Rerecording audio through preamps

[johnwayne]

Does anybody after they have recorded an audio track, send the audio back through another preamp to add some color?

I need to find another cable but I recorded some synth through a Presonus Tube pre and I think sending them back through a solo 610 might fatten them up some more. Had to use that pre on the Kick.

[dropblacksky]

Assuming you're working in digital and not with tape, just keep in mind that repeated D/A-A/D conversions will degrade your signal...if you have great converters, the reamp color will probably outweigh the degradation. Cheap, prosumer converters may be a different story. whether or not the process improves the sound is subjective and up to you.

[diamondjim]

Originally Posted by johnwayne

Does anybody after they have recorded an audio track, send the audio back through another preamp to add some color?

I need to find another cable but I recorded some synth through a Presonus Tube pre and I think sending them back through a solo 610 might fatten them up some more. Had to use that pre on the Kick.

Yep, Presonus ADL600 works very nice for a synth or acoustic track recorded without a tube mic. Also use this on the 2-Bus with a Folcrom summing box. The Solo 610 should also warm it up nicely.

When you bring the track back in be sure to check for the latency. The presonus added about 5 ms to my track, so I just adjusted the new track back (subtracting 5 ms from the start position). There shouldn't be much delay when using hardware, but there will be some.

diamondjim
Barn Jazz Home

[chetatkinsdiet]

or do it with software...something like the PSP Vintage Warmer is nice. I'm sure there are newer plugs that do similar and even better, but this one is what I use.

m

[centurymantra]

Just for fun, I was messing around with some pseudo-"mastering"/volume boosting by sending a mix back through my Sebatron pre-amp, at the maximum pad setting with the 'air' EQ engaged, followed up by a nice compressor. I was actually pretty amazed at how good it sounded. It was also a breeze to get the mix hot enough to live comfortably next to a commercial mix. I will be experimenting more with this. Who knows - this could even become the new "sound" of my studio...

[diamondjim]

Originally Posted by centurymantra

Just for fun, I was messing around with some pseudo-"mastering"/volume boosting by sending a mix back through my Sebatron pre-amp, at the maximum pad setting with the 'air' EQ engaged, followed up by a nice compressor. I was actually pretty amazed at how good it sounded. It was also a breeze to get the mix hot enough to live comfortably next to a commercial mix. I will be experimenting more with this. Who knows - this could even become the new "sound" of my studio...

Which Sebatron model do you use, the tube or the Cygnus?

[miqer]

Can anyone explain. If you send your recorded track through a preamp like the solo... can you take the output of your audio card and stick it straight in? But then the volume is allready very high?!

Taking the volume down in the daw takes down the digital definition of the sound (less digital definition).

Do you take the volume down first with an analog fader (desk or something passive) first?

Or can you crank the already high output of your sound card straight into the SOLO... and crank the input even more (for some tube distortion) and take down the output so it's not too loud for recording back into the soundcard?!

-

It's just a question that I have had for a long time. For I have a lot of cool guitar-pedals like the tube zipper (electro harmonix)... but it takes only very low volume (like a guitar output)... if you, say, take a hihat track out of your soundcard it will distort like hell. So I need to take the volume down first. If I do it in the computer, that will mean a bad quality sound (loss of bits definition)... so I stick it in my desk fist, take down the volume with my gain (take it down alot)... and then use the tube zipper (guitar pedal) with an insert wire... this way I get a nice old skool reggea sound... but I know it's not ideal?!?!?

What is volume in an analog wire anyway... is it voltage? Take it down, and then take it up... What happens? Chance of getting static and buzzzez... do you loose more? I should test this and trust my ears.

I talk too much, sorry

m.

[joeq]

I got a Fearn LP-1 line pad with my preamp
it's line level in, mic level out

I will run things out and back through the Fearn or even the Pendulum if it needs it. Usually soft synths will get that treatment. Sometimes a DI keyboard that went in on a 'lesser' pre.

Or if I got tracks recorded elsewhere to mix that just need a little more flavor.

Still, better to use the pre on the way in if possible.

It's just a preamp so the effect is subtle- the limiting factor for me is if it is 'worth it' in terms of the extra conversion. OTOH, I sometimes feel an extra conversion itself is not always a bad thing.

[johnwayne]

Thanks for the comments. I'm going to try it later this week and see how it goes.

[centurymantra]

Originally Posted by diamondjim

Which Sebatron model do you use, the tube or the Cygnus?

I have a 4 channel VMP model. It's a great pre-amp...though I'm not sure how much I'll use it for mix-boosting.

[Mark Adams]

It's just a preamp so the effect is subtle- the limiting factor for me is if it is 'worth it' in terms of the extra conversion. OTOH, I sometimes feel an extra conversion itself is not always a bad thing.

Sometimes re-conversion and back again seems to gell things together a bit.

It depends on what quality converters you have.

[joeq]

Originally Posted by Mark Adams

Sometimes re-conversion and back again seems to gell things together a bit.

It depends on what quality converters you have.

indeed. I have always wondered if this could be a factor in the popularity of summing boxes. I hope the next time someone does a summing vs ITB comparison, they also include an ITB sum with one 'unnecessary' conversion on each track as a control.

[GearHunter]

If your preamp has a -20db pad on it you can often get away with that. Not much diff between a mic-amp and a line-amp anyway except fot the amount of gain.

[Sigma]

Originally Posted by johnwayne

Does anybody after they have recorded an audio track, send the audio back through another preamp to add some color?

I need to find another cable but I recorded some synth through a Presonus Tube pre and I think sending them back through a solo 610 might fatten them up some more. Had to use that pre on the Kick.

err it's a SYNTH sound..find a better sound...many times synth sounds are high and low band cut