Do I Need a Mic Pre-Amp w/ my Interface?

[jerryemontano]

I heard that adding a tube pre-amp will make my vocals (and acoustic guitar) sound ****er and "better," so I purchased a Presonus TubePre and added it to my M-Audio Firewire Solo (I record one track at a time). I've experimented with the gain and drive levels on the pre-amp, and in the end I don't notice much of a difference between using the pre-amp with my interface and using my Firewire Solo alone. The TubePre definitely adds gain (and some hissing at that), but the sound quality doesn't seem too affected. Am I missing something? Should there be a great difference if the drive level is half or all the way up on my tube pre-amp?

Thanks for any advice . . .

Jerry Montano
(not the ex-bassist from Danzig)

[brandondrury]

I don't notice much of a difference between using the pre-amp

Am I missing something?

Should there be a great difference if the drive level is half or all the way up on my tube pre-amp?

Welcome to the world of sick bastards lieing on recording forums. This right here is the big reason I started RecordingReview.com. I've recommended preamp upgrades to 2 people in 2.5 years AFTER hearing that their mixes really kicked ass.

Luckily you bought an "inexpensive" preamp. I got suckered into dumping $1,000 right off the bat when I couldn't even hook up an audio interface.

Check out this:
Recording Gear Quiz - Vintech, Trident, Mytek, Royer, Shure, and Presonus

There are a handful of shootouts in the Member's Only Section too. All of them offer very subtle differences with no real objective improvement in audio quality.

Brandon