Axe fx 3 with VOCALS, preamp needed?

J

jackal.like.the.animal

Member
( For live use) I've been running my mic straight into input 2 XLR, out output 2 and into the board, and i get sound. Just boosting the level in the scene block not needing to use any amp block or compressor. Using a 58 it works. Would i get a much better sound using a mic preamp? Thoughts / opinions?

And if so what would be a good higher end rack mounted preamp to use?
 
I use a Great River ME-1NV into the Axe FX III with good results. The single channel version has a rack mount kit you can get. You could probably go with something less expensive for live use though and there are plenty of options out there. I bought the Great River for recording purposes.
 
Thank you guys. I've been doing a lot of learning with all this. Would you say stereo vocal preamp is necessary? I'm thinking to let the sound guy do the reverb but only if i want stereo effects on voice would it matter yeah?

Also separate question, we have 2 vocalists, assuming we want mono vocs, could i run both through the same stereo preamp or would it be better to have two separate preamps? Thank you in advance. So appreciated.
 
Without a mic pre your SNR will be much worse, and you won't be getting the nice harmonic content and subtle compression that good mic pres provide when pushed a bit. Since you're doing your own vocal processing I'm assuming it's a typical bar/club gig, so I wouldn't bring a $2k mic pre / channel strip along if you're playing through an X32 and a couple DXR12s or whatever. For that type of gig I would just get a dedicated vocal processor like Boss's VE-500. That will give you a mic pre, gate, compression, delay, reverb, harmonies, and vocal effects the axefx doesn't have like real time pitch correction, deesser, etc. This will also free up the fractal's DSP for more guitar stuff like 2 stereo amps + enhancer which is huge with IEMs.
jackal.like.the.animal said:
Would you say stereo vocal preamp is necessary? I'm thinking to let the sound guy do the reverb but only if i want stereo effects on voice would it matter yeah?
Click to expand...
You don't need a stereo mic pre for one mic, but if you're running IEMs and want reverb then running stereo out of the processor would be a good idea. Just link the 2 channels on the board so they're hard panned and have the same gain+FX. Or continue running mono and have FOH handle your wet vocal effects.
jackal.like.the.animal said:
we have 2 vocalists, assuming we want mono vocs, could i run both through the same stereo preamp or would it be better to have two separate preamps?
Click to expand...
A "stereo" mic pre is just 2 independent mic pres, you can use them for a stereo source or 2 mono sources.
 
Last edited:
I see. Thanks for the detailed response. I would like to run the fx in the axe so that i can make changes based on scene really easily, it's all in the same editor, etc. We have 2 axe fx so I'm not too worried about DSP (plus we don't go crazy with it). Regarding preamp recommendations the ideal would be a stereo (tube?) preamp that's 1u rack height. ok to spend 1-2k. If you have any ideas that would be cool, I get super overwhelmed with all the options.
 
The link I posted above has some recommended mic pres in a quote from @Admin M@

My band has two vocalists as well and we opted to go with Boss VE-500s. They work well enough, but the effects options are more limiting than I would have expected
 
strabes said:
the axefx doesn't have like real time pitch correction,
Click to expand...
This works both as a (cheap) preamp and as pitch correction. I'll probably give it a shot with my fm9.

PS: and a de-esser can be easily made with a multiband compressor and probably even with the normal comp
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom