Not enough Gain

[Fizzyhair]

Ok so after 3 months with the d8b I've come to terms with the fact mackie hasn't Only included 12 mic pre amps where as it would have been 24 they have included 12 weedy sounding ones with nowhere near enough gain. A shame really as the board would be pretty epic with a decent preamp on board..

Moaning aside I need some outboard preamps and I'm wondering what you lovely ladies and gents recommend and are maybe using. I'm after a sympathetic match with 60db gain for my SDCs and Valve Mics.

[Crash]

Ok so after 3 months with the d8b I've come to terms with the fact mackie hasn't Only included 12 mic pre amps where as it would have been 24 they have included 12 weedy sounding ones with nowhere near enough gain. A shame really as the board would be pretty epic with a decent preamp on board..

Moaning aside I need some outboard preamps and I'm wondering what you lovely ladies and gents recommend and are maybe using. I'm after a sympathetic match with 60db gain for my SDCs and Valve Mics.

I have never had issues with the pres not supplying enough gain. In fact the d8b preamp does crank up 60db when wide open. In my opinion, the onboard pres are pretty middle of the road, not super spectacular but they don't suck either. Having said that, I have Focusrite Red, Avalon, Joe Meek, Peavey and some really cool "Chineve" 1084 knockoff preamps that get a ton of use.

[hyaena]

OK, so what did ya pay for yer D8B to ask for 24 mic pres ?
and what kind a mics are ya running to ask for state of the art pres ?

Even whispering into a dynamic mic gives me enuff gain to record a decent level.
So what ?

[Fizzyhair]

It would appear my d8b has a sinister fault. Lots of things going wrong at once. First very little gain and today almost none at all. It stated with an fx card causing smtpe failure when installed but now the pres are almost silent and the mute lights are doing wierd things?! I'm starting to think it's a gonner. Will try software reinstall

It was at the studio when I took it over. I been living with what I now thinks a damaged console for months lol.

[csp]

Maybe its not damaged, if it has been sitting in a studio --- especially if not used for a while --- it could be that it just needs to be turned over, base removed and all the ribbon cables, plugs, etc cleaned and firmly re-seated.

You might also like to try cleaning and re-seating all of the cards (ie clock, efx, etc).

You will find much helpfull information in the data base about all of this.

By the way, I generally only use external mic pres when I require more than 12 at any one time and all I generally record is for commercial record release either for my own label or for external clients.

David