Originally Posted by Mark Kaufman
If you ask this sort of question on an internet thread, you will hear every possible answer. As a result, you'll be forced to decide the winning answer based on your opinion of someone else's opinion. Doh!

I suggest you record something with a cheap pre-amp, and also without one, then critically listen to the difference.

In my experience, even a cheap pre-amp can bring to the table a sound quality I wish to hear.


Good point but the problem is...you have to buy a thing first before you can run your own test to compare it. Most folk cannot afford to do this. Folk should never buy anything unless they know exactly what they are getting first. That is why review and comparison sites are so great....provided it is an indepenadant review.....nothing worse than a manufacturer blogging and bragging about how great their stuff is and showing results or demos produced by their own folk. My point is that a pre amp is way way down my list of buys for a home studio.......mics monitors and hardware come first.

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