Can you guys suggest me a decent preamp that's worth $100 and lower? I have a M Audio Fast Track Pro and I'll be using an MXL 990 as microphone. Anyone?
Topic Tags
Comments
It's not often that a University Prof. and a high school dropout
It's not often that a University Prof. and a high school dropout agree on much. You are getting advice from a highly esteemed University professor. If I had gone to university, I wouldn't have ended up as a 40+ year degenerate audio engineer. So what your teacher just told you was, the device you have, has perfectly wonderful and 100% usable microphone preamps that need no external microphone preamps. In this case the math professor just told you that 1+1 actually equals zero. And I agree since I was always lousy at math and therefore not an electrical engineer but an audio engineer instead.
They make inexpensive microphone preamps for devices that don't have them to begin with. There is however a nuance to overwhelming quality shift in sound and tonality that comes from microphone preamps that start around $500 per channel. Some as low as $350 per channel, if you build it yourself from a kit. (Certainly improves necessary soldering skills). But on your budget, you would just be making a lateral move and probably not be improving anything. Maybe actually doing more harm than good? And if you can't make a good recording already on that device, just the way it is without any external peripherals? Then you can't make a good recording and you failed. Silly you. You thought 1+1 equaled better than one or none.
I think the math professor has been playing with too many numbers? I'm lousy at math so I only play with myself.
Mx. Remy Ann David
Setting your levels properly for recording is what separates the
Setting your levels properly for recording is what separates the men from the noise. Pretty funny coming from a woman eh?
Right. That's good. Stick with what you have. The preamps in the Fast Track are as good as any other preamp below $350. Almost any microphone will sound good on your device. 100% totally professional. Unfortunately you neglected to indicate what microphone you got? Condenser, dynamic or ribbon? I can tell you right now, you basically need two microphones. A condenser microphone and a dynamic microphone. They are extremely different from each other and both very necessary. Having only one type would be like having only one half of your body to use. Folks like that can get by but that's all. Life for them is a compromise. Don't compromise your recordings since you don't have to.
SHURE SM57 or 58 and your choice of condenser microphone thingy.
Mx. Remy Ann David
Short answer: no. All of the preamps I've heard under $100 are
Short answer: no. All of the preamps I've heard under $100 are of the same general quality as those used by M-Audio. If I remember correctly, the two inputs of the Fast Track Pro go through the internal preamps with no true bypass. I don't think it is likely that you will improve your sound by adding another bottom of the line box to your signal chain. I'm not putting down beginner equipment, just saying that you almost never improve your sound by chaining together a lot of beginner equipment. You have a working signal chain that you can learn on. The best thing you can do now is practice and improve your technique at tracking and mixing. Save your money. To make a true improvement you are going to have to spend an order of magnitude more than the price range you have been shopping.