Amp Cable
The signal that a microphone picks up is actually very low, and needs to be boosted for it to be used with your recording device. This is exactly what a microphone -preamp does; it boosts the signal to a level that is useable for recording.
Initially, you'll probably want to use the pre-amps built into your mixer or interface, if you happen to have either, as it will save money. However, these kinds of preamps are often of a fairly low quality. Basically, with microphone preamps, you pay for sound quality. Musicians after the absolute best quality sound could well spend $3000 on a preamp. If however you are just starting out and have perhaps a budget of $1000 you could use the preamps on your mixer or your audio interface.
It’s not only budget that affects the output quality on the preamp, you must also know how correctly set levels etc. Let’s talk a little about the features you’ll find on most microphone preamps, and some tips to ensure you get the optimal sound.
Input - Set the input to high as possible providing the meters are not crossing into the red. Having the levels reaching red is introducing distortion, which is going to go through the entire signal path. Meaning that when you listen back to your recording on the computer, you’re likely to hear a lot of crackling noises. So again, push the signal as high as possible but do not let it enter the red.
Pad - This is a great feature if you are recording sounds other than guitar. For instance if you were to microphone a loud sound source like snare drum even with the input turned all the way down the levels may still be hitting red. Select this feature and it will help to tame the sound further and make it useable.
Phantom Power - This is a power source that is sent through a microphone cable to a microphone that needs it, such as a condenser microphone. It’s good to note that some fairly cheap preamps only offer +30v, and some condenser microphones may not perform to their best at this level. It’s nice to have phantom power built in to your microphone preamp otherwise you would have to get a separate phantom power source.
Number Of Preamps - This can range from one single preamp right through to eight preamps in one box. What you are recording will generally determine how many you will need. Vocals are usually recorded in mono, whilst acoustic guitars could be recorded in stereo. Perhaps you are recording an entire band and require one for each amplifier and vocalist, along with several for the drums.
High Pass Filtering - This generally means that all the highs will pass through while the lows are cut. Microphones pick up an astounding amount of bass so this is a great feature to have. Of course, this can be corrected using software, though you may as well resolve the problem at the source so you don’t have to worry about it later.
Hopefully this has given you an insight to what a microphone preamp does, and what features to look for when shopping around. Have a read through the bullet points again and compare your list of needs with the features of available on a variety of preamps. Hopefully you will be able to find a product that suits your needs.
About the Author:
Richard Marples has over 10 years experience of playing and recording guitar, and also hosts a website exaplaining how you can record at home. If you enjoyed this article on Home Recording then you can get more free tips at =>
www.uncleslinky.co.uk
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Home Recording Guitar - Why You Need a Mic Pre-amp
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To many people connecting their laptop to a TV can be a bit daunting but there is no need for it to be so. Probably the hardest part is figuring out what connections they have available on their TV and laptop then getting a suitable laptop to TV cable.
Here we will offer some advice in working out what connection options you have, while we can't come into your home and tell you we can describe what connections there are and offer some pointers for each one.
Older equipment / non high definition will often use one of the following cables:
RCA cables or sometimes known as Phono leads were very common a few years ago using three round coloured connectors and used to transmit analogue data. The three connectors are yellow for video, white for the left channel audio and red for right channel audio.
S-Video cables or Super Video is still popular and consists of a round connector with between 4 and 7 pins for the video signal and two audio cables for the left and right audio channels the same as RCA.
Scart Cables are rectangular in shape and have 21 pins in two horizontal rows. Commonly used on European TV's and are capable of transferring both audio and video signals in standard definition. Now of course they are outdated and if your equipment is modern it is unlikely to use them.
VGA cables commonly used on older laptops and desktop computers and are a 15 pin connector and have a rounded rectangle shape. The VGA cable is only capable of transferring video information for audio you will normally have to use RCA type cables.
More modern equipment such as digital and high definition will most likely use one of the following:
DVI cables are rectangular in shape and have three horizontal rows of 8 pins giving a total of 24 pins. These were the standard connector for digital video until recently with the advent of newer and faster technologies.
HDMI Cable is now the standard for digital connections and used for watching HD TV etc... They are rectangular in shape and about half the size of a DVI connector having only 19 pins in the connection. One of the advantages of these is that they can transfer both digital audio and video.
DisplayPort Cables have been specifically developed for connecting computers to their displays and to home entertainment systems and allowing the transfer of High definition data both audio and video.
Once you have figured out what connections you have available to connect a laptop to a TV you can take a look at what options are available. Don't worry if your laptop and TV don't have the same connections types as there are a number of ways of converting one to another available. A good cable & lead supplier will normally be able to offer you advice if you are still unsure what you need to get the job done.
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