Recording Vocals in Logic w/ an AKG C214

[JSynthGuitarMan]

Hey everybody, I'm having trouble recording vocals in Logic so I'm looking for some suggestions.

I have a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 and I have the AKG C214 going into through that into Logic. And my problem? The vocals sound like crap. Depending on the project and style I can sometimes tweak it, but otherwise, it's horrible. Tips?

And for starters, yes, I did remember the phantom power, and yes, I also have a compressor on in Logic.

Suggestions?

 

[Brian Muth]

Your signal chain should produce good results! The answer is to determine if you are doing something wrong, or if you have faulty equipment. 9 times out of 10 it's the former There are so many possibilities here... I'll try to give something to go with... without hearing it though it's pretty tricky!

Remove the compressor- Is the unprocessed track still terrible? How is your gain staging? When the singer performs, are you getting solid (but not clipping) levels into logic? Do you hear distortion? It's possible to have the microphone breaking up even though you aren't using too much gain on the sapphire- simply backing the singer off the mic would help that.

For that matter, you are singing into the right side of the microphone, right?

If its' gear, then begin by eliminating elements til you find the problem. Systematically prove that each component is doing it's job properly. Ideally you start at the beginning of the chain... swap mics and see if things get better... then move to another sapphire input... keep moving down the line til something gets better.

 

[TimOBrien]

... and you DO know that the room is 80% of your sound, right??

There is a bit more to the recording game than just sticking a mic on a stand.

 

[JSynthGuitarMan]

I get that the room has a pretty big deal on the sound, even though 80% might be overstatement.

Yes, I am singing into the right side of the microphone.

I'll experiment with what you suggested Brian, and see what happens. Thanks!