Audio interface Vs quality mic

Jam4Jesus

New member
Hi all, my name is Colin. I'm thinking of recording my saxophone. I've been in the business of recording for a long time but I still have this question hanging over my head. If I bought a really nice condenser mic and a low quality audio interface how would it sound? Or how about if I bought a really nice audio interface and a lesser quality condenser mic?
In your opinion, which is the more important piece of equipment?
Thanks All. I look forward to hearing from the best!
 
No idea but... Q. How do I record brass in the home studio? |

You can get an excellent interface for £100 and if you paid £1000 for about the same facilities (you can't) I doubt you could tell the difference without £5000 monitors and a very good room. Generally it is better to spread the cost reasonably equally between the devices. I doubt you could go far wrong with an SM57?

Dave.
 
Hi Jam,

I'm not sure how valuable a comparison like this really is.
Everything's important and plays a part in the process but I would argue that the most important thing is the sound created and the next is the means of assessing the reproduction of it.
The room that you're in impacts on both of these, excluding headphones.

If the source sound isn't great, or your monitors are lying to you, the mic and preamp are suddenly a whole lot less important.

Personally, I'd just look for first hand reviews to get decent gear and to avoid obvious pitfalls (like low-gain preamps that are going to hiss), and call it done.
 
I know there are mics made specifically to mount to the bells of saxes for live use - how do these sound for recording? I suspect not quite as well as a good mic in a good room - and that goes along with what the others said - equal quality mic, interface and room treatment will do it!
 
Horrible. They're great for stage and I have a few different types, but NONE sound like a saxophone should. The reason is simple. The majority of the output of a sax above the G finger position comes from the upper half of the instrument. what comes out the bell is thin and weedy. Get down to maybe E and it's a mix, and from D and below, almost 100% from the bell. The best overall recording position is one that allows the mic to capture the entire instrument. Bell mounts also pick up vibration. Most have rubber as an isolator, a few use a spiders web design like bigger mics. Tenors, in particular clack and clunk and physically mounted ones always have some of this in the output.

On the interface question - I never think of interface and mic as a single purchase. You buy an interface to handle the ins and outs of the system, at a quality level you want to be at. You then select a mic to do what you need. Once you have a good enough interface, you can hear the difference between mics, but at the bottom end, it becomes the quality limiter. If I had a lot of money to spend, I'd point it at the interface. However, once you are at the right quality areas for you - it takes a lot of money to improve it just a little. A $100 product is always outclassed by a $200 one, but a $1000 one is not hugely better, and to then improve on that could be $3000? Mics just all sound different. Money does not guarantee better sound, just different sound in a positive way. If you have a very expensive mic, you can still find an SM57 might suit a song better?
 
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