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Old 12-30-2007, 01:19 AM
Che_Guitarra Che_Guitarra is offline
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Default Is it worth buying \'boutique\' mic pre if only used for 003?

I've been planning on investing in something to expand my 003 Rack to an 8 mic-pre setup (via a Focusrite Liquid 4Pre, a Mackie 400F, or maybe a TL Audio 5001 - into the 003's TRS inputs).

My concern is a follows - if I purchase something with supposed 'boutique mic-pre performance' (say, in terms of headroom), won't this be lost when patched through the 003 Rack - a pretty good unit but by no means stellar? Basically, I don't want to buy a piece of outboard gear beyond the 003's ability to deliver.
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Old 12-30-2007, 02:30 AM
Stiff Stiff is offline
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Default Re: Is it worth buying \'boutique\' mic pre if only used for 0

Well, that would depend on how you patch things up I guess. For instance, I've made a habit out of not connecting one preamp through another (and if you did, wouldn't help you on expanding your no of ins). If you're really afraid of going through the 003 analogs, then you could go with a digital connection.
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  #3  
Old 12-30-2007, 06:47 AM
zolimer zolimer is offline
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Default Re: Is it worth buying \'boutique\' mic pre if only used for 003?

Hello, I am by no means a pro when it comes to recording, so this is just food for thought. When i was using an digi001 setup i had a mackie 1402 vlz mixer(relatively inexpensive) hooked up to the analog ins on the digi001. I was pretty happy with the quality of the pre's and i was able to keep everything hooked up without constantly patching cables i.e..stereo, drum machine, synth, I would just mute the channels on the mixer that i was not using. Being able to eq the signal before going to Protools was an added bonus. Tim
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Old 12-30-2007, 11:00 AM
flommer flommer is offline
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Default Re: Is it worth buying \'boutique\' mic pre if only used for 0

You could plan on adding a high quality external A/D converter, which would give an upgrade to your entire signal path as the 003's converters will benefit from the better clock source. Something like a Rosetta 800. You could get your micpres now and you would still see an improvement over the built-in pres and get the converter later. The nice thing about HQ outboard gear is that it remains HQ and useful in just about any set-up into the future.
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Old 12-30-2007, 01:11 PM
KRAFT KRAFT is offline
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Default Re: Is it worth buying \'boutique\' mic pre if only used for 0

I AM NOT THE EXPERT THAT SOME ARE HERE BUT THIS IS WHAT I DO. MOST OF MY STUFF GOES THROUGH MY MIDAS BOARD WITH THAT NICE SOUNDING MIC PRE AS WELL AS PRE EQ MOST EVERYTHING BEFORE GOING INTO MY 002 RACK. I WILL GO SPDIF OUT TO SPDIF WITH MY STEREO MIC PRE FOR VOCALS. I ALSO USE A MOTU UNIT W/OPTICAL OUT TO ADAT IN FOR MORE INPUTS. AND AS FLOMMER SAID HQ GEAR WILL WORK FOR A LOT OF APPLICATIONS. GOOD LUCK.
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Old 12-30-2007, 02:19 PM
Barry Johns Barry Johns is offline
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Default Re: Is it worth buying \'boutique\' mic pre if only used for 0

The short answer is YES. However, a quality Mic Pre requires a partner, which is a high quality Mic. If you are running a 300.00 Mic through a 1000.00 Mic pre, you will not get the results you will as running a great Mic though it. If you are new to Mic Pre's I suggest starting with nothing less than a UA Solo 610, from there go to a Great River ME1NV, from there to a Pacifica. Forget all about the Avalon stuff, and most Focusrite Stuff. A great Mic and Mic pre for a home studio would be a Mojave MA100 and a Great River ME 1NV. Chandler makes great stuff as well, just very colored. An UA LA-610 is a very good channel strip. You will find as you start getting into great Mic Pre’s your whole world of recording changes.

Take questions like these over the www.gearslutz.com. You will find more info there regarding recording and gear.

A quality Mic and Pre will take your recordings way beyond upgrading converters. If you can do both, then do it, but a Quality Mic Pre and Quality Mic will change your mixes completely.
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  #7  
Old 12-30-2007, 03:24 PM
Che_Guitarra Che_Guitarra is offline
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Default Re: Is it worth buying \'boutique\' mic pre if only used for 0

As far as Mics go - I have some SM57s & 58s, a pair of Rode NT5s, a Rode K2 and a NT2A... I don't really plan to change these mics as I can get a great sound from them straight into the 003... having said that it does take me 2 or 3 plug-in inserts to get a nice musical compression happening (which equals a drain on the CPU load).

Which brings me back to mic-pre's. At this point all I want is a quality outboard dual-channel mic-pre/compressor - EQ is an added bonus but not really sought. Winning sofar is the TL Audio C1 (sounded absolutely stunning at the shop), but I will check out UA, and even the Focusrite liquid channel out of curiosity.... I live in Australia and Chandler / Great River gear is hard to find.
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