Importance of Preamps

You've probably heard of a preamp, but you don't really understand what it does, or why you need a good one (or two, or three, or fifty). This article will explain what a preamp is, and why you should (if you can afford to) spend a little more to get good quality ones.

Q. So what is a Preamp?
A. A preamp takes the signal from your mic, boosts it and sends it to wherever the sound is going to be stored.

Q. How many do I need?
A. This depends what you record. If you're only ever going to be recording a single guitar, then one should do. However, I'd always say two is the minimum because it gives you a lot more options to get the sound you're looking for.

I'd always go for a quality preamp over quantity of preamps if possible. If don't need 8 XLR inputs, don't buy that 8 preamp interface. You're better off buying a 2 preamp model for the same money, as the preamps are likely to be much higher quality.

Q. Why do I need a higher quality one. They do the same thing don't they?
A. Yes and no. Yes they do the same thing, but a good preamp comes into its own when you start layering a track. When you listen back to your recording, and there's silence before the noise starts, you'll usually hear a slight (or not so slight) hissing noise.

That's fine because it's only one track right? Wrong. How many tracks do you usually end up with? More than 10? Probably. So, multiply that hissing sound by 20-30 (maybe even 100) times and that's where you start to see the benefit of a good preamp. They hiss less, so you get a cleaner mix.

This is a VERY generalised view, but for me that's one of the biggest advantages of a good/great preamp.

Q. So what else do they do?
A. That depends ;) They can colour your sound, give you a vintage sound, be ultra clean, ultra dirty, favour the top/bottom end etc. That's generally not the norm though, most will just give you a nice clean, hiss free sound that just sound less muddy.

Q. So my recordings are going to sound rubbish without a good preamp?
A. Absolutely not. Great sounding recordings are usually 90% down to the engineer. If you take an engineer who's been recording for 30 years and sit them down in front a budget interface, they're still going to get a kick ass sound compared to a novice who gets sat down on a full pro-tools rig.

Good preamps help a lot, and they're great to have. But a good preamp is worthless if you mic placement is all wrong and your mix levels are off.

Q. What does a good preamp cost?
A. Sorry, but that's a loaded question. A "good" preamp is down to your (and your listeners) ears. You need to separate out preamps into a couple of categories.

Internal - Built into your interface. I.e. a Line 6 UX2 has 2 preamps.

External - External boxes that are connected to your interface via TRS/XLR. I.e. a DAV BG1u.

If you're going for an all in one solution with built in preamps, the world is your oyster. I'd always buy the best I can afford, so it's whatever your budget runs to.

Good quality external preamps usually cost as much (if not more) that an entire interface. This is because you're getting a MUCH higher quality preamp without all the extra bells and whistles (like MIDI, DA/AD converters etc).

Q. So I can buy an external preamp and I'm good to go?
A. No. You need to make sure you can connect it up. If you've got a relatively budget interace a) it's usually not worth it b) you may not have the connections to do it.

Q. Can I plug an external preamp through my existing one (i.e. via XLR)?
A. Good god no. First of all, there's no point and secondly you could damage both units in the process. If you don't have the connections for an external preamp, it's time for a new interface if that's the way you want to. 

Q. Should I buy a better mic or a better preamp?
A. Hmmm, tough one because it depends. An average mic will sound a lot better through a good preamp. An average preamp with a great mic will still sound average. At the end of the day, you could still do with both (i.e. good mic, good pre), but mics are generally easier to buy and won't need upgrading (that's the theory anyway until GAS {Gear Acquisition Syndrome} sets in).

If you're just starting out, a better mic is probably a better investment in the long run (i.e. you won't have to replace it and you can never have too many mics). You have to spend pretty big to get a decent standalone preamp, but a very good mic (i.e. Shure SM57) is relatively cheap. 

Summing Up

Just to clarify. External preamps are great, but they're not essential. There are lots of good preamps out there already built into unit to suit all kinds of budgets. RME, MOTU, M-Audio all make great interfaces to suit a range of budgets.

In terms of external pre's, check out the following companies/products.

DAV BG1u (or the BG1 if you're on a tight budget), FMR Really Nice Preamp, Neve (don't look at the price, you'll faint) covers a good range of products.

That's the basics of preamps. If you didn't know anything about preamps before, I hope you've got a hint of what they're about. If you're looking for a suggestion, check out the DAV BG1U. British made (last time I checked anyway) and they're incredibly well respected world wide. I personally own this unit, and love it.

If you'd like to support this site, check out the stores on the links below. If you find something you like, go ahead and buy it. I need more money to keep my preamp habit going ;)