S IGNAL CHAIN
The Importance of the Microphone Preamp
Welcome once again to all! Since we’re
focusing on recording as this issue’s main
theme, I thought we could dig even deeper
into the “Signal Chain” on this particular
subject. Recording is probably my overall
favorite thing to do as a pastime. At times,
I can become a bit obsessed with it, too! I
haven’t seen too much discussion in guitar
magazines about the crucial importance of
the microphone preamp’s role in capturing
incredible tones and then translating them
to tape, or even to a DAW.
FMR AudioReally Nice Preamp (RNP8380)
In fact, directly after your choice of
microphone(s), the microphone preamp will
absolutely dictate what type of sound you’re
going to get. In addition to its function
as a preamplifier, this piece of equipment
is also responsible for imparting a large
A Really Nice Start
The fine people at FMR Audio of Austin, TX,
are famous for making great-sounding gear
at affordable prices, and their Really Nice
Preamp (RNP8380) is certainly no exception. The fact that this particular piece is
Take Me To The River
Great River Electronics of St. Paul, MN, make
without a doubt my favorite “default” mic
preamps. Everything has to pass through my
beloved pair of ME-1NVs before going further down the line. The mono ME-1NV is
amount of its own tonal character into the
mix. When I listen to any record or CD, I’m
always listening to the “front line” (
microphone and preamp) because this is where
the recording process really begins—that is,
of course, apart from all the other components involved… guitars, pedals and amps
and such. You do not want to scrimp here or
your tone will suffer in a big way!
Most importantly, you do not want to waste
valuable time and money buying the cheaper,
budget types of microphone preamps, trying
one after another until you finally find a good
one. Most people wind up going through
two or three units before realizing that they
could have gotten it right the very first time.
That’s exactly why I’m going to give you a
brief primer here—to spare you a great deal
of aggravation and expense. The object here
is to help you reward yourself instead with
recordings that you can be proud of, right
from the start. Okay, here we go…
also a stereo mic preamp makes it all the
more affordable in the “bang for the buck”
department. These are selling for $475 on
the street, and the RNP8380 is an unbeatable preamp for its design and function (not
to mention its sound). This one was actually
my first good quality microphone preamp.
While you’re at it, check out the FMR Really
Nice Compressor and Really Nice Leveling
Amplifier, too. Yep, I’ve got these two pieces
in my rack as well—incredible sounding units
indeed. If you haven’t gone down this road
before, start right here.
Great River Electronics ME-1NV
certainly more expensive (around $1175
street) than the FMR Audio RNP8380, but
one listen to these preamps and you’ll know
what I’m talking about. These are huge
sounding units that have a wonderful sonic
depth and width to them that is truly amazing. A real favorite combination of mine has
been running a Gretsch Country Gentleman
into a Klon Centaur overdrive pedal (or others
depending on what’s needed) patched into
my Fender Champion 600 5-Watt amp, using
a Neumann KM 184 condenser microphone.
The KM 184 is ultimately connected to one (or
