mic pre and microphones gain effect outcome ?

[reneisgod]

kinda a daft question but anyways..

how exactly does a mic pre work ?

ive noticed on my miced recordings im getting alot of room sound included
even with the mic bang on the speaker,

by boosting the gain on a mic pre does this increase the level the mic will pick up
or is this only boosting the output of the actual desk ?
how much deos the gain level actually effect the sound from the mic ?

i want 0 room sound on my mic recordings, if i plug my mic right into my sound
card without the pre the level is too low.

how should i be boosting the volumnes so that the mics not going crazy picking up
everything ?

im just a tad confused about this.

 

[noarin]

yeah me too..

for example; what's the difference between a signal that has been recorded as loud as possible (mic pre as loud as possible) and a signal that has been recorded a bit quieter (mic pre a bit less loud) and listening to that with the volume turned up a bit?

just ramblin!

 

[STINNETT]

The mic preamp boosts the level of the signal from the mic, so in a way you are increasing its sensitivity.
If you have to crank the gain on the preamp to get a good level, you are going to increase all the extraneous noises that the mic picks up as well.

Take the example of mic'ing vocals. If you have a super loud screamer, you don't need much gain and therefore you won't pick up the light breathy sounds so much or the room sounds and vibrations, etc. If you have a quiet singer and you have to crank the preamp - you're going to really pick up all the little quiet noises and room sound along with your signal.

Increase the volume of your source, or move the mic closer, and use less preamp gain. That may be your solution.

 

[reneisgod]

hmm so in reality a mic pre's gain/volume can significantly change the end result of a recorded sound, man that just makes life that little more difficult.

so ur advice for recording micing an amp ? more volume less gain ?

what is the ebst way to go here

very loud and no gain from the mic pre ?

medium vol and some mic pre ?

id guess no mic pre gain would be best on a guitar cab ?

i mean im sticking my mic right on the cone but getting room sound thats with the gain about half way on the mic pre, say i record it totally flat right into my desk and then boost the recorded file am i going to loose serious quality in sound here i cant think of a way around this bar play extremely loud.

 

[reneisgod]

yeah me too..

for example; what's the difference between a signal that has been recorded as loud as possible (mic pre as loud as possible) and a signal that has been recorded a bit quieter (mic pre a bit less loud) and listening to that with the volume turned up a bit?

just ramblin!

+1 on this

what is the difference ?

or vice versa im thinking

the difference between something recorded from the source real loud 0 gain boost from th mic pre to something recorded medium level with alot of mic pre gain ?

my answer at a guess would be alot more room ambiance as thats what im experiencing and its driving me mad

 

[STINNETT]

Well, you're always going to be using some gain from your preamp, a mic's output is super low. The key is to find the balance that works for what your're doing.
If the room just sounds bad to begin with, it can still influence what you get with a close mic to a certain extent. Sometimes recording with the cab quieter in a bad sounding room and using more preamp gain might actually sound the best. For instance, my cab doesn't sound that great really cranked in my room, but too low and it sounds weak when recorded. I just had to find a good compromise.

The simple answer to the other question is the noise floor. If you record something quiet and then have to boost it to get it to the level you want, you're also increasing the noise floor. The more complicated answer is that you have to consider how each variable factor impacts the sound. You might like the sound that your preamp imparts when you crank the gain, or you may prefer the sound your guitar amp has when cranked up and keeping the preamp gain to a minimum. All those factors being equal or accounted for, and if it's just a matter of what level you record at, then it just boils down to noise floor, but realistically that is not much of a concern with modern digital recording.

 

[reneisgod]

thanks for the replies man

i also found these extremely interesting and insightfull

http://www.johnhardyco.com/pdf/MicPreampEval.pdf

 

[JBroll]

What mic are you using, and how is it arranged with respect to the speaker?

Jeff