Mic Pre-amps

[classicalnut]

Does a mic pre-amp actually work better than the mic in on a recorder? I record mainly classical music. I have seen many adds for these and was wondering if they do indeed make a difference and which one does everyone suggest using. Thanks, Classicalnut

[devo_ji]

I believe, from what I have read, that the louder the music you want to record the better off you are using the line-in. This bypasses the mic-pre in the unit which I guess suffers from having to be so small to fit in the tiny MD case. Also the mic-input is more prone to distortion.

Given that many classical performances can get pretty loud I would pay a little extra for a pre-amp. Now the question becomes which is the best low cost pre-amp for the money?

[A440]

The quality of the mic is paramount. If you have good mics and place them well you can get a pretty impressive recording through mic in, assuming the music is not so loud it overloads.

If you then want to make a modest additional improvement, you could get a preamp, because mic-in does add a small amount of noise. The quieter the music you're recording, the more a small amount of noise matters.

A preamp does not always provide extra headroom with loud music--sometimes it provides less.

You have to get a preamp with a switch that allows different amounts of gain, so that loud music would use minimal gain and quiet sounds would get more. It's a toggle, not a volume control, so you'd have to decide in advance which level to use.

I have a preamp with just an on-off switch. It did well when I recorded a quiet concert--voice, guitar, percussion. But when I recently attempted to record a loud show with it the result was disastrous, distorted on every loud note. When I saw that the record level was peaking, I turned down the manual level control and ended up with a quieter recording of the same distortion. I got in touch with the pre-amp manufacturer and was told that this particular pre-amp, without variable gain, was only for quieter sounds, and a battery box is better for loud music.

Many places sell more flexible preamps with different levels of gain, like Sound Professionals. And I see one now and then on Ebay for $49.99 by Crown Audio that also has a gain switch--I would love to know how it works if anyone has tried one.

If you're recording a string quartet, you'd want to add gain; if you're recording a Mahler symphony, maybe not. The real question is, how dissatisfied are you with your current recordings? And how good are your mics?