- Microphone preamp
A microphone preamp (microphone
pre-amplifier ), most commonly called mic preamp, is a device used to amplify thevoltage taken from amicrophone to a higher, more usable level. Most microphones must be used in conjunction with a microphone preamp to function properly.The Technical Details
The output voltage on a microphone is very low; a microphone preamp increases that level by up to 70dB to a +4dB level output which is used by other external audio effects, for
audio recording , and forlive sound . The circuitry inside the microphone preamp has a great effect on the sound of a microphone, from the way the microphone reacts due to impedance changes, to adding coloration fromtransformer s orvacuum tubes (valves),op amp s,transistor s, and all the other circuitry used.In Use
Most
audio engineer s would assert that a microphone preamp affects the sound quality of a recording just as much as the microphone itself. Different combinations of microphones and preamps can achieve a wide range of tone, character and mood. Microphone preamps come in many shapes and sizes, and vary greatly in price from a few dollars to many thousands of dollars. Manymixing board s or desks have microphone preamps built in. There are also a plethora of external preamps from which to choose, which is great for adding the exact tone and feature set one needs for setup.Some preamps exist as one part of a
channel strip , which can include other kinds of audio recording devices such ascompressor s,equalization (EQ),noise gate s, and enhancers.ee also
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Preamplifier Examples
* [http://www.summitaudio.com/2ba-221-mic-line-module.htm Microphone preamp external]
* [http://www.digico.org/DiGiCo-05/d1live-40.htm Microphone preamp in mixer]
* [http://www.lautenaudio.com/ Microphone]
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