Stupified

Dobro,

I really do understand what you're saying. However, I also have to think of two children, a near-wife girlfriend, christmas gifts, $25,000 in college/truck/credit-card loans, a cracked front seal on my truck, two tires that need to be replaced, $900 a month rent (who said montana was cheap, eh?), and the fact that we're moving to Seattle in ~3 to 6 months. Yikes. Sounds a little worse than it is since my income should double after the move. Anyway, as I've said in other posts, music *is* necessary to me so I am willing to spend SOME money on it.

But there's more...oh there's more :) I'm also using an old cymbal stand as a microphone stand (thanks to packing tape), a 4 track machine as a mixer/preamp, an SB16 as a recording device, a Peavy solid state guitar amp as a bass amp, and that same Peavy amp as by guitar amp (doen't work well for either). I have no monitors and am using Sony MDR-V600 headphones for mixing, no stereo system but a cheap "boom box" type thing, my best acoustic guitar is a $200 Dean that my girlfriend bought for herself (and hasn't played much yet), my bass is a plasterboard peavy thing that barely plays, my 57 isn't even mine, and we're out of beer :)

Now my mother, thank god, has said that she'd pitch in on a microphone as a christmas gift. I figure that might knock off 100 bucks or so off of something, and I really need SOMETHING that's better than the 57 for the acoustic stuff and vocals. It's just the next most-needed and somewhat affordable move that I can make. Then I think that my girlfriend might get me a microphone stand which will really help.

I think that the sound I'm currently getting is pretty good considering my setup, so I am going to take baby-steps. I need to think of what's needed vs. what I'd like.

Thanks though, I do appreciate what you're saying.

S8-N:

You're the second (?) person to recommend the C1000 so I think that I'm going to look into it a bit deeper. It doesn't *look* like a vocal mic which will be its primary function (acoustic is secondary, I can use the 57 well enough now). Thanks man.

Question to everyone: what about the Beta 58? I've heard a *good* things about this mic locally, but it's not been discussed as much here. I like Shure and I found this mic at around $160 or $170...but then I am an amature (BIG TIME).

Slackmaster 2000
 
The C1000 isn't a vocal mic per se, rather, it is an all purpose mic... Think of it as the SM57 of condensers... I use em for vox, cymbals, and mic'ing cabinets. Other people use 'em for wind instruments and snares.
It works well in conjuction with the SM57 for vox when you set the 57 about 4-6 inches from your windscreen and the C1000 about 2 feet back and slightly to the side... Record simultaneously with both mics and pan one 50% left and the other 50% right... Gives you kind of a natural reverb that sounds better than many of the hokie software reverbs out there... The C1000 captures the lows and highs, while the 57 gets the mids and upper mids... Works for me, anyway.

S8-N
 
On my band's first album, our best mic was an AKG C1000 (old version) using a pre off a Mackie 24-4 and a dbx 266 channel recorded to ADAT , so even the vocals were recorded with them. Even now, it doesn't sound bad. My only real complaint is there's too much sibilance (and I even like a little for naturality). Of course, I didn't know what I was missing until I bought a matched-pair of Neumann TLM 103s. Next, I didn't know what I was missing until I bought better compressors, outboard pres, a better board, an analog open reel multitrack and 2-track mixdown deck. Then, I was introduced into the world of tubes. I admitt, my want list will never end. Although, it's amazing that a lot of times, no matter what new gear we have or what new things we learn, we always go back to the old.

As far as vocal mics go, in general, when you upgrade from small to large-diaphragm, there is a noticable difference (for the good), add a quality pre, the difference is greater.

But keep this in mind: A pro engineer once said to me that he guesses that "anywhere from 1:500-1:1000 singers will sound better on a SM-57 than a U-87; imagine that; and that's not to say the SM-57 would be the ideal choice".
 
Slack - gee, I read that one wrong. You don't need encouragement, you just need some cash. Good luck at Christmas and in Seattle. :)
 
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