Due to a series of perplexing and tragic circumstances, last year i lost about $20-30 grand worth of guitars, amps, and recording equipment in 2013, salvaging only my 2004 Gibson Hummingbird, praise the gods. I don't want to talk about the circumstances and there's no point. If there is any silver lining to be found it is that I'd been assembling and buying/selling/trading gear since about 1996, starting with a Tascam cassette 4-track, a budget plywood topped acoustic guitar, and an SM-57 mic. Point is, I've made countless mistakes, some quite expensive, some positive and serendipitous...and all educational. Things have drastically changed in the home studio in nearly 20 years, almost all positive changes to the advantage of the home recordist. I think the biggest and most significant changes has been the near-total shift from hardware processors and FX units to software, and i am absolutely stunned at how good plug-in processing has become. It seems to me that now, the only hardware needed beside a good computer, a mixing board, and some form of quality A/D and D/A converters are the transducers: Speakers, headphones & microphones.
Although my initial budget back in fall of '14 was pathetic - about $2500 - I already had a new iMac, my Hummingbird, a sweet Schecter PT Tele, and a Bugera V22 tube combo. Behringer gets a bad rap, and sometimes deservedly so. But I've been laying into this Bugera daily for 6 months now, and it is one gorgeous sounding amp. Long term reliability remains to be seen, but I haven't even had to swap out the 12" speaker, which I assumed i would have to. I A/Bd this amp with the one I was planning to get - a Fender Blackface reissue Deluxe Reverb, and even cranked on the clean channel, the Bugera totally smoked the Fender, at about 1/3 the cost. The most significant change had been to Mac after years of PCs. It remains to be seen what will happen with Apple now that Jobs is gone, but this iMac (21.5") has been an absolute joy to work with in every way. I'll never voluntarily go back to PCs.
So due to budgetary concerns, I went with a generation newer of the same 8" monitors as before - the KRK Rockit 8s. My monitors need to double as recreational listening speakers, so I actually appreciate that the KRKs are a little more colorful than some of the more expensive and much flatter monitors. There is clearly a bump in the bass around 60-100 Hz, another in the mid-highs (maybe 5-8kHz) and maybe even a dip around 200Hz, where that annoying boom can happen with acoustic guitar. Also, I happen to disagree that monitors need to have as flat a response as possible. I understand the theory, but I think it is far more important to be intimate with the way different sources sound on your monitors, and especially how reference CDs from favorite artists and engineers sound. I'm 54 and have old school music tastes. In terms of mix and production, the best mixing and engineering I've heard is from Mark Needham (Chris Isaac) and from three engineers who have done most of Steely Dan's engineering: Roger Nichols, Al Schmitt, and Eliot Scheiner. Play any album with work from these guys on it, then try to come close to duplicating the sounds.
These days, equipment (or the lack of due to expense) is no excuse. What used to require tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of devices from manufacturers like Neve, API, Vintech, UA, etc, can now be had in software versions that are arguably as beautiful sounding as the original hardware and definitely more reliable. I have found the only absolutely necessary hardware today to be some gear on the front end, between the microphone and the input to your DAW. Mic pre, compressor and sometimes EQ, just to tame that extremely important original signal on the way in. Even a modestly priced one or two input channel strip is plenty.
I'm not trying to get anyone's panties in a knot, but I really think that high-end, expensive mic preamp units are a bit of a scam. Let me quickly qualify that statement: it sure can't hurt to have your mic signal running through an Avalon 2022, followed by an LA-2A or UA 1176, and it sure will look great in your rack. And, were budget no concern , I would have a whole rack or two full of high end hardware. It's just that many home recordists ARE on serious budgets, and I think that spending more than $300 to 500 on a mic pre is a waste of money...at least in terms of noticeable return on investment per dollar. Money much better well spent on microphones or a really nice hardware compressor for that critical front end. I've been hearing great things about Warm Audio's WA76 compressor, which I guess sells for well under a grand, utilizes high quality transformers and circuitry, and apparently does a quite good job at emulating the classic 1176. But expensive mic pres? Probably not the best investment, especially in light of lesser expensive but gorgeous sounding units form companies like Joe Meek, PreSonus and ART...and mid-priced units from FMR Audio, Grace, and Focusrite. A few years ago, when I was using my home studio v.1, I had one of those ART PRO VLA compressors and found it quite effective and able to treat the signal from completely transparent to some warm and musical compression.
So, what got me started writing this was to pass on my delight in my latest microphone. This time around, I know a lot more about what I actually want out of equipment and how to get it, if possible. One thing I am thoroughly sick of is the near-impossibility of buying any reasonably priced gear that is not Chinese made or at least assembled. I have nothing in any racist sense against the Chinese, and it's really not their fault that we in the USA have a seemingly bottomless appetite for some of the worthless junk they produce. If there is fault, it lies with American manufacturers and business owners who continue to farm out mfg and assembly to the Chinese to increase profit. With a few notable exceptions, almost nothing is made in the USA any more, which is a shame, considering we have proven to be a country full of amazing innovators, inventors, and entrepreneurs. However, our burning need for pink plastic shower curtain rings and other cheap plastic crap has made US production "economically unfeasible", wasting enormous amounts of innovation and talent. Point is, I try to buy US made whenever possible, with Japan, Germany, and Italy solidly in the running. It's funny that "Made in Japan", at least in the past, has taken on negative connotation. The Japanese are incredible engineers and craftsmen. Sadly, they are following our lead, and it's not uncommon to see written on the back of products from huge Japanese brands like Sony - "Made in China". Atrocious.
Which brings me back to my great new microphone: I've long been a fan of Audio-Technica, the Japanese manufacturer of electronics. From cartridges for my home stereo turntables 30 years ago to a recent headphone purchase for my studio (M50x over-ear; fantastic sound for $150). So recently, I had enough in the microphone budget for one mid-priced mic. I needed something to cover my male tenor vocal and acoustic guitar. I wanted efficient; I wanted crisp but not too bright, shrill, or harsh; I wanted warmth without loss of definition; I did NOT want a tube or tubes...and I had a $2000 limit. I listened the Mojave line and also the Rode line and Blue and the lower end Neumanns - the TLM 49, 103, and 107. I found unacceptable fault with all of these and was beginning to think I was just being too picky. Then I tried the AT 4047/SV. Wow. Best mic I've ever tried at any price. I have no idea how they did this and i don't care. Best. Microphone. Ever.
Although my initial budget back in fall of '14 was pathetic - about $2500 - I already had a new iMac, my Hummingbird, a sweet Schecter PT Tele, and a Bugera V22 tube combo. Behringer gets a bad rap, and sometimes deservedly so. But I've been laying into this Bugera daily for 6 months now, and it is one gorgeous sounding amp. Long term reliability remains to be seen, but I haven't even had to swap out the 12" speaker, which I assumed i would have to. I A/Bd this amp with the one I was planning to get - a Fender Blackface reissue Deluxe Reverb, and even cranked on the clean channel, the Bugera totally smoked the Fender, at about 1/3 the cost. The most significant change had been to Mac after years of PCs. It remains to be seen what will happen with Apple now that Jobs is gone, but this iMac (21.5") has been an absolute joy to work with in every way. I'll never voluntarily go back to PCs.
So due to budgetary concerns, I went with a generation newer of the same 8" monitors as before - the KRK Rockit 8s. My monitors need to double as recreational listening speakers, so I actually appreciate that the KRKs are a little more colorful than some of the more expensive and much flatter monitors. There is clearly a bump in the bass around 60-100 Hz, another in the mid-highs (maybe 5-8kHz) and maybe even a dip around 200Hz, where that annoying boom can happen with acoustic guitar. Also, I happen to disagree that monitors need to have as flat a response as possible. I understand the theory, but I think it is far more important to be intimate with the way different sources sound on your monitors, and especially how reference CDs from favorite artists and engineers sound. I'm 54 and have old school music tastes. In terms of mix and production, the best mixing and engineering I've heard is from Mark Needham (Chris Isaac) and from three engineers who have done most of Steely Dan's engineering: Roger Nichols, Al Schmitt, and Eliot Scheiner. Play any album with work from these guys on it, then try to come close to duplicating the sounds.
These days, equipment (or the lack of due to expense) is no excuse. What used to require tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of devices from manufacturers like Neve, API, Vintech, UA, etc, can now be had in software versions that are arguably as beautiful sounding as the original hardware and definitely more reliable. I have found the only absolutely necessary hardware today to be some gear on the front end, between the microphone and the input to your DAW. Mic pre, compressor and sometimes EQ, just to tame that extremely important original signal on the way in. Even a modestly priced one or two input channel strip is plenty.
I'm not trying to get anyone's panties in a knot, but I really think that high-end, expensive mic preamp units are a bit of a scam. Let me quickly qualify that statement: it sure can't hurt to have your mic signal running through an Avalon 2022, followed by an LA-2A or UA 1176, and it sure will look great in your rack. And, were budget no concern , I would have a whole rack or two full of high end hardware. It's just that many home recordists ARE on serious budgets, and I think that spending more than $300 to 500 on a mic pre is a waste of money...at least in terms of noticeable return on investment per dollar. Money much better well spent on microphones or a really nice hardware compressor for that critical front end. I've been hearing great things about Warm Audio's WA76 compressor, which I guess sells for well under a grand, utilizes high quality transformers and circuitry, and apparently does a quite good job at emulating the classic 1176. But expensive mic pres? Probably not the best investment, especially in light of lesser expensive but gorgeous sounding units form companies like Joe Meek, PreSonus and ART...and mid-priced units from FMR Audio, Grace, and Focusrite. A few years ago, when I was using my home studio v.1, I had one of those ART PRO VLA compressors and found it quite effective and able to treat the signal from completely transparent to some warm and musical compression.
So, what got me started writing this was to pass on my delight in my latest microphone. This time around, I know a lot more about what I actually want out of equipment and how to get it, if possible. One thing I am thoroughly sick of is the near-impossibility of buying any reasonably priced gear that is not Chinese made or at least assembled. I have nothing in any racist sense against the Chinese, and it's really not their fault that we in the USA have a seemingly bottomless appetite for some of the worthless junk they produce. If there is fault, it lies with American manufacturers and business owners who continue to farm out mfg and assembly to the Chinese to increase profit. With a few notable exceptions, almost nothing is made in the USA any more, which is a shame, considering we have proven to be a country full of amazing innovators, inventors, and entrepreneurs. However, our burning need for pink plastic shower curtain rings and other cheap plastic crap has made US production "economically unfeasible", wasting enormous amounts of innovation and talent. Point is, I try to buy US made whenever possible, with Japan, Germany, and Italy solidly in the running. It's funny that "Made in Japan", at least in the past, has taken on negative connotation. The Japanese are incredible engineers and craftsmen. Sadly, they are following our lead, and it's not uncommon to see written on the back of products from huge Japanese brands like Sony - "Made in China". Atrocious.
Which brings me back to my great new microphone: I've long been a fan of Audio-Technica, the Japanese manufacturer of electronics. From cartridges for my home stereo turntables 30 years ago to a recent headphone purchase for my studio (M50x over-ear; fantastic sound for $150). So recently, I had enough in the microphone budget for one mid-priced mic. I needed something to cover my male tenor vocal and acoustic guitar. I wanted efficient; I wanted crisp but not too bright, shrill, or harsh; I wanted warmth without loss of definition; I did NOT want a tube or tubes...and I had a $2000 limit. I listened the Mojave line and also the Rode line and Blue and the lower end Neumanns - the TLM 49, 103, and 107. I found unacceptable fault with all of these and was beginning to think I was just being too picky. Then I tried the AT 4047/SV. Wow. Best mic I've ever tried at any price. I have no idea how they did this and i don't care. Best. Microphone. Ever.
