The DijonStock Digital Home Recording Support Forum

This should be my last question as i get up to speed with this machine!
it seems this forum isn't so active and i'm the only one asking, but thankfully i get replies which means i don't have to hault my recording.

I record a lot of low level sources at the moment, some such as piano where you want it soft sometimes, but there is unavoidable noise as i have to turn up the preamps, or any post level increases. some times the correct level would be approaching full gain (on 16bit, i use 24 too) which i know is incorrect but its where its appropriate aside from noise sometimes-they're just quiet signals.

I've seen the art tube mentioned a lot here, but i've also heard its not worth getting preamps from some ears. would the noise floor be reduced? how much more useable gain could i get from this? is it just meant to add colour and will it have the same noise problem?

Preamps generate the most noise when set near the maximum gain point. Therefore, if you had an external preamp, you could set it to just under the "noisy gain" point and make up the difference with the AW gain to get a usable signal.

BTW, this forum is much, much more active than the one where I suggested you come here to get your questions answered.

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I guess it depends on what you consider active.

In any event, a pre amp should be considered an important part of any recording studio. Take a look at any major studio. I'm sure they have more gear than a just a stand alone DAW center stage on their desk.

Ok so I'm being a smarta$$. But yes a decent pre amp is a good idea as are decent monitors placed properly. Sound defusers, bass traps and quality mics won't hurt either.

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GSMUSIC: Hey RZ, Im not no upper class american, the gear I own is what I have special to me. My car sucks, my house sucks, my nieghborhood sucks. Does yours RZ? Does it?

rz-land

I use a couple of ART Tube pre-amps as well, with my 16G and 1600.

I have an art tube mp studio 3 which iam happy with.just actually ordered another one. i use it with a rode nt1a for vocals and i use it to di bass guitar. it seems to do the trick and add a bit of warmth.

Hey not too shabby for an inactive forum. Keep those posts coming!

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GSMUSIC: Hey RZ, Im not no upper class american, the gear I own is what I have special to me. My car sucks, my house sucks, my nieghborhood sucks. Does yours RZ? Does it?

rz-land

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Don't judge the coffee by its cup.
The proof of the cheese is in the eating

If you have to work with cheaper preamps as i do and even 'not so high end' mics you can still get a decent result by 'staging' the preamps. This means you use a preamp or mixer with preamps a set the gain to an acceptable level (low noise) then you plug that into the Yamaha or even another Preamp. Technically each added device will add noise but if you choose level carrefully (mostly 70 to 80% dial) you can get a better signal than with each device on it's own.

Just my two cents.

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I'll give it a try. sometimes the noise is noticeable sometimes not but it seems piano has to have the inputs over 2 o clock which i understand introduces noise.

I guess its not a dead forum, thanks for the replies.

it was only noticing maybe one 'last post' in the other forums, last posts were back to 2004 front pages as well, and i've asked a few questions in a row. but at least questions aren't ignored like on SOS.

We're not dead, we're taking it easy.

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Don't judge the coffee by its cup.
The proof of the cheese is in the eating

One thing to consider when using a preamp, is to run your levels at -6 or perhaps even lower. I know people think -6 to 0 is optimum, but reading this Reaper thread on mixing has opened my eyes. Trying to be redbook compliant by maxing the signal isn't always a good thing. As you mention, you start to get noise at certain levels. Why not eliminate the noise and go with lower levels and them look at mixing the over all song within those boundaries. If you need to boost the final product in the mixdown stage that might be the better place. Less noise, better sound.

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GSMUSIC: Hey RZ, Im not no upper class american, the gear I own is what I have special to me. My car sucks, my house sucks, my nieghborhood sucks. Does yours RZ? Does it?

rz-land

yeh i've found that out recently. still too high for the preamps practically.

i found this good article which has a pretty handy diagram that cleared up all the recording at 0db business. now peak at -12 when recording., although if its a hot singal and preamps are low i go up further to -6 (i don't have that brilliant set up!). i don't want to go much lower than that as i end up having to boost or attenuate levels in extreme ways to match other tracks.

http://dbzeebee.blogspot.com/2009/10/di ... thumb.html

I'm thinking if i used an art tube mp with a VU meter though, i would set 0db on the VU whilst send the output level into the desk at 12db?

Hi,

2 weeks ago I found out a really impressive use for my art-preamp. Tried to use it with my Dobro, equipped with a Schaller-Jazz-Pickup to get more warmth and life to the sound out of the AW2400. With slightly overdriving the preamps input stage I am getting a warm full sound with a touch of dirt in it. Amazing ...

Andreas

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