Battery-powered pre-amp for microphone recco, pls

August 24, 2015 9:30 AM

I have a battery-powered speaker which will be used at an outdoor event. I need to be able to power an XLR microphone that will then connect to the speaker via minijack. Can anyone recommend a reliable, small pre-amp that would be suitable for amplifying the mic before it goes into the speaker? Battery-powered would be ideal, and portability is desirable.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic to Technology (6 answers total)

If the speaker is powered and has a gain control, you should be able to plug a normal mic into it with a suitable adapter. Do you need phantom power?

If you post the details about what kind of mic and what kind of speaker, it might be easier for people to help you here.
posted by ssg at 9:44 AM on August 24, 2015

To clarify, obviously if you are going to operating near the edge of your speaker's capability, you will need a pre-amp, but if this is a one-off, you will probably be fine with the direct plug in method.
posted by ssg at 9:48 AM on August 24, 2015

Response by poster: The speaker is a BoomCase model without any gain or volume control--volume is controlled by whatever's inputting. The mic is a Pyle-Pro PDMIC58.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 9:49 AM on August 24, 2015

Response by poster: I've tested the mic plugged directly into the speaker, and it's barely audible, which is why I think I need some sort of amplifier for it.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 9:51 AM on August 24, 2015

Best answer: In that case, I'd recommend looking at portable or battery-powered mixers. They are more common than battery-powered mic pre-amps and cost about the same, plus you get a lot more capability (e.g. to play music through the mixer as well) so they will potentially be more useful in the future.
posted by ssg at 10:25 AM on August 24, 2015 [2 favorites]

Agree with ssg- I've been using this mixer for years and very happy with the quality. Behringer is cheap but relatively clean and durable, plus you get the ability to play music through it or attach other inputs:

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/1002B.aspx
posted by andruwjones26 at 5:32 AM on August 27, 2015