I think one if the points  in getting an RME interface is the quality of the preamps. I really don’t see the need to then get another one when the ones on the bfp fs are really good quality. What are you trying to achieve?

Happy New Year Loren, I’m delighted to read you are enjoying your RME recording interface.

I’m also pleased to read that you are asking questions, rather than simply accepting and acting upon what someone said.

All the greatest professional recording equipment designers seek one thing above all else. Transparency! That what you hear in the live room is captured and played back faithfully, without colouring the sound.

It is like the holy grail of great audio design.

The RME mic preamps are by design transparent.

What this means in practical terms is that they are versatile.

Whatever sound source you choose to record will be captured faithfully.

One of the problems with coloured mic preamps that no one ever talks about is that their colour (let’s think about that as a sonic bias) will appear to enhance some sound sources, but that same colour (or sonic bias) will dramatically weaken other sound sources less suited to that bias.

What such people as your well-meaning friend see as a strength in coloured mic amps, is actually in point of fact a great weakness, according to the greatest recording equipment designers in the history of recording.

The proof of this to be found all over the internet. For example, you will read:

“X mic preamp is great for Bass and Drums but no good for Piano or Vocal”.

“Y mic preamp is great for Acoustic Guitar and Male Vocal but no good for Female Vocal.”

“Z mic preamp is great for Piano and Female Vocal but no good for Bass, Drums or Percussion.”

So, if as you seem to be (you are questioning) you are extremely intelligent, you will realise that what many people see as the strength of coloured mic preamps, is in reality, nothing but a weakness, because their colouring effect places severe practical limitations upon their actual usefulness.

The advantage of a very good quality transparent mic preamp is that you can use them on any sound source you choose and they will faithfully reproduce whatever you are attempting to record. That means they are extremely versatile and practical and furthermore, excellent value for money.

Think how much you will need to spend on extra mic preamps if every separate sound source, really required, its own special colour enhancing mic amp?

The key thing to consider should be: “right now, is the particular artist or musician performing to a calibre and quality that makes them eminently recordable?”

Today, many people are aware that their musical performance and tonality is lacking quality, and so look for some sonic fairy dust as it were to compensate for their lack of devotion, practising, and not to put too fine a point on it, talent.

People are overwhelmingly focussed upon the idea that having the right gear alone can make them sound great. However, the truth is that a great player will sound great, even if you give them a cheap instrument to play. The sound really is all in their fingers or voice.

The best sound engineer I ever knew always recorded using NO E.Q. whatever. With a £1,000,000, recording console in front of him and every piece of coloured outboard gear imaginable at his disposal, none of its additional features were used. He simply picked the best mic for the sound source and placed it carefully, listening in headphones until he found the sonic sweet spot.

Occasionally, changing a mic might sometime be the best course of action, but much more often, moving a mics position or angling it slightly, or both can achieve far better results than all the coloured outboard gear in the world. Is the truth that people who sell such gear for a living don't want you to realise.

Even the distance of a voice from a mic or whether the mics on or off axis to the source can deliver that sweet sonic signature voice that makes all the difference. By the way, the person I mentioned above had more Grammy’s on his shelf than anyone else in the entire history of recording.

So, I would encourage you to spend time seeing how sound changes as you move the mic, on axis, off axis, listening with some good headphones.

Loren, save up your money and invest it in buying the very best mics you can afford.

Use the internet to go on the websites of great recording studios and make a list of what mics they have. You will find certain mics come up again and again and again. It’s surprising how often and not all of them are expensive.

These are the best mics, most likely to be useful to you in the long term. They will certainly give you the best sound, usually with the least amount of internal self-noise and prove to be lasting investment, facilitating and enabling great recordings to be made.

Later on, you might find that additional extra resources will be required as your abilities develop and that some of the large RME interfaces seem to attractively offer you greater flexibilities and opportunities for further needed expansion. RME offer outstanding sound quality at remarkably affordable prices and come with unparalleled, industry leading customer support. So thus far, you have chosen well.

When I put my mics up into position and plug them into the RME gear the scintillating sound I am seeking after in the finished recording is already there before ever I push the record button.

Have a great sound source, use great mics and with your transparent RME gear you can make great recordings, I look forward to hearing.

Hi all,

Thank you for your help!

I use an AKG C414xlii, Shure SM57, SM81 and an Beta 57A. Am still working on building my mic collection I mostly do rock music. I am a guitarist.

Copy on the external Mic Preamp. I agree and will take a pass on that. I like the transparency of the Babyface Pro and I guess any coloring needed can be done later via post EQ.

Really appreciate the help!

Thanks.
Loren

Thanks!

Am planning on getting a Royer 121 and the Beyerdynamics M160 I just found out that Andy Johns used the Beyer on those early Led Zeppelin and Hendrix albums. You hit the nail on the head with the ribbon mics.

Hi,

Great link on preamp / microphone noise floors! So far been using just my Babyface and the mics that I have and one thing I did notice? The silence! Very clean and quiet recordings. Your video was mind blowing!

Loren

Hi Topanga_Dreams,

Am envious! Just started my mic collection. I am a guitarist and am done with the amps, guitar and effects side. Now am getting into mics.

Loren