atmasphere,
Interesting about your use of the Rane mic input. You might have a different Rane product than my ME 60 which doesn't have any input marked mic. But some of these opamps are excellent, like the Jensen 990 (I think) used by John Hardy in his mic preamp. Back in 1995, I made several 1 min recordings of myself playing the first page of the solo Mendelssohn violin concerto, using various preamps, mikes. Even if my playing had slight variations, my violin tone still enabled me to hear the differences between mikes and their preamps. The John Hardy was the fastest and leanest, but it was a little unnatural, so I chose the Bryston preamp, the most transparent of the other common pro units.
Try the Rane ME 60 in your audio system (not the later ME 60S which is more colored), on eBay for $200 or less. RCA outputs have unity gain, XLR, 6 dB. The quarter inch diameter rotary volume control is crude, which you could upgrade. Still, as is, a great line stage. I hope you experiment with the enormous EQ capabilities--up to 12 dB boost or cut for 30 one third octave bands from 20-20kHz. There are lots of overlaps in these parametric curves. Boosting exclusively from 8 kHz on up still brings out the buzz on cello and string bass, and removes lots of midrange mud on other instruments. Have fun, and give me feedback.
Interesting about your use of the Rane mic input. You might have a different Rane product than my ME 60 which doesn't have any input marked mic. But some of these opamps are excellent, like the Jensen 990 (I think) used by John Hardy in his mic preamp. Back in 1995, I made several 1 min recordings of myself playing the first page of the solo Mendelssohn violin concerto, using various preamps, mikes. Even if my playing had slight variations, my violin tone still enabled me to hear the differences between mikes and their preamps. The John Hardy was the fastest and leanest, but it was a little unnatural, so I chose the Bryston preamp, the most transparent of the other common pro units.
Try the Rane ME 60 in your audio system (not the later ME 60S which is more colored), on eBay for $200 or less. RCA outputs have unity gain, XLR, 6 dB. The quarter inch diameter rotary volume control is crude, which you could upgrade. Still, as is, a great line stage. I hope you experiment with the enormous EQ capabilities--up to 12 dB boost or cut for 30 one third octave bands from 20-20kHz. There are lots of overlaps in these parametric curves. Boosting exclusively from 8 kHz on up still brings out the buzz on cello and string bass, and removes lots of midrange mud on other instruments. Have fun, and give me feedback.