| The signal that a microphone picks up is actually very | | | | tame the sound further and make it useable. |
| low, and needs to be boosted for it to be used with | | | | Phantom Power - This is a power source that is sent |
| your recording device. This is exactly what a | | | | through a microphone cable to a microphone that |
| microphone -preamp does; it boosts the signal to a | | | | needs it, such as a condenser microphone. It’s |
| level that is useable for recording. | | | | good to note that some fairly cheap preamps only |
| Initially, you'll probably want to use the pre-amps built | | | | offer +30v, and some condenser microphones may |
| into your mixer or interface, if you happen to have | | | | not perform to their best at this level. It’s nice to |
| either, as it will save money. However, these kinds of | | | | have phantom power built in to your microphone |
| preamps are often of a fairly low quality. Basically, with | | | | preamp otherwise you would have to get a separate |
| microphone preamps, you pay for sound quality. | | | | phantom power source. |
| Musicians after the absolute best quality sound could | | | | Number Of Preamps - This can range from one single |
| well spend $3000 on a preamp. If however you are | | | | preamp right through to eight preamps in one box. |
| just starting out and have perhaps a budget of $1000 | | | | What you are recording will generally determine how |
| you could use the preamps on your mixer or your | | | | many you will need. Vocals are usually recorded in |
| audio interface. | | | | mono, whilst acoustic guitars could be recorded in |
| It’s not only budget that affects the output quality | | | | stereo. Perhaps you are recording an entire band and |
| on the preamp, you must also know how correctly set | | | | require one for each amplifier and vocalist, along with |
| levels etc. Let’s talk a little about the features | | | | several for the drums. |
| you’ll find on most microphone preamps, and some | | | | High Pass Filtering - This generally means that all the |
| tips to ensure you get the optimal sound. | | | | highs will pass through while the lows are cut. |
| Input - Set the input to high as possible providing the | | | | Microphones pick up an astounding amount of bass so |
| meters are not crossing into the red. Having the levels | | | | this is a great feature to have. Of course, this can be |
| reaching red is introducing distortion, which is going to | | | | corrected using software, though you may as well |
| go through the entire signal path. Meaning that when | | | | resolve the problem at the source so you don’t |
| you listen back to your recording on the computer, | | | | have to worry about it later. |
| you’re likely to hear a lot of crackling noises. So | | | | Hopefully this has given you an insight to what a |
| again, push the signal as high as possible but do not let | | | | microphone preamp does, and what features to look |
| it enter the red. | | | | for when shopping around. Have a read through the |
| Pad - This is a great feature if you are recording | | | | bullet points again and compare your list of needs with |
| sounds other than guitar. For instance if you were to | | | | the features of available on a variety of preamps. |
| microphone a loud sound source like snare drum even | | | | Hopefully you will be able to find a product that suits |
| with the input turned all the way down the levels may | | | | your needs. |
| still be hitting red. Select this feature and it will help to | | | | |