question about gain...

[gemini8026]

hey all.

quick quesiton. In another thread I posted about choosing a mic for mobile recording. I want an SM7B, but its a mic that likes a lot of gain and a strong preamp.

I have a DMP3 which is fairly decent and a mobile EMU Tracker Pre that hits 60db gain.

Now, I did some AB'ing at the store today. I tested an SM58 and an SM7b. The SM7b to my ears sounded a litle smoother and my voice seemed to work better with it, less plosives, etc.

However, I had to really turn up the pre on my mobile Emu preamp, to the point where I could start hearing some hiss...

Now, heres my question. What if I recorded a fairly strong signal into my mic, and then increased the gain in the software. Can that work, whts the difference betwen cranking the gain on my preamp, versus adding gain in the software via a plugin or basic processing..

any input is appreciated!

 

[ahjteam]

hey all.

quick quesiton. In another thread I posted about choosing a mic for mobile recording. I want an SM7B, but its a mic that likes a lot of gain and a strong preamp.

I have a DMP3 which is fairly decent and a mobile EMU Tracker Pre that hits 60db gain.

Now, I did some AB'ing at the store today. I tested an SM58 and an SM7b. The SM7b to my ears sounded a litle smoother and my voice seemed to work better with it, less plosives, etc.

However, I had to really turn up the pre on my mobile Emu preamp, to the point where I could start hearing some hiss...

Now, heres my question. What if I recorded a fairly strong signal into my mic, and then increased the gain in the software. Can that work, whts the difference betwen cranking the gain on my preamp, versus adding gain in the software via a plugin or basic processing..

any input is appreciated!

depends on the preamp, but the gain on the preamp usually is a lot cleaner, where the mount of noisefloor raising is linear in digital world, which means it nessecarily doesn't raise the noisefloor the same amount. You can test it out by first recording your voice on by raising the level with the preamp, then turning the preamp to zero but raised to the same level ITB


edit: nevermind, I'll do a youtube video on it soon.

 

[gemini8026]

interesting, im going to try that out right now! im just curious how much noise im willing to deal with in my recordings.

I deal with a lot of hard rock mostly, so theres a good chance i can make the sm7b work. I really want it to, because i really liked its sound!

I cant find ANY USB mobile drives that offer gain over 60db gain. (much less bus powered, which i really want for remote recording sessions)

 

[ahjteam]

And here is the video I promised:

 

[BLUElightCory]

You can also check out an inline gain boost like the Triton Fethead:

Triton Fethead

The Fethead goes between the mic and pre, and gives you an extra 20dB of clean gain plus an optimal impedance match.

 

[gemini8026]

certainly interesting!

It would be also interesting to hear this same comparison at different levels of the pre-amp being pushed. Im curious if there is somewhat of a "sweet spot"
where it isnt so apparent.

one more question, does that gain nose affect your voice/tone at all, or is such noise only apparent when things are quiet? Or is gain noise affecting the tone in your voice and "veiling" it.

If that makes any sense. I appreciate the help!

 

[gemini8026]

blue light cory... have you ever used one of those? that seems very interesting. I wonder if there are any similar products available here in North America.

I have a

http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp?category=610&subcategory=611&product=17511

preamp. It has Phantom power which works fine. Im just curious if the phantom power would be compatible with this Fethead , because it uses some currentmorph technology to get the phantom power. Im curious if thats just fancy lingo or if its an electrical trick which might not allow that inline unit to work!

 

[ahjteam]

certainly interesting!

It would be also interesting to hear this same comparison at different levels of the pre-amp being pushed. Im curious if there is somewhat of a "sweet spot"
where it isnt so apparent.

well, it ain't rocket science, try it yourself. I recorded the clips so that the level peaked at -12dB (with a condenser mic I would've done it so that it peaked near -6dB because I would only have to open the gain up like a quarter of the maximum amount)