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Home Studio
Do It Yourself
MICROPHONE PREAMPS
Microphone preamps ("mic pres") provide the gain to the mics. Like with microphones, until I started recording I didn't understand the importance of the mic pre. Like with microphones, the quality of the mic pre will impact the recorded sound, including the clarity, fidelity and openess of the sound.
It is said that a good mic pre can make a cheap mic sound expensive. In the end the mic and mic pre work together to produce the sound you record.
The problem is that high quality mic pres are very expensive, so for your home studio you'll probably only be able to afford a few channels of high quality pres, and will probably have to rely on the relatively inexpensive pres for the times when you're tracking higher numbers of tracks. As often as possible, you'll want to use the higher quality preamps.
Determine how many mics you'll need to record at any one time and make sure you can accomodate that.
My guess is you'll probably end up with at least a couple channels of higher quality pres and will use cheaper pres for the remainder.
Depending on your budget and needs, some Microphone preamp options you may want to consider are shown below. Like with mics, you can also find bargains in used marketplace.
Microphone preamps ("mic pres") provide the gain to the mics. Like with microphones, until I started recording I didn't understand the importance of the mic pre. Like with microphones, the quality of the mic pre will impact the recorded sound, including the clarity, fidelity and openess of the sound.
It is said that a good mic pre can make a cheap mic sound expensive. In the end the mic and mic pre work together to produce the sound you record.
The problem is that high quality mic pres are very expensive, so for your home studio you'll probably only be able to afford a few channels of high quality pres, and will probably have to rely on the relatively inexpensive pres for the times when you're tracking higher numbers of tracks. As often as possible, you'll want to use the higher quality preamps.
Determine how many mics you'll need to record at any one time and make sure you can accomodate that.
My guess is you'll probably end up with at least a couple channels of higher quality pres and will use cheaper pres for the remainder.
Depending on your budget and needs, some Microphone preamp options you may want to consider are shown below. Like with mics, you can also find bargains in used marketplace.
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| Economy | Mid-Range Price per channel | Higher End Price per channel |
| SM Pro Audio PR8 (8 utility pres) |
Mackie 1642 Mixer (10 pres+mixer) |
Mostly Boutique options |
| SM Pro Audio PR8E (8 utility pres) |
Mackie 1604 Mixer (16 pres+mixer) |
Focusrite ISA428 (4 high-end pres) |
| Mackie 1402 Mixer (6 pres+mixer) |
Focusrite Octopre (8 pres+features) |
FMR Audio RNP |
| Presonus Digimax (8 pres+features) |
Great River Electronics |
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Click here to see live auction availability and
pricing on many popular microphone preamps
pricing on many popular microphone preamps
