My recordings still sound cold-blooded, at least to my ears. I'm looking to breathe a little life into them, as well as the lush harmonic quality of a preamp. I'm not blindsided by tube seduction, so solid state will do just fine.
1. I want one especially for my guitar recordings. I intend on putting it after the SM57 that is in front of my amp and before my PreSonus Firebox.
2. I also need a vocal preamp. Mainly for volume, because it urks me to have to use almost all 30dB of gain on my firebox to get a strong signal going in.
I have looked at the GT Brick. How does that fare on guitar? Distorted guitar parts? I have heard that it is not good for vocals. Anyway, I am not biased towards it, so any recommendation will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
-Guitarfreak
Comments
Here's an interesting suggestion. Since the preamps in your aud
Here's an interesting suggestion. Since the preamps in your audio interface are of a respectable nature, why not just invest in a couple of quality microphone input transformers? These transformers aren't cheap. But they will also provide you with 10 to 15 DB of free, passive amplification. This will allow your preamp to operate in a lower gain level. 30 DB? That's nothing. Try 70. How else are you going to record that oboe at 30 feet? The transformers will also impart a warmer quality character. Look into Jensen's, St. Ives Windings, Lundalh, UTC, Triad, new or used. 150 ohm primary, 10,000 to 15,000 ohm secondary. You might even need a resistor & capacitor to load & resonate the transformer for proper response characteristics? Wow! For instance. Think about Neve. It doesn't matter whether you get the oldest class A preamps. The newer class A/B discrete transistor preamps. Or, the latest IC chip versions. They all utilized the same input & output transformers. That's most of the sound. So get some transformers and turn your audio interface into a vintage RCA, Neve, API or some kind of Swedish thingy. A lot of that classic sound just comes from a little chunk of metal with wires wound around it. And it's so green! No carbon footprint.
I have big feet. I'm fat. I don't have anything to wear.
Ms. Remy Ann David
Yeah you guys are right, a preamp will be excessive and unnecess
Yeah you guys are right, a preamp will be excessive and unnecessary at this stage. I wasn't looking to make a purchase anytime soon, just wanted to list out some candidates so I can begin to research and obsess over them for the next few months haha. I just hate how my guitar recordings still sound sketchy. Check out "mic check" in the link below, it's my newest track recording, Remy's already heard it. Do you think it could be some other link in my chain? Does it sound like I am doing something wrong? It doesn't sound bad, but it doesn't sound warm either.
The external pre will most likely not make that much of a differ
The external pre will most likely not make that much of a difference at this point with only two mics, which are similar sounding. As far as using all the gain, there shouldn't be a problem as long as it's not a noise issue. The SM57 is not a hot mic (high input volume)
I'm just going to say this.
The gear fascination hit me hard when I first started doing this. I dropped probably 2k in my first year, which is a lot for a fifteen year old kid. Had to do some things I'm not proud of for my gear. :lol:
But when I grew up a bit, interned, talked to people, I tried re-learning everything from the ground up, and not using so much gear.
And that has made all the difference in my recordings.
Go slow with your gear...you can make some mad nice recordings with everything you already have.
You Dig?
EDIT: Responded to the gain issue up top there...