mic > extension > pre or mics > pre > extension?

[jagraham]

Does it matter?  I'm curious about any loss of signal quality.  I run Church Audio mics > STC-900 or a batt box.  I've usually run the extension after the pre but it seems to be easier to go mics > extension > pre > recorder when running a stand.  Any opinions or thoughts on this?

[yousef]

I think I would put it after the pre, so I wasn't amplifying any interference or noise that the extension introduced.

Then again, I'm sure I've done it the other way around when circumstances have demanded.

[bryonsos]

Always amplify unbalanced mics before a cable run, for two reasons:  signal to interference will be better, and impedance will be lower (which reduces the interference signal and avoids cable loading issues).

Balanced mics, practically it doesn't matter although the principle of higher signal level being better is the same.  But it's very common to have >100m cable runs for balanced mics.

Good to know. I've run my B3s > extension > CA-Ugly > M10 without issues, but I'd prefer to do things the best I can. Cheers Jon!