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hello all,

i am fairly new to all this so please bare with me.

okay, lets say you're recording a band and they are all playing at the same time. do you use mic preamps on every single mic?
Or if im recording just drums and i'm using 8 mics, should i be using 8 mic preamps? if so why do i not see more 8 channel (or more) preamps for sale (maybe im not looking in the right places)?

okay, second, i've read about an (or a, not sure) M-S mic pair setup. I'm sorry to say that i don't know what this means. could someone please explain what this setup is?

thank you so much (in advance) for any help. i really appreciate it.

-austin-

Hey Austin,
yes, I use a microphone preamplifier on every microphone because the output level of a microphone is usually not very high. To achieve a, let's say, recordable level you'll want to amplify the mics output. The easiest way to do it is to use a mic preamp. Most consoles have mic preamps in the input stage of their individual channels. A mic preamp can also be a piece of outboard equipment. Many preamps have a sound of their own or have a character or sound very clean and that's why people tend to use different preamps for different applications.

M-S mic pair refers to the Mid-Side stereo technique. An M-S mic pair consists of a mid mic, usually a cardioid or omni mic, and a side mic. The side mic has to be a mic with a figure of eight pick up pattern that has to be decoded to achieve the desired effect.
My lunch break ends in about ten minutes and I haven't eaten yet, so I won't go into further details. Do a google research on it and you'll find out how it works.
Best, Max.

great!

thank you very much for your help. I did a search and found some good information on the m-s setup.

-austin-