I understand that this has been asked a lot (i've just starting reading some threads) but my needs are a bit different in some aspect.
I intend to use my setup for vocal recordings only. I won't use this mic for guitar/drums/keyboards/etc. It will only stay in my house (room or living room which both are untreated). I initially started out this venture when during our karaoke parties with my friends, I said to myself, i want something better than the stock karaoke player with the stock mic. So I bought a shure SM58 to upgrade the mic. When I plugged it in the karaoke player, the mic volume was really low (at first I thought it was not working right). So I got a mixer (allen & heath Zed-10) then a QSC K10, etc. I was satisfied now with the quality during our karaoke nights with my friends.
Now I want to start recording my voice to my computer (PC and MBP). I live in the Philippines so choices here are not that easy to come by. I had a good fortune, thought, to be able to test a Shure SM7b from someone selling it since his preamp couldn't power the mic. I tried it on my Allen&Heath but when i turned up the gain, it got really really noisy. Despite this noise, I was still amazed with the quality sound the mic showed me (although only at a low volume and low gain).
I told myself that I want that mic! It suited my voice so much.
In this regard, I need your help to suggest/recommend a preamp and an interface for the Shure SM7b to be able to get my voice to my computer.
If possible, I would like to get a preamp and an interface for $700 (total price for both preamp and interface)
I'm looking right now at the Focusrite ISA One (around $400 bnew). Ive read that Grace 101 is also very nice but the price is just too much.
Some other questions:
1) Is there a good clean preamp with 60+ gain that also has echo/reverb (because I might want to use the SM7b sometimes during our karaoke session with my friends in the living room and it is nice to have some echo rather than a flat sounding voice only)
2) Is it a must to get an interface with a firewire like what the seller of the SM7b told me? He said that USB is dirty and I will be recording lots of ticks my computer makes if I go the USB route.
I do prefer USB though since I will be able to record on several computers. If I use firewire, I will restrict myself to my desktop only. However, if firewire is really that much better/cleaner than USB then firewire it is.
3) Is it safe to buy used preamp/interface in ebay? How would I know that the item im buying doesn't have a whine or something? My friend said that I can buy used for preamps/interface but I should always buy bnew for mic.
Thank you very much for your help.
PS: I am very new to this and I have never connected a preamp with an interface going to a computer or such so much help is really needed. I cannot audition any mic/preamp/interface as they are not available at all here in the Philippines and even if they are, they won't allow us to audtition it so I have to rely 100% on your recommendations. I have a decent i5 16GB ram resktop computer and a MBP 13". Software is no problem here.
I intend to use my setup for vocal recordings only. I won't use this mic for guitar/drums/keyboards/etc. It will only stay in my house (room or living room which both are untreated). I initially started out this venture when during our karaoke parties with my friends, I said to myself, i want something better than the stock karaoke player with the stock mic. So I bought a shure SM58 to upgrade the mic. When I plugged it in the karaoke player, the mic volume was really low (at first I thought it was not working right). So I got a mixer (allen & heath Zed-10) then a QSC K10, etc. I was satisfied now with the quality during our karaoke nights with my friends.
Now I want to start recording my voice to my computer (PC and MBP). I live in the Philippines so choices here are not that easy to come by. I had a good fortune, thought, to be able to test a Shure SM7b from someone selling it since his preamp couldn't power the mic. I tried it on my Allen&Heath but when i turned up the gain, it got really really noisy. Despite this noise, I was still amazed with the quality sound the mic showed me (although only at a low volume and low gain).
I told myself that I want that mic! It suited my voice so much.
In this regard, I need your help to suggest/recommend a preamp and an interface for the Shure SM7b to be able to get my voice to my computer.
If possible, I would like to get a preamp and an interface for $700 (total price for both preamp and interface)
I'm looking right now at the Focusrite ISA One (around $400 bnew). Ive read that Grace 101 is also very nice but the price is just too much.
Some other questions:
1) Is there a good clean preamp with 60+ gain that also has echo/reverb (because I might want to use the SM7b sometimes during our karaoke session with my friends in the living room and it is nice to have some echo rather than a flat sounding voice only)
2) Is it a must to get an interface with a firewire like what the seller of the SM7b told me? He said that USB is dirty and I will be recording lots of ticks my computer makes if I go the USB route.
I do prefer USB though since I will be able to record on several computers. If I use firewire, I will restrict myself to my desktop only. However, if firewire is really that much better/cleaner than USB then firewire it is.
3) Is it safe to buy used preamp/interface in ebay? How would I know that the item im buying doesn't have a whine or something? My friend said that I can buy used for preamps/interface but I should always buy bnew for mic.
Thank you very much for your help.
PS: I am very new to this and I have never connected a preamp with an interface going to a computer or such so much help is really needed. I cannot audition any mic/preamp/interface as they are not available at all here in the Philippines and even if they are, they won't allow us to audtition it so I have to rely 100% on your recommendations. I have a decent i5 16GB ram resktop computer and a MBP 13". Software is no problem here.