Im thinking about getting the MXl v87 for r&b vocals which already has an fet pre amp built into the mic.. right now i am using the m audio fast track interface with 48 phantom power... when i record with my old mic now... it doesnt sound very clear as you can tell its a home recording cuz it doesnt sit in with music well and just stands out no matter how i eq or compress it..... should i get the m audio fire wire 660 interface because it has a pre amp in it? do i need both a mic with pre amp built in it and an interface with pre amp in it or just one or the other?

well, buying a new mic with or without a preamp will not necessarily fix the problem of sounding like it's a "home recording cuz it doesn't sit in the music well."

that's a matter of "mixing" and it's both an art and a science and it takes good ears and a lot of skill and practice and having people help you learn it doesn't hurt either.

IF you get this mic it does not require a separate preamp.  you would connect it to the fast track or the firewire device using the LINE input of the soundcard instead of plugging it into the mic pre.

I had to look the mic up because this is actually the first mic I remember seeing built this way.  personally I would prefer separate pieces to give me more control over the sound, but I'm not saying this mic is bad.

Isn't it just a solid state condenser mic?

I think the MXL v87 is meant to be hooked up to a mic input with the 48vdc switched on.

I don't see an output spec but many condensers can drive a line input if they have a high SPL max and are placed on a loud source... but the phantom powered ones need the 48vdc on the mic input connector.


best,
mike

that was my initial reaction as well, but I searched and according to the MXL website, the v87 has a preamp and an output transformer built into it.

http://www.mxlmics.com/microphones/studio/V87/
the "tech specs" tab does not have good output information on it, so I could be wrong about the level of output it provides, but I was going on what the description said about the fet preamp and output transformer to base my supposition.

I believe it is safe to say that, nearly, all condenser mics have a preamp built in to them... that's the "active" part... and, in my opinion, all the better ones also have a transformer as well... but many are just electronically balanced.

Tube and FET circuits are the most common. FET is probably most common. They are usually built with discrete parts. Some of the cheapest mics do use generic iChips which can be FET or otherwise.

They occasionally differ in how they source power, but the convention seems to be 48vDC a.k.a. phantom power... that's what the phantom power is for.

I read every thing I could find to see what you are suggesting, I am even assuming that there may be a spec that verifies that a condenser amp can drive a line output. I know my AKG 414s will put out 0dBu on a guitar amp... sometimes i pad it, sometimes I turn down the preamp.

I think the mic seems like a fairly normal condenser microphone.



best,
mike

ok

Yes, all condenser mics have circuitry which is also called the "Preamp."  Not to be confused with an external preamp.  

You will also need an external preamp for proper levels and 48 volts to power this mic.  

I'm not arguing about it, I believe you both.  like I said it was my initial reaction as well. 

but why does it have an output transformer on it?  what purpose does that serve on a mic going into an external preamp?  the only reason I can think of would be poor design of the circuit to begin with and masking that with an impedance matching transformer.

I can't pretend to be able explain it.


best regards,
mike

Many great mics have an output transformers.   All the classic Neumann's have them including U87 (basically anything with a Uxx), It is for better impedance bridging, isolation, and just provides a beefier sound. 

 Transformer-less mics have been all the rage the past couple decades, but it has led to some pretty stale sounding designs.  The newest trend is to put them back in, if just for the pleasant distortion it adds to the sound.