Quote: “What microphone preamps are you using? Why?”
Most of my preamps are RME. I can run 20 phantom powered mics simultaneously all on RME preamps.
Which I feel is enough for anything I am likely to be required to deal with in my modest facility.
The reason I like the RME preamps is because they are transparent.
Good stuff in equals good stuff out. They pass signal without perceivably changing or colouring the sound.
I tend to work in an old school way, where I depend upon critical mic choice and crucially mic placement in the sweet spot of the sound source in order to get a killer quality of sound. Similar to the late Al Schmitt.
All this presumes that the music and artists are of sufficient calibre and quality that the good stuff in they are delivering will equal good stuff out, and therefore my task is to simply capture the emotion of their spontaneous performance in the room.
This is rather different from the approach where the sound in the live room isn’t what the producer really wants.
Especially when the artist isn’t great, so needs something extra to cloak that. Or a particular, coloured sound is required. Or a specific, peculiar, qualitative sonic aspect, is sought.
For instance, I understand that the producer of Barry Whites recordings used a specific mic and preamp combination, with the pre amp delivering a low resolution of quality if I can put it like that. A grainier quality of sound to emphasise and augment and accentuate particular rough qualities in his voice.
So, writing as a generality, for me the artist stood in front of the mic or the musician, and his instrument already deliver a killer sound, and I am trying to faithfully capture that sound for posterity.
This is different to having an artist stood in front of the mic that really isn’t good enough to be there, and so trying to make their voice sound a lot “better” than it does in reality.
Or having a musician that can’t really cut it in the studio and therefore trying to make something out of it to save the performance.
Usually, for me the first or second take are keepers, though occasionally a third take might be necessary.
The speed of the results is a direct reflection of the quality of the performers involved.
So there are people I wouldn’t choose to record, preferring not to.
Some people need to be told they are not ready for that.
They need to practice and improve.
You mentioned Neve. Years ago, the late Rupert Neve was a great help to the group I was in, and he put all his bods at our disposal.
He, like all the greatest audio designers in recording history was really seeking what he called “transparency”. That his equipment didn’t add or take anything from the sound, but faith fully represented the performance that had been captured.
For sure it could be argued that equipment designed 60 years ago, has a sound of its own, even if that sound is very good as in the case of Neve Large Format Recording Consoles or the forward sounding Solid State Logic, based nearby my home.
But that isn’t what the greatest designers like George Massenburg for instance are really seeking. They do not want to colour the sound.
Though it has to be said there is plenty of equipment around that will colour the sound, if that’s what you want or need to do.
But let me explain why a transparent preamp is better and more useful than a coloured preamp.
If you peruse lots of recording fora, you will undoubtably come across statements claiming excellent results with “A” preamp on Bass but that its no good for guitar and male voice.
That “B” preamp is great for piano and strings but no good for female voice. That “C” preamp is brilliant for horns and cymbals but that it’s no good for electric guitar amps etc. et al.
Such statements, found all over the internet proclaim a truth that is the central point of my writing.
A coloured preamp will inevitably highlight and accentuate particular sonic characteristics that will seemingly enhance some sound sources, but lamentably, to the complete detriment of other sound sources that are different in character.
What makes it good for one sound source, makes it bad for another different sound source. So, if one chooses to go down the route of seeking coloured sounding preamps then one will obviously need a lot of different preamps to get the best colour one desires for each and every sound source.
Great, if one has absolutely unlimited funds, copious amounts of outboard space and endless wiring options for all this equipment that will eventually be required.
Conversely, if we think about a Massenburg Labs preamp for instance.
They are by design great sounding, very high quality, but neutral or transparent in that they pass signal faithfully. This is what I like about RME.
Therefore, you can utilise them on whatever sound source one desires and they will deliver a truly great sound, providing what is in front of the mic is delivering a great performance.
So, they are far more useful, far more versatile, far more cost effective and to my mind a much better long-term investment in quality hardware, simply because they are by design intended to be faithfully transparent to be used on whatever one likes.
If you think back to the golden era of great recording where Large Format Recording Consoles dominated all the major recording studios. The preamps were built into the console.
They were designed to be transparent (as transparent as the then existing technologies permitted), and by not colouring the sound could be used on male voice, female voice, strings, horns, woodwind, piano, organ, drums, bass, guitar electric guitar, etc. et al.
So, for me, in general, I prefer transparent preamps because they sound great provided the sound source is great (if it isn’t what are you doing recording it?). Furthermore, they can be used on any sound source, so are more versatile and cost effective as a long-term investment in recording hardware.
