To Preamp Or Not To Preamp... That Is The Question

[jboss]

My current rig is simply a SP-BMC-2 > MZ-R30 (Don't laugh, it's solid, and HiMD is a bit out of my price-range).

I'm really debating hard on buying a preamp.

I had used my friend's Shure studio Condenser with an XLR > 1/4" adapter to a 1/4" > 1/8" adapter. Although the adapters stuck 6 inches out of my pocket and I had to carry 15 feet of cable, I got a very nice (albiet mono) recording of a local rock show with no overloads. With this confidence, I took the same rig to see The Black Keys a few weeks later. Two things went wrong. I accidently set my mic sensitivity to 'High', and the adapters wereacting bad. There was so much weight that they woiuldn't sit right in the mic jack, causing static and even a dropout where it lost signal completely. After this I decided that I needed my own mics... and to check the mic sensitivity every time I recorded.

I made some stereo binaural mics using RadioShack Mic capsules soldered into a gold plugged stereo audio cable. Took those puppies to a show and... major static. I wasn't completely sure it was a preamp overload, being unsure of my soldering skills and the quality of the cheap RadioShack capsules. I finally decided to buy a SP-BMC-2 mic set from eBay.

When I went to a show last week, I brought them along and, sure enough, static. This time I was positive it was the preamp overloading. Although one performance came out sounding okay because the left mic is at slightly lower volume, so I was able to isolate that one channel that didn't overload during this quieter performance.

Anyway, all of that aside, I'm debating between just buying a cheap RadioShack volume attenuator, or splurging and buying a preamp. I don't have much money, but I'm kind of keeping close watch on eBay for good deals.

My main concern is that:

-The RadioShack cable may add line noise (which, since all my transfers are analog, I really don't need any extra).

-The RadioShack cable wears out, from what I've read. That would be bad if it did that during a recording.

-A preamp may benefit me by giving me the extra power I'd need to get full range from my mics whilst also being more high quality than the crappy MD preamp.

-A preamp would be awesome if I went to upgrade my MD to a HiMD, since HiMDs with only a line-in and no mic-in tend to be cheaper.

The drawback, of course is the cost of the preamp. On eBay there is a Visivox brand preamp I can get shipped for $63. That's really hard for me to manage financially, but I could do it. I'm not so sure how much I can trust that one, though. I've never heard anything about Visivox, so I'm a little hesitant to buy that.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

I'm also keeping an eye on a Sound Professionals preamp on there too.

Basically, how big of an advantage is a Preamp > Line-in over a RadioShack Attenuator > Mic-in?

Any advice?

Edited July 2, 2005 by jboss

[Reactive]

Your best bet (given your budget) would be to use a battery box http://www.reactivesounds.com/ps1.php. For recording loud concerts your need to power those mic's as much as possible, throw in a radio shack attenuator and you can adjust the mic's output so that you don't overload the minidisc internal pre-amp.

Gerry

www.reactivesounds.com

My current rig is simply a SP-BMC-2 > MZ-R30 (Don't laugh, it's solid, and HiMD is a bit out of my price-range).

I'm really debating hard on buying a preamp.

I had used my friend's Shure studio Condenser with an XLR > 1/4" adapter to a 1/4" > 1/8" adapter. Although the adapters stuck 6 inches out of my pocket and I had to carry 15 feet of cable, I got a very nice (albiet mono) recording of a local rock show with no overloads. With this confidence, I took the same rig to see The Black Keys a few weeks later. Two things went wrong. I accidently set my mic sensitivity to 'High', and the adapters wereacting bad. There was so much weight that they woiuldn't sit right in the mic jack, causing static and even a dropout where it lost signal completely. After this I decided that I needed my own mics... and to check the mic sensitivity every time I recorded.

I made some stereo binaural mics using RadioShack Mic capsules soldered into a gold plugged stereo audio cable. Took those puppies to a show and... major static. I wasn't completely sure it was a preamp overload, being unsure of my soldering skills and the quality of the cheap RadioShack capsules. I finally decided to buy a SP-BMC-2 mic set from eBay.

When I went to a show last week, I brought them along and, sure enough, static. This time I was positive it was the preamp overloading. Although one performance came out sounding okay because the left mic is at slightly lower volume, so I was able to isolate that one channel that didn't overload during this quieter performance.

Anyway, all of that aside, I'm debating between just buying a cheap RadioShack volume attenuator, or splurging and buying a preamp. I don't have much money, but I'm kind of keeping close watch on eBay for good deals.

My main concern is that:

-The RadioShack cable may add line noise (which, since all my transfers are analog, I really don't need any extra).

-The RadioShack cable wears out, from what I've read. That would be bad if it did that during a recording.

-A preamp may benefit me by giving me the extra power I'd need to get full range from my mics whilst also being more high quality than the crappy MD preamp.

-A preamp would be awesome if I went to upgrade my MD to a HiMD, since HiMDs with only a line-in and no mic-in tend to be cheaper.

The drawback, of course is the cost of the preamp. On eBay there is a Visivox brand preamp I can get shipped for $63. That's really hard for me to manage financially, but I could do it. I'm not so sure how much I can trust that one, though. I've never heard anything about Visivox, so I'm a little hesitant to buy that.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

I'm also keeping an eye on a Sound Professionals preamp on there too.

Basically, how big of an advantage is a Preamp > Line-in over a RadioShack Attenuator > Mic-in?

Any advice?

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[jboss]

Thanks for the advice, I'll look into that.