Types Of Preamplifier And Their Need: [Do PHD On It!]

Preamplifier is an electronic device which converts a weak electrical signal into a strong output signal that tolerate enough noise and  can be processed further. stay with us here we talk about preamplifier and their need.

Preamplifier And Their Need And Purposes

They exist because they are needed. But what are they ? Why Is it important to know them ? What are basic queries about them ? You have all these questions in your mind and I have all the answers of questions roamng in your head.

If you are making a studio and you are a singer and you want to record good stuff then you might have heard about this tool. Although this device is used a lot in the recording industry. But, still many people are not familiar with this.

It sounds strange to hear that this important tool is still not common enough to be known by everyone. In this article I will try to unlock major features of this device in a very simple way. I would also highlight its value and use in the Recording industry and various other places. Preamps record a mic level signal and they have features of all microphones.

Although it is important but there is much hype about it as well however its main function is to boost weak signal through various means. So the basic purpose of this tool is to convert a mic level or instrument level signal into line-level signal.

How Does Preamp Works? Tactics of Preamp

When a wave of sound comes vibrating in the air , they strike with the diaphragm inside this tool and make it jiggle back and forth. And due to this movement, the magnet moves into the wire coil and hence an electrical signal is produced.

There are many gain stages inside of this tool which catch the weak signal and boost it up and then send this to the next stage to further increase power of signal. In this way weak signals strengthen up. And hence low volume increases into high volume so this tool helps a lot while recording.

Especially if someone is fond of good sound quality via recording something. Preamps boost input signal and sent it to microphone. It is then amplifiers who catch those signals at microphone which are already boosted by preamps and then are sent to the speakers through amplifier.

Why It Is Important?

Without mic preamp weak signals become unable to run into your processing gear. Mic preamp boosts its voltage and make it loud to run smoothly through your DAW. But one should keep it in mind that greater amount of sound quality improves materially at the end of signal chain.

Basic layout:

signer>mic>preamp>processor>A-D Convertor>DAW “Plug-ins” > power studio monitors

What A Preamp isn’t?

It isn’t a magical device that will fix all the audio related problems and make the audio exactly, the way you are expecting it to be. Infact its just like finishing touch to your food. If food is not good, even the best garnishing won’t fix it.

But as the good singer makes thing sounds good even without best music, similarly a good mic also play role in improving sound quality which audience is going to hear. So if you are looking for a improving sound quality then buy a good microphone instead of a preamp.

Premps simply enhance function of power amplifiers. Without preapms power amplifiers cannot work well because the signal is transmitted to mic througu preamps which is then catch by amplifiers and sent to mic. So preamps add into the function of amplifiers.

Types of preamp:

They could be clean as well as coloured. Clean microphone amplifiers include Grace m101 and coloured preamps contains BEA 1073MP and they made sound more sweet by adding different harmonics to them through use of transformers. Other than that they are also two types.

First one is transparent preamps. They boost the exact same signal which was recorded and reproduce the output with stronger signals than those, inserted as inputs.

Some preamps use vacuum tubes and transformers and they raise signals by adding specific colours to them. These colours add quality into signal and they become more pleasant.

Role of inputs in preamps:

Most preamps consists of two inputs mainly. XLR is the first one and Second input is TRS Input labelled as “instrument” or “Hi-Z” which is abbreviation of ‘high impedance’.

First input accepts cable from the microphone and second accepts from electrical instrument instead of microphone. The electrical instrument here means guitar , keyboard etc.

What To Search In A Preamp?

Always look for following things while buying any preamplifier:

Maximum gain: gain such as 50dB–10dB such be there

In-line processing: compression that you get from Channel strips should be handy and easy to use.

Similarly look for some other features like number of channels ( that whether it is single channel, dual channel or lots of channel ),type,I/O etc.

500 Series Style Format:

Also consider the format which contains the API 500 series as it is more popular and has a better system of processing. This format consist of small modules and is affordable as well. Another cool thing about this format is, its quite affordable, less expensive. They are cheaper because they are single channel.

They are best for those who want to collect different options so they can keep adding gears of all types to switch to another type of option according to their preferences.

Conclusion:

So i hope now you know, that what is preamplifier and their need. and its role. Why should you have it and how it works. Share with others.