Quote: “I've started to think about getting a preamp to achieve better sound.”
Tattva, all the greatest audio designers, the true legendary designers have sought to create equipment that captures and coveys the spirit and emotion of musical performance faithfully.
With “transparency”, not colouring, adding or subtracting anything whatever from the sound, but rendering a purely truthful sonic picture, of the intensity or calmness induced, by the spirit of the music.
You mentioned a Neve copy. Now sadly no longer with us, Rupert Neve was a great help to the group I played in many years ago, a wonderful man, greatly admired who always sought “transparency”.
RME preamps are “transparent”.
Here’s the thing, you will often hear people say or read on the internet “X preamp is great for Bass and Drums, but no good for female Vocal or Piano” or “Y preamp is great for male vocals and Guitar, great on Piano, but weak on female vocal and no at all good for Bass.” You probably have encountered such comments on the internet.
One thing I learnt from George Massenburg (another great audio designer), is that if a preamp works brilliantly for one sound source, but poorly for another sound source, (a common occurrence with coloured preamps), although people convey what the preamp works well with as a strength. It is point of fact a clear indication of weakness in the preamps design. Great preamps work brilliantly, utterly regardless of the sound source, because they are inherently “transparent.”
So, there are good reasons for simply utilising the excellent “transparent” preamps you already have, not the least of which is an economic one. As if your use an especially coloured preamp for all the different sound sources you will need to record, you are going to need an awful lot of them and be extremely wealthy indeed. Which probably won’t be the case if you distribute your music through spotify.
For sure, there are good designers that deliberately design, manufacture and sell coloured preamps, but its worth reflecting on the fact that all the greatest recordings in the history of recorded music, (especially in what I regard as its golden era), were made utilising” transparent” preamps. Overwhelmingly the ones installed in the Large Format Recording Console, such as those Rupert invented.
Forgive this next point, but it’s one worth making.
Sometimes I hear people moaning about the problems in the music industry.
From my perspective, the biggest problem in the music industry is usually stood directly in front of the mic.
The reason I write this is because I often feel that the underlying reason people feel the need for such things as coloured preamps or indeed highly coloured mics vastly hyped in sound; is a sense, a profoundly deep inward awareness, perhaps a huge insecurity, regarding the performer’s actual ability and quality of performance.
They are looking for a sonic crutch, to lift the inadequateness of their performance. I’m not suggesting that is the case with you, but I think it is sometimes, perhaps very often the case. Sometimes it is that people want something to give them an extra edge.
I think they should practice, train, develop, improve and substantially raise the level of their sonic performance, instead of looking for a sonic crutch.
Quote: “I'll be using it mostly when recording vocals with Shure SM7B or Neumann KMS105 and also with electric&bass guitars plugged into DI. Thanks!
My immmeadiate, instinctive reaction upon first reading your post, was identical to Ramses final line.
If you are truly seeking stellar sound, (a highly commendable aspiration), then I think you would be best served by investing in some higher quality mics.
This is not to suggest that there is anything whatever wrong with the mics you have, The Shure SM7B is perhaps the best bang of buck on the market in studio mics and has been used by some of the world’s top artists on bestselling recordings.
The Neumann KMS105 mic is excellent, though without a suspension, and not usually a normal studio mic, but in truth specifically designed and optimised for live performance.
But neither are capable of revealing the full quality of your recording equipment and investing in higher quality studio mics, would be in my humble opinion, the very best approach to complement your array of gear.
They would last a lifetime probably and retain their value reasonably well.
Mics are like people.
Every model of mic has its own uniquely characterful voice.
Although he recently passed away, I was always a great admirer of (and appreciated the time he spent communicating with me) of an American producer and sound engineer called Al Schmitt.
With a million dollar Neve Console in front of him when he was tracking, looking at the Console there would be nothing going on at all, no E.Q. used whatever. He got what everyone regards as truly fabulous, very natural sound, simply by extremely judicious choice of mic for the sound source, and very exacting placement in the near field. Working hard to find the precise sweet spot, of tonality of sound.
With respect, I think you should spend a great deal of time learning the varying qualities and tonal character of all the most popular designs and brands of mic. Pore over their frequency charts endlessly comparing, properly understand what they will emphasise and diminish.
Listen to every mic you can, compare and appreciate the ways in which it’s different from other mics, and be prepared in this world of instant gratification, to see this as a long learning curve. A journey of experience that will properly equip you to always make the best choices possible for any given sound source.
You must learn this for yourself, and don’t take too much notice of reviews or opinions about particular mics.
Work hard to learn and decide for yourself what you want.