How Important Is the Pre-Amp in the Recording Studio?

This is an article that is intended to help out musicians, solo artists and bands save time and money whenever they step into the recording studio. It is part of a series. The topic of this article is similar to a previous article in this series on Recording Studios and Mastering Studios. The previous article was about the importance of microphone selection. Another important part of the recording process is the selection of the microphone pre-amplifier. First we should talk about what a microphone pre-amp is. A mic pre-amp is a device that boosts the signal from a microphone because the original signal is too far to low to record and get enough volume out of.

Typically noways there are pre-amplifiers in most audio interfaces or sound cards used to input audio into digital audio workstations. Historically they were included in large studio recording consoles. Nowadays there are also stand-alone mic pre-amps that are usually between $500-$1000 that can be purchased. Now why would you want to spend so much money on a single microphone pre-amplifier? This is because these types of pre-amps are "character pre-amps." These colour and add character to the sound being recorded in a way that is very pleasing to the ear.

While theses can be important to the recording process, the reality is that the quality of the pre-amplifiers included on most audio interfaces or soundcards are very high and can sound great. These interfaces are fairly inexpensive and still give you a professional sound quality. This is all a product of the last 10 years and a relatively new phenomenon. So in a nutshell the microphone pre-amp selection is very important. Also, the combination used between the microphone and the pre-amp is important and can effect the final recording.

One question that you may be asking is, by using a pre-amp that comes bundled with an audio interface (not a "character pre-amp") do you lose some of the quality and colour in your recording? From the source, yes you are. But since you are likely making a digital recording you can use a number of digital plugins that emulate high-level character pre-amplifiers after the recording has already been completed. These plugins are also often times much less expensive than the hardware versions used during the recording process. So yes it is an important part of the music making process but there is some room for flexibility.

Andrew Yankiwski is a professional audio engineer and owner of Precursor Productions, One of Canada's Premiere Online Mixing and Mastering Studios.

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