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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2020 10:27:22 GMT -6
Im no engineer, just learning and do basic tracking at home,,
Question, Can someone explain to me the use for Line input on Hi-end Preamp.. On interface, i realize the purpose it to bypass the preamps, and use line level signals to go straight to converters.
but on boutique hi-end preamps. what is the purpose of having line input next to mic pre input. can someone explain please. what are the uses?
So for example, if i have a clean sounding external preamp i like, can i take the output of this pre and run it to line level input of a neve clone, to give it to some transformer warmth of passing it through the neve circuits? or is it not what is intended for? can some give some examples
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Post by christopher on Mar 28, 2020 11:20:02 GMT -6
Line level is the standard interconnect in the studio.. so everything is ideally balanced and line level, makes life easy.. except instruments and mics, which we need to bring up to line level. Bass amps and Synths sometimes have line level direct out, which won’t require DI or preamp.. just a line in ...but you want that “preamp” sound, line in you can still get you the circuit’s mojo. You can definitely use it for tone, that’s what I use it for quite a bit.
Line in is also good for accepting something that sounds best when pushed, say a mic preamp needs to be really cranked to get the sound you want but the converters are clipping.. find something with line in that can turn it down, also create a little tone recipe in the process. Very useful.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2020 11:38:06 GMT -6
Line level is the standard interconnect in the studio.. so everything is ideally balanced and line level, makes life easy.. except instruments and mics, which we need to bring up to line level. Bass amps and Synths sometimes have line level direct out, which won’t require DI or preamp.. just a line in ...but you want that “preamp” sound, line in you can still get you the circuit’s mojo. You can definitely use it for tone, that’s what I use it for quite a bit. Line in is also good for accepting something that sounds best when pushed, say a mic preamp needs to be really cranked to get the sound you want but the converters are clipping.. find something with line in that can turn it down, also create a little tone recipe in the process. Very useful. oh ok.. so can i go from a clean pre out into a line input of a neve pre for majo? correct me if im wrong, for exampe. my crimson pres are transformerless.. can i take the outs and go into line inputs of a golden age line input on the preamp for mojo? |
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Post by matt@IAA on Mar 28, 2020 13:24:50 GMT -6
The only real difference between line level inputs and mic level inputs are headroom and input impedance.
The headroom issue is real. Most line level gear is either unity gain end to end, or +/-15 dB or something. Mic inputs a lot of the time are minimum +20 dB or more, and max +70 dB or more. But if you pad down, the gain staging can work out. You will be lowering and raising the level, so some noise is added / signal to noise ratio is lost, but it's usually not that big of a deal.
Nominal line level is usually +4 dBu. So if you take a +4 dBu signal into something with a minimum gain of 20 dB, you will be outputting at +24 dBu... that will probably clip most gear, especially on peaks.
Mic inputs are usually ~1200-2k ohms or so. Line level inputs in modern gear are usually much higher, 10k or more. This doesn't matter *that* much but it can change the amount of distortion that comes from the gear driving it.
For your example, the line level input is made to take the output of a mic pre. Basically everything is line level in and out except mic pres (or phono pres I guess) which are mic (or phono) level in, line level out.
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Post by LesC on Mar 28, 2020 16:02:45 GMT -6
I would think that line level inputs on a preamp are also useful for mix processing. You can mix, get an interface line out into the preamp line in, and the preamp line out back into an interface line in. Same as processing using an external compressor or eq, if you want for example the preamp tube or transformer goodness on your mix.
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Post by johneppstein on Mar 29, 2020 11:56:58 GMT -6
Line level is the standard interconnect in the studio.. so everything is ideally balanced and line level, makes life easy.. except instruments and mics, which we need to bring up to line level. Bass amps and Synths sometimes have line level direct out, which won’t require DI or preamp.. just a line in ...but you want that “preamp” sound, line in you can still get you the circuit’s mojo. You can definitely use it for tone, that’s what I use it for quite a bit. Line in is also good for accepting something that sounds best when pushed, say a mic preamp needs to be really cranked to get the sound you want but the converters are clipping.. find something with line in that can turn it down, also create a little tone recipe in the process. Very useful. Most instrument line outs are unbalanced. Using the unbalanced line in on the preamp gives you a balanced line out of the preamp. |
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