Outboard microphone preamps

[Jarrod Roth]

Hi all-
Sorry to begin a new thread on this, but I couldn't find an existing thread on the subject. That said, I have a DP32 and I am considering the purchase of a Neve 1073 clone or other style of microphone preamp. The purpose would be to get an enhanced recording quality to microphone performances.
Any insight or experiences from the group regarding the use of mic preamps is greatly appreciated.

J. Roth

 

[Cosmic]

Hi Jarrod,

External pres are generally a very good idea, given the cheapness of the parts in units like DP32.
I have the DP24SD and I use a four-pack of external pres, run into the "line" inputs of four of the mic combo plugs of the recorder.

(I put "line" in quotation marks as AFAIK there are no true dedicated line inputs through the recorders for plugging in pres. When dialled to "line" level, you still go through the built-in pres, albeit at their quietest and best behaved.)
If that has changed in the design, please someone weigh in.

The headroom, the signal to noise and the use of better power supplies (including for 48V Phantom) on an external pre-amp unit make for a better-sounding, more rugged solution.

You just have to make a decision if you want one or two "boutique" pres to play with, or if you want multiple 4-8 mic pre packs in rack mounts to be the new front end of the Tascam. Depends on your needs of course.

Hope this is of help,

Best,
C.

 

[Mark Richards]

As always, the answer is "it depends".

What mics.
What cables.
What price point.
What recording environment.
What type of music/instruments.
What target market.
What distribution chain.
What cost v benefit.

There are more, but you get the point.

And using mic pre-amps truly superior to the ones on-board won't alone guarantee superior results.

Over more than eleven years of continuous use, I've found my DP-24 on-board mic pre-amps to be very good, so never considered using external pre-amps.

@Jarrod Roth
EDIT
A search on "microphone preamp" turned this up. The "Warm Audio PreAmp" thread's posts #1 through #9 have very good info.

This summary by mj is probably the most succinct and accurate you'll likely find on this forum; and some additional discussion.

 

[Jarrod Roth]

Thanks for the quick replies. As to the questions on equipment, I am considering a Warm Audio 73 or 273 for use with a variety of mics including Neumann TLM 49, TLM 107, MXL Genesis (tube), Mxl V67g, Akg P-220& 420, Blue Baby Bottle & Bluebird (1st edition), and some dynamics- Shure 57s and 58s.
For cabling, I use either Mogami Gold or Roland Black XLR.
Mind you, I use my DP32 as a sketchpad for writing my original material, however since I have taken on the role of lead vocals, I feel I need all the help I can get.