Preamp and/or compressor for dynamic 1/4" mic into OT

Elektron Gear Octatrack
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Hey all,

Been using my OT for a little while now and bought a mic to bring in my voice. I went with the Shure WH20QTR because I naively thought having the 1/4" directly on the mic would be easier :laughing:

Anyway I’m reading up now and wondering what folks have used for similar situations – that is, 1/4" coming from a dynamic mic at a low level, going through some type of amp, and providing 1/4" TS out at a sufficient level that I can plug into my OT.

Before posting I did a little more testing and found that using the Compressor machine to add gain in addition to cranking the input gain on the mixer and Thru track SRC, plus increasing the gain on the AMP VOL does seem to give me a workable signal volume! Sharing this here for future users like me searching for how to do this with their existing gear.

Specifically for this mic, I read from the manual

Output Impedance
EIA rated at 150 Ω (200 Ω actual)

Output Configuration
−67.0 dBV/Pa(0.45minimum)

So I’m guessing I need around 60-70dB of gain, but I’m not an expert and I’d love your suggestions. I have read elsewhere that this mic can be used with an inline preamp like the RPM626, but I’d rather have my amplified signal in 1/4" format for ease of plugging into OT.

I’d like to use this mic, and I’d like to keep my solution small and relatively cheap. Could I just use some type of utility/gain/amp pedal, probably? Is it worth it to spend a little more and get a multi-FX unit or something? What considerations would you have between using the OT compressor and other gain settings versus getting a dedicated [pre-]amp device?

One note is that I don’t mind my signal being a little crunchy at this time, so I’m willing to cut some corners here if it’s reasonable.

Thanks in advance!

Finally, here’s some topics that I’ve already read on this board about this subject:

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The topics you linked to provide copious potential solutions to your needs.

Was work for you depends on your preferences for portability, battery power, price, and features.

A preamp pedal, a preamp box, an effects unit like a Kaoss Pad, handheld audio recorder, or a small mixer etc will all suit your basic needs.

A small audio interface that works stand-alone and has a mic input would also work. Companies like Mackie, Presonus, Arturia, ART, Universal Audio etc all make these in varying configurations. I use an M-Audio M-Track Duo; the M-Track Solo is even cheaper. (Edit: as noted below, the Solo version does not have 1/4" outputs as requested by the OP.)

Just look for a good deal at your preferred store.

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for $500 can’t beat a sp404mk2 as battery/bus powered mic pre

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Thanks for the replies!

I honestly had a hard time finding something for this specific use case – 1/4" in and 1/4" out from a dynamic-mic-level input. Most of the suggestions are for XLR preamps (of course)

Looked that up, looks like RCA outs so not what I’m looking for… I’d really love to hear from folks with dynamic mics who have run them through various amp/gain pedals and how that went.

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I like a sm58 through a little imp into tech 21 compTortion. just a crack on the distortion knob for API tone, the comp ratio goes to like 999:1, and it’s got a built in really snappy SSL sounding analog gate but after the dist+comp, and sidechained to the input, it can be pretty hairy and not feedbacking everywhere. and it takes a 9v

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2023-GPX-Tech-21-CompTortion-700
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also the boss CP-1X is a brilliant vocal comp, it’s like multi band compression but it’s their multi spectral tech.

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The Eventide Mixing Link does what you want and a bunch more. A super-useful studio tool.

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