
4. Powercore and or UAD DSP processing...
5. Good DA (e.g. apogee DAC)

A bit radical, but increasingly, people are simply having a mic pre and convert the signal to digital without committing to a given eq and compression.

Provided that you don't clip the signal, then the digitally stored track can be manipulated using the myriad of eq and compression software plug ins that now exist to you're heart's content.

The secret is to not get the initial signal too hot, so that it doesn't require compression or limiting prior to tracking... with the 24 bit data depth these days, then it is not essential to have a really hot signal at initial tracking......

IMHO

UAD-1 compressors/limiters and eqs, and powercore reverbs etc are much cheaper than their hardware equivalents, and this chain all makes sense to me. If you're gonna spend loadsamoney, do it on a decent mic pre, and decent ad/da converters (eg apogee mini-me and minidac)... spend the rest on software (like UAD and powercore)... much more cost-effective!!!!?

Usually you want to place your compressor before the Eq so that boosts from the Eq don't make the compressor squeeze more than you want. But for certain instances, the opposite can be true.

Chris