Importance of a good mic pre?

[And I]

As far as "features", you'll find most high-end mic pres have one or two knobs and that's it. The RNP compares price wise to most DMPAs which are being sold for much more than the one you found for $150. I understand why you're leaning towards it. Since it's local the best thing you can do is listen to it. It's somewhat of an upgrade over the stock alto preamps, but possibly not as much as you are thinking.

 

[ofajen]

What mikes are you using? The actual preamp stage is generally less important to a powered (condenser) mike than it is to an unpowered, dynamic mike, like your usual stage vocal mike or a ribbon mike. Those mikes will be more sensitive to the cable used, cable length and the input impedance and performance of the initial gain stage. Also, you will probably use more gain and the audio performance of preamp stages often changes depending on gain. Where cost and space are significant constraints, such as in small mixers and low cost preamps, component choices may dictate parts that yield lesser frequency response at high gain (which may or may not be a good thing).

But then, the sound you are after is totally subjective. One thing about many units these days is that beyond just being a preamp, they offer various processing options all in one unit: compression, eq, and so on. That could be very handy for you, even if the actual preamp gain stage isn't much different.

OTOH, if you just wanted really good, clean audio from a simple, reliable preamp, it would be hard to beat a small mixer in the Mackie VLZ4 line in terms of cost for performance.

Otto

 

[ofajen]

I have seen some of the RN gear, it certainly looks nice but seems a tad expensive for the simple features, at least for the few units I have looked at.

Also the really nice pre-amp are way more then 150$ used... You are probably thinking of the really nice compressor which is 175$ or so used, the pre is 375$ for the one used listing I can find.

The DMPA is local too which is a big part of why I am leaving towards it.

Mark designs the FMR Audio stuff around the goal of affordable, high audio performance and tries to keep cost down and operation simple. The RNC, which I have used for decades, is the classic example of a unit that is simple, low-cost and yet offers clean reliable sound and the essential features.

However, as I posted above, you may be much better off with a unit that offers you more processing features that are useful for your recording work. The audio performance of just about any unit you might pick will be entirely adequate for the vast majority of recording work. It's usually more a matter of whether a device offers a useful feature, tweak or perhaps a sound quality that you find useful and that speeds up getting the sound you after.

Otto

 

[lz4005]

What mikes are you using?

Not only that, but what are you recording with them?

Vocals vs guitar speakers vs horns vs strings aren't all going to have the same "best" signal path.

 

[Sunset Shalom]

Not only that, but what are you recording with them?

Vocals vs guitar speakers vs horns vs strings aren't all going to have the same "best" signal path.

I only have 2 mics like I said so I have to use them for a lot of stuff. Percussion, acoustics, mic'd amps and vocals for the most part. I also have an old organ I need to mic to record. I do have a saxophone too but I need to spend time learning it before it's worth mic'ing

For awhile I was Trying out using both at once for well rounded recordings but I need to experiment more.

The tube condenser is an ATM1104 from the obscure company Audio2000. The stereo mic is an audio technica at822 my grandma gave me.

Random funny story: The stereo mic belonged to my grandmas friend who was a marriage counselor. She used to mic to record sessions with an old school Sony tape DAW which my grandma also gave me. So now I get to use them for music which I find hilarious.

 

[ofajen]

The ATM1104 is, of course, a multi pattern tube condenser with its own power supply, so it shouldn't be super dependent on the specs of the mike preamp.

Just the choice of pattern will have a lot of effect on the sound you get, and experimenting with the various patterns teaches you a lot. The omni pattern in particular is instructive because it gives you the actual sound of that spot, without proximity effect and probably exhibiting pretty accurate low end even for remote sounds.

Otto

 

[Sunset Shalom]

The ATM sounds solid even with my cheap alto mixer so that makes sense. I am Interested to experiment with the controls of the art DMPA though, especially the impedance and a few others, also the tube saturation and the Two voltage settings.

One other reason the art DMPA is calling to me is that it has two channels so I can experiment with the stereo mic. Setting the channels to be the same or very different should be cool.

And if I don't use the pre-amp much for the price it should be easy to flip or trade.

 

[Sunset Shalom]

Just picked it up! Guy was super chill and met me at a park right next to my house so I just skated there and back in a few minutes

Going to get it set up now but I may not test it til later as I am meeting someone else for a 60$ vintage bass clarinet soon!

My horn skills are atrocious, or lack or skills I should say but I am very excited to try and learn and have a cool piece of history.

 

[BrianVengeance]

General order of impact for recording:

Performance > instrument > room / treatment > mic > preamp / fx / dynamics > conversion.

Basically start at the walls and work your way in, which truthfully puts the preamp pretty low on the scale. Get the first three right and you’ll probably be surprised at how good “mediocre” gear can sound. Better to treat the hardware more like colors on a palette anyways since most recording decisions are situational.

That being said, it’s always fun to get new gear and both the DMPA and VLA are both pretty solid. You’ll get plenty of use out of them.