vocoder / microphone with the virus

[clubbed out]

so i just wanted to clear this up....

say i had a preamp, i connect the mic to the preamp, and the output of the preamp to one of the "ext in" of the virus.

as soon as i talk in the mic, should i hear something?

is there a patch i have to first select or will i hear something immediately?

if i don't have a preamp, i wanted to try boosting the input signal, i know how to do that from the efx menu.

i guess my only confusion is, what patch do i select, or what other settings...

cause i don't have a preamp and i tried boosting and i hear nothing, but i think thats cause i suspect that some other settings (patch, ec..) are not set correctly?

again, very sorry for my lack of understanding,..... if someone could tell me step by step exactly what it takes to get a mic working i would greatly appreciate it.

thanks!