virus and preamps?

[grs]

One quick tip with the virus b, make sure you are using unbalanced cables. If you make the mistake of plugging balanced cables into your virus b you will get 6 db softer signals.

The output of the virus b is unbalanced yet the socket on the board inside the virus has a TRS jack connecter. Tip, Ring and Sleeve. Yet the signal only travels via the Tip and Sleeve, the Ring is 'Open'. So when you plug a ballanced cable into the virus and the other end into a balanced sound card input or balanced mixer input the end device sees the virus a balanced [ incorrectly due to the open ring ].

I made this mistake once because I thought my AD converter would just detect it as unbalanced and I would benifit from the higher quality cable etc. Wrong indeed.

This is a design flaw, really the Ring and sleeve should be shorted together.

---------

Other than that, just make sure each patch you are using is turned up to at least 100 and if in multi mode look at the multi patch volume aswell.
There is enough volume or juice in the virus outs to clip a -10db [consumer] input and enough to fill up a +4db [ pro ] input, but the virus outs will clip before the input of a +4db device.

--------

I say only use a pre-amp if it's really good, and you like the sound coloration. Other than that Directly in is ok.