Do I Need A Mic Preamp?

[@SteveSteeleSoundSymphony]

Very good and accurate video. No one needs my advice but, before I spent $3000 on a mic and preamp (in this case for recording my singing voice, not voiceovers), I bought a couple of hours at a recording studio that had the classic mics and excellent engineers I needed to really understand how the mic and preamp I had decided on would sound. I compared the mic to a collection of U67s and U87s. I knew the sound I was looking for (I listened to classic recordings of singers with a similar voice to my own and brought samples of those recordings). The mic and preamp combo added a very pleasing harmonic distortion in a studio environment that made mixing so much easier. Unfortunately cheaper preamps generally weren’t making much of a difference or their distortion characteristics were not suitable for a mic preamp. Cheaper mics were too sibilant for my voice. It may take $1000 or more to get a preamp that gives you the pleasing sound you’re looking for. Not everything has to be expensive to be good, but with some mic types and preamps, it probably will. For whatever it’s worth, I highly recommend booking a couple of hours at a well staffed studio to AB the gear you’re about to buy, or just bought, with “control” gear. Obviously you can’t always return mics, but you can return preamps. Anyway, after carefully choosing a mic and preamp beforehand, comparing them with the studios gear answered every question I had and was easily worth the $150 of studio time. I didn’t need advice, I just needed to hear. I ended up buying a Vintech “Neve” style preamp that cost about $1,500 and a $1500 Soundelux mic (a U47 type). That was 10 years ago. I still use the same mic and preamp today. Not bad. Sorry for the long story!

[@jefffehr2468]

This was the most coherent explanation of preamp workflow I have ever heard. Thank you.

[@jalanhall2886]

Literally have never heard a better, or more realistic explanation!

[@drewg3087]

Literally the best and no bs. Now I know I don’t “need” one, but want one. Think I’ll hold off until buying another mic for the studio.

[@paolomotta900]

Great video! As a music producer myself I think the "Do I need" is one of those questions which will never leave you for the rest of your life as a producer. You will always feel the need of something new :)

[@zuider77]

"You want to add an outboard mic preamp to get that liquid, 3D, solid, full, empty, thesaurus busting, magical sound that some mic preamps are supposed to have". That's exactly the one I'm looking for! Sadly, I can't seem to find it.

[@fashionlife5348]

Get an Avalon

[@chrisofnottingham]

As pub-gigging-for-fun amateur I have never understood the reason for mic preamps, so thx for the explanation and giving me the confidence to answer, "No".

[@Texturas75]

External preamps aren't aimed at live musicians. They're more of a pro recording thing.

[@dannomusic47]

Your questionable production decisions about the melodica part? Gold, Jerry, GOLD!!

[@AlexAvila-hw3ys]

I would add, I if you have a ribbon microphone that doesn't want 48+ phantom power and your interface is global on/off, an external preamp will be useful.

[@manobap]

Exactly, and if this pre amp have different setings of impedance it can change the response of a ribbon completely.

[@AlexAvila-hw3ys]

@@manobap yes if it wants to see 600 ohms vs 1800 or more having the ability to load down the microphone can be very beneficial

[@MxxRie]

All ribbon mics that have a transformer (so everything after say 1970) will have no trouble with phantom power.

[@AlexAvila-hw3ys]

@@MxxRie that is not true I have a pair of oktovas that will pop if 48+ is put apon them. They were made in the 90's

[@AlexAvila-hw3ys]

Oktava

[@NatePerdomo]

“The sound of moss trembling”

[@andymcbain5441]

You guys are how they say - “killing it”

[@mihaliprefti2507]

Hi! I need help. How can I connect my WA73 micpreamp to my D1600 korg mkIi recorder?

[@brandinwatkins2809]

This is the difference between pro and noob seriously, and I recommend everyone watch this video as the first video to watch when starting to record!

[@ChrisTopheRaz]

This question has been busting my chops all day. I have an apogee duet and I’m getting ready to order an SSL 12. Both wildly different preamp options built into the audio interface. However I just ordered a UA 710 mic preamp. I thought it fitting because of the tube and digital options. But apogee offers very nice sounding preamps as it is. I really hope that the UAE is going to offer something more. SSL built-in preamps have true tones in my understanding but don’t offer any additional flavor. Not a bad thing, just looking to have different options. Any advice would be helpful

[@damodecomposed]

This was such a simple, no-frills, informative explanation. I can't give this enough praise. Thank you!

[@DEADLINETV]

Love the "no bullshit" videos!

[@HarmonicMolecues]

Sam is correct. Live band, drums or choir, you need more preamps. Especially demanding are drums & percussion, they need a mic preamp with larger input overload margin, more dBu so they do not clip. Some preamps have input pads that help with that problem. The room you record in, the instrument, the player and the mic you use are far more important than the mic preamp.

[@marike1100]

If you own a dynamic mic like an SM7 or Ribbon mic, a Cloudlifter is a good idea.

[@teashea1]

.... for most audio interfaces, but some do not need it. Watch Julian Kraus's YT video on the Audient iD 4 and 14 for example. They do not need it.

[@mattborba1340]

All the other videos on this are so crappy. This one is exactly what i needed to hear! Thank you for this guys!

[@JohnSmithiuyytw]

Douglas Adams would be proud :) Very entertaining and informative, great video!

[@lotuspodcast1674]

I have a Blue Nessie USB mic that i have in an adapter that hooks up to a tablet. I rap, and was told i need an amp. Is there anything compatible or whats your advice?

[@mrAkbad]

THIS VIDEO isn't getting enough visitors. Great Info!!!!

[@projectz975]

Love a video that starts answering my question from the first second

[@steelhead197]

Well done mate! I enjoyed this! Thank you! 🇨🇦👍🏻

[@soundonsound]

Thanks 👍

[@ShipShapeMusic]

This is the content the world needs!!!

[@mikestibor1]

Great video. Funny and informative. Though I’m confused as to why the video is so off centre.

[@sekurugudopikichatv1761]

Hi bro, does the Dynamite inline preamp works with studio condenser microphone ?

[@GBANI]

Helpful video, clear answers.

[@TipsterStu]

Love the sardonic tone aimed at the entire army of internet insistance I need a mic preamp ... Thank you

[@michaelpiercey7316]

Would a mic preamp be good for mic’ing up a clarinet? Currently using a piezo barrel and curious if instead of a piezo pickup, using multiple mics into a preamp> power amp with lots of headroom into a cab of choice. Is this pointless or should I just go the Keyboard amp route? Not really interested in having the whole signal going to the PA. ROCK N ROLL!

[@CneeKrunch]

So I have a scarlett solo and a Aston Spirit microphone. isnt the solo a preamp? Or am I shooting myself in the foot having a good mic with a smaller interface? any info would be much appreciated.

[@fiddleronthebike]

well, there is no right or wrong answer... if you want a preamp sounding better than that of your scarlett you have to invest a lot of money - and you should be aware that the difference is small. So small that 99% of all humans will not hear it... but if you hear it, you will want one, and that's the beginning of a very expensive journey, because if you hear those nuances, you will want to change all of your gear into high end items. But, again, most people do not hear anything of this, so the best you can do is: rent some high end gear and test it against your equipment, than you will know wether it is worth the investment FOR YOU!

[@CneeKrunch]

@@fiddleronthebike I agree. it can go down a slippery slope with that. I was thinking just getting a cloudlifter instead of a 900 apollo etc.

[@manobap]

One most important thing than the pre amp on a interface is the quality of the conversion analog > digital.

[@victor2510]

Get an Audient ID14, good enough pre amp and conversion

[@CROSSofIRON-uk]

You can actually use both a valve preamp and the solo-I checked this with Scarlett.

[@CaiophoneBA]

Very interesting and thorough. Thank you. I always wanted to get at least 4 valve preamps for my digi001. I thought about buying them (well, that can be expensive) I thought about building a 4 to 6 valve preamp myself but never got to do it. Anyway, I record my drums using 2 condenser mics in channels 1 and 2 and the rest of the mics are 57s or 58s directly to channels 3 to 8 (these are from the back pannel and aren't preamped). My point here is that I can control the input gain from channels 1 and 2 and have a great input signal. But the 3 to 8 channels -without preamp setups- have very low inputs so I end up normalizing my tracks. I get a very good result in the dynamic range and I certainly don't need to buy or build microphone preamps. To me the normalize function is more than enough to get a killer drum sound so, I don't think I'll ever get preamps.

[@emastersmultimedia6481]

i bought the antelope zen go interface and would like to add an external preamp from golden afe pre73jr do you reckon its necessary or they do are equal please advise

[@erkamau9629]

For me I want to be shure abiut the calculus you do with db and dbu, have I to calculate the difference between max gain and max input dbu ? Thanks :-)

[@jobaecker9752]

Great information, and I was really excited - until you mentioned "IF you have the mic pointed at the right instrument and musician." As a drummer, I was hoping your information on preamps would include discussion of a talent-boosting module. ;)

[@2ndAveScents]

This guy drinks tea.

[@samson5erb312]

Just getting into audio and have found this channel very helpful

[@jm6734]

Excellent and BS free advice 👍🏻 This one should be pinned at the top of every music gear forums there is. Save a lot of people’s $ it will.

[@toma1610]

I do just voice over, so I guess I need only a microphone connected to an audio interface via XLR. It has already some preamp. Then EQ, nothing else, and I am a great speaker. Other things or effects, might be in post.

[@WhyLogicProRules]

I love these videos! Sam Inglis is both informative and hilarious. Thanks SOS for being the best source of audio information out there :)

[@snigzilla7155]

I love your videos! Thank you for being the best source of Logic Pro information out there!

[@LRey]

Quality video and explanation. Keep these awesome videos coming :)

[@LeonardoBurroni]

Really Thanks! Your video helped me a lot!

[@philfyphil]

Do I need a recording magazine? LOL

[@Texturas75]

If it comes in the form of videos and you watch them, probably yes.

[@Cantrip1957]

Much better on YT than the advert heavy rag it used to be

[@Scotlanz]

I got a Focusrite ISA One purely because I have more money than sense.

[@portwill]

oh man it made me laugh :D :D

[@Angelo-vb6dg]

Is that a joke or do you really own it? I wanted to buy one because the seller was basically giving it away for cheap, the thing looked robust and people were recommending it for "the sound"

[@Scotlanz]

@@Angelo-vb6dg Hi. I really do have one and I use it for my vocals. The reason I made it sound like a joke is because I only record myself in my home studio and it really is a great pro piece of gear. So if you can get one cheap, go for it. Ciao.

[@Angelo-vb6dg]

@@Scotlanz Someone beat me to it :'( it was just at $250, really wanted to try it to check if it really improved anything... At that price I could just resell if I didn't like it. But thanks for the recommendation.

[@truckerdaddy-akajohninqueb4793]

I have a regular Lavalier microphone but when I plug it in to the aux of my radio, it doesn't hear the lavalier. Suggestions? I am not a musician. I just want to hear people in the back seat of my taxi. I have a Plexiglas barrier because of Covid. Amazon doesn't have an easy fix. I have a Lavalier and a mini boombox

[@CaptainxCaboose]

Daaaaaaaaaaamn, he said thesaurus busting, very well said.

[@ruffkay1706]

Thank you

[@jerrypalmer3534]

Great Magazine by the way !!!!

[@soundonsound]

Thank you!

[@assessoroffice7212]

sir I have a very serious question sir, do my Focusrite scarlete 2i2 3rd has a good preamp?

[@robertbradley3320]

No

[@assessoroffice7212]

@@robertbradley3320 We tried this cheap focusrite 2i2 3rd gen with Vintage Neumann U67 Tube Condenser Microphone - $16,000 Sounds phenomenal...

[@officialdiomer]

it’s decent, but there are better out there. don’t let that stop you from making good music though :)

[@ambientphotoph]

Ah, yes, the warmth of field mice scratching their knees... perfection.

[@CP-mt1st]

Moss trembling would be in the background of a johan Segeborn guitar video.

[@teashea1]

It depends on the quality of the preamp in the audio interface. Some are not very good. Many are pretty goo and some (eg Audient) are excellent.

[@synthdude7664]

I always wondered if preamps would give vintage synths extra warmth and punch rather than having them go straight into a converter

[@drewg3087]

Thank you for this lol. I am some of the mentioned.

[@robertmazurowski5974]

Do I need to go to a shop to buy a mic preamp? Should I shower before? Or maybe after shower the preamp? Please answer, I NEED TO KNOW!!!!!!!!!

[@PerezBroz-p5o]

Thanks you just talked me off the ledge

[@teashea1]

Good video ----- well done.

[@tedc6694]

...moss quivering... wow.. this guy is entertaining! I think this new "Sound on Sound" "megazeen" or whatever, idea he has has real potential to catch on if enough people hear about it. Although, im not sure. If it uses flattened dead trees like comes out of grampa's old "facts machine" it might struggle. I'll definitely look fornhis youtube channel though. I loved this video

[@alexzmixing]

Great vid as always, with a 1.5x, it’s even better

[@NineHellHeaven]

Thanks. You just saved me lots of money. Will buy an SOS to celebrate.

[@WeekdayJones]

Great video thanks

[@rdpatterson2682]

Great info...thx.

[@FIRSTxCLASSxMUSIC]

Pre amp or compressor?

[@huntermediaphotography]

Rico Phillips Depends on what you are doing.. I have a compressor, but do not always use it. More of a “ nice to have” in case you do need one.

[@FIRSTxCLASSxMUSIC]

Vocal’s! Lol

[@huntermediaphotography]

A compressor is great for vocals. I plan to get the ART MPA II. It's an optical compressor with a tube gain stage. It's $359.00 @Sweetwater.com

[@huntermediaphotography]

Focusrite makes some ridiculously good equipment. Those things are great! A little spendy but well worth it.

[@huntermediaphotography]

Rico Phillips So the ART Pro MPA II is a 2 channel tube preamp with variable voltage. The ART PRO VLA II is leveling amplifier era / compressor

[@edukacja2485]

I think there’s one more thing about mic preamps - input impedance. Different types of mic preamps have different input impedance so they load a mic differently and so they affect microphone’s behavior in frequency characteristics and in dynamics at specific frequencies. Even some of the classic mic preamps have input impedance switch, so user can better match it with output impedance of a microphone, and so change mic behavior. Sam said that most mic preamps in their level comfort zone will sound the same. In my opinion it’s not true. Switching input impedance can really make a difference in sound and it’s not that subtle as you may think.

[@zakaroonetwork777]

You must be using a genuine Neve 1073 for this Presentation… 😊

[@kevc6115]

SMALLER DRUMKIT! 😂😂😂😂😂

[@CaiophoneBA]

that was funny

[@davydelafuente]

Great info! Top marks A+

[@AlanSamuel]

excellent!!! thanks

[@lawrencerasmus]

Thanks

[@jackpisso1761]

You're really cool! Cheers and thanks!

[@gfizzle099]

I wish this guy was my college lecturer LOL

[@nickparas7170]

Can't get enough of British teeth. Malcolm Dome was the best.

[@zakaroonetwork777]

You Do Not Need a Shower. It’s been 3 years and I still Bring home ladies from the pub.

[@kbrodeur]

excellent.

[@LosantoBeats]

Keeping in mind that "The right setup" is always subjective and heavily dependent on the context.

[@Hexspa]

5:14 is the worst way I’ve ever heard someone describe the difference between 4dB. :|

[@superspit]

Which mic pre amp? A mixing desk. ☺️

[@MichaelNatrin]

I feel personally attacked by that melodica comment

[@eancurtis9333]

Yes you do

[@uptake2]

Just wondering ...... do i need a mic pre-amp? :-)

[@hauntedbytheliving1175]

The difference is only subtle is your talent is subtle. 6:00 “Pretty much any mic preamp, if you operate it within its comfort zone, will sound the same”… is about the time you should realize no one should be listening to this dude. Preamps, not driven hard at all, add density and impart an EQ curve… some “soak up” transients or sibilance, others offer a mid-boost. Some sound soft, some sound “hard” and yes, some sound cheap and some sound expensive.

[@SMAP757]

Fieldmouse scratching its knees 😆 thats wild

[@lortakeover2129]

Mic pre amp are a thing of the past ,get a apollo and call it a day,I listen to test after test no different then the preamp and if it is ,it’s so minor you have to listen a 1000x time to tell the different ,trust me save ya money buy a plugin I was in this same boat looking at tons of videos almost pull the trigger on the Avalon glad I didn’t

[@DestinyTownes]

Which plug-in did you buy?

[@Otondabeat]

@@DestinyTownes fabfilter is good. especially their pro-Q 3

[@DestinyTownes]

@@Otondabeat thanks!

[@officialdiomer]

i agree with you, except if you wanna use any other outboard gear like an EQ or compressor, you need a mic pre to go into that first. otherwise i’m with you as someone who has a mic pre, two compressors and an Apollo interface lol. the Unison plugins are hella nice to use when tracking with zero latency

[@bonwana2275]

This bloke needs a personality

[@Jack-fs2im]

why is everything about recordings and vsts and interfaces What happened to doing it in front of people.Anyway surely they can just do it close proximity to amp.oh dear

[@BassMatt1972]

do I need a mic preamp.. YES..

[@chrisapollo6676]

Only if you want to record.

[@jorgerisi8384]

Nail the Mix !! Hilarious !!!

[@DawnDupponmi]

I look forward to these videos now. 😂

[@drzygote]

Moss Trembling

[@crazyfluteplayer6216]

nice... fuzz box lol

[@this_is_jmdub]

I feel like you found you reason of existence

[@BradleyStoneOfficial]

'Or a smaller drum kit' ...

[@feline223]

I barely understood anything so I guess its too early for a mic preamp for me xD

[@assessoroffice7212]

i was so shocked to see John malcovich ... I thought it was you...

[@beatrations4649]

Hahha. This is on its way to praising Brando. What plants crave.

[@stevenrichardson4659]

Getting married soon,Bro in law(marriage celebrant)wants a wireless mic)for the officiating. I can for $42 buy a cheap ass mic with a 3.5 jack receiver,if this plugged into my vox practice amp and switched from line to mic mode,will it work? PS Ryuchi Sakamoto would be interested in the sound of moths cowering😉😅

[@jacobhelbig6967]

not if you're recording a snare with a 414 you don't

[@DouglasWidick]

❤️

[@colonelporridge8974]

good man yerself

[@divinodayacap3313]

DOI

[@Wizardofgosz]

Do you have a mic? Then yes.

[@DearHasan360]

500th Thunbs Up.