Do I need a Preamp?

Date:2020/3/7 10:05:53 Hits:

These days, nearly every audio interface includes preamps so that you can get a strong level into your DAW. Some of them include a fair number of features, such as selection among line, mic, and instrument levels; phantom power; and sometimes even polarity reverse. And indeed, on some higher-level interfaces, the preamps aren’t just good, but really good. So why would you want to buy a standalone preamp? Here are some reasons:

Different colors. Generally speaking, interface preamps are designed to sound as neutral and clean (in other words, not imparting their own tonal color) as possible, so they’ll work on the largest number of sources. But are gritty-sounding preamp might make a certain mic or source really pop. Having standalone preamps gives you “color” options that the built-in preamps of your interface might not.

This one goes to eleven. You might find that the preamps on your interface don’t have enough gain in certain situations. For example, the preamps on your interface may offer up to 40dB of gain, but passive ribbon microphones often require 60dB of gain or more when placed on quiet sound sources.

Extra features. Finally, some preamps, such as the Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity (one of many great examples) offer far more features than what you’ll find on an interface, with the ability to mix between solid state and tube preamps, an ultra hi-Z impedance for guitars and basses, low-cut filter, etc. Options such as these mean that a high-quality preamp can become not simply a level booster but an important tone-shaping tool.

So even if you have a killer interface, a killer standalone preamp might be just what it takes to help your recordings go over the top!

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