Originally Posted by Bruce Watson ➡️

Years ago when I was actively interested in the AES42 standard, and digital mics, what I read from Neumann is that there are no analog circuits in their digital mics. That they convert to digital from the leads coming off the diaphragm, or the capsule. So gain in this sense is undefined. But so is most noise. The Neumann digital mics are still said to be eerily quiet.

To answer the question you asked in the tread title, "Do we still need preamps" the answer is no, we do not. It's not our level of technology that's holding us back, it's a cultural problem. People don't like change: "we've always done it this way" and all that.