The Shadow SH-4001 saxophone and clarinet transducer attaches to the reed of the instrument and provides a clean natural sound. The SH-4001 comes with a cable attached to the pickup with a standard 1/4" male plug, which can be used to plug directly into your amplifier or PA system. This passive pickup system has sufficient output to drive most amplifiers directly. A preamp is not required for most amplifiers, but you may want a preamp if you wish to control volume or equalisation (bass/treble) or if you are plugging into a PA or mixer board.