Microphone for acoustic guitar/vocals

[Hobbit6]

I'm trying to record some of my songs in plain acoustic. I have an AudioTechnica 3035 mic but I'm not satisfied with its performance (sounds muddy to me). Somebody suggested that I get a Shure KSM32 or KSM44 mic. It's pretty expensive (around $500), but I'm willing to spend that money if I get the sound that I want. I'm using my PC to record, a Delta 66 card (Omni studio) and a Eurorack UB1202 mixer.

My questions are: would the above mentioned mics get me pretty close to studio-quality sound for vocals/acoustic? Are there better alternatives in the same price range? And do I need any additional hardware in addition what I have? Say, would the fact that I have a cheap mixer influence the mic sound quality?

Also, somebody on this board mentioned that it's bad to have a lot of hardware such as hightech video cards installed in the PC...is that true? Would that impact the sound quality a lot? I don't have a separate PC for recording only, so it's full with all kinds of hardware and software.

Please, any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Massive Master]

I think your preamps in the Behringer are your weak spot - Try a couple different preamps first.

On the PC, it's not the sound quality that suffers for the most part - It's the performance. Background applications slow things down, hardware causes conflicts, etc. If your PC is working well, you'll probably be fine.

[hasbeen]

I would highly reccomend the KSM44, as it has more features than the 32 for an all around workhorse LDC. It sounds great on vocals as well as acoustic ANYTHING.

[Big Kenny]

The Master is correct IMHO. I can get great sounds out of the AT3035, I use others now, but it still gets used on occasion. Look into some pres or strips for your setup and then move up in the mic area cuz getting a nice mic now (like the KSM) would still give you results that you would not be happy with

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by Hobbit6

I'm trying to record some of my songs in plain acoustic. I have an AudioTechnica 3035 mic but I'm not satisfied with its performance (sounds muddy to me). Somebody suggested that I get a Shure KSM32 or KSM44 mic. It's pretty expensive (around $500), but I'm willing to spend that money if I get the sound that I want. I'm using my PC to record, a Delta 66 card (Omni studio) and a Eurorack UB1202 mixer.

My questions are: would the above mentioned mics get me pretty close to studio-quality sound for vocals/acoustic? Are there better alternatives in the same price range? And do I need any additional hardware in addition what I have? Say, would the fact that I have a cheap mixer influence the mic sound quality?

Also, somebody on this board mentioned that it's bad to have a lot of hardware such as hightech video cards installed in the PC...is that true? Would that impact the sound quality a lot? I don't have a separate PC for recording only, so it's full with all kinds of hardware and software.

Please, any help would be greatly appreciated!

If you have $500 to spend, look into a decent pre or channel strip. The AT 3035 is not known for being "muddy". The Eurorack UB1202 mixer, well, how much can you sell it for?

[slobbermonster]

Also, somebody on this board mentioned that it's bad to have a lot of hardware such as hightech video cards installed in the PC...is that true? Would that impact the sound quality a lot? I don't have a separate PC for recording only, so it's full with all kinds of hardware and software

Those issues are about the stability of your system and should not affect your sound. There are ways to make 1 computer work in both worlds but you need enough hard drive space for partitioning and running dual boot.

As far as mics go try www.bpmmusic.com they usually have some great prices. I'm in the replace the Behringer camp, not good stuff there except for the occasional sleeper product they put out.

If your going to spend $500 on a mic you might consider RODEs K2 for the money it's pretty impressive but i'm afraid your Behringer could make even that mike sound bad.

[omtayslick]

I am the owner of a 3035. I am also a former Behringer mixer user. The guys are right, try replacing the Behringer first. The M-Audio DMP3 is pretty good for low $$. Or if you need the utility of a mixer, look into the new Yamaha small mixers. I haven't recorded with one, but my band uses one live and they seem very nice for the money.

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by omtayslick

I am the owner of a 3035. I am also a former Behringer mixer user. The guys are right, try replacing the Behringer first. The M-Audio DMP3 is pretty good for low $$. Or if you need the utility of a mixer, look into the new Yamaha small mixers. I haven't recorded with one, but my band uses one live and they seem very nice for the money.

I don't know about the Yamaha, but if you want to get a better mixer, then also consider a Soundcraft M Series or the Allen & Heath Wizard. Decent pres, eqs and build quality - very reasonable prices.

For pres, there's the usual suspects - RNP, Rane MSb1, DMP3, and a few others. Or stretch your budget to a Great River 1NV. That's a definite keeper.

Haven't kept up much with inexpensive channel strips, but the new Safe and Sound unit is getting some pretty nice comments.

[Hobbit6]

Thanks to everyone for their replies!

I got the Behringer mixer for my BD, and I figured that since I had it I might as well plug it in somewhere (coolness factor!), even though it wasn't really needed since the Delta66 card comes with the OMNI Studio interface which could serve as a mixer of sorts (at least for my purposes, since I only record one track at a time and do all mixing on the PC). As far as mic preamps go, I already had one (PreSonus TubePre) but when I plugged the mic thru it into the Behringer mixer I didn't hear any real difference, so I thought I'd just use the preamp built in the mixer.

Anyway, after you said that the problem might be in the mixer itself (and I heard a lot of negative talk about Behringers on this forum), I plugged the mic directly into OMNI Studio thru the TubePre and guess what, it sounded much better to me. Not perfect or anything, but I was getting the sound that I could work with. Will have to experiment some more, but at least now I'm getting somewhere!

A few more questions, though: for my purposes (recording one track at a time), do I even really need a mixer? OMNI Studio seems to be doing a good job and I have no problem switching cables when needed. Does a mixer itself bring anything to the mic sound?

Again, thanks to everyone for their replies, you helped me a great deal!

[slobbermonster]

No you don't need a mixer if all your processing is done in the PC. You just need to get as quality a sound as possible into the computer.

[tradivoro]

You'll probably get the best bang for your buck by getting a Mackie 1202 VLZ mixer... That way you get nice preamps, and a mixer, and you still have money left over to get a decent inexpensive mic to contrast the 3035... And who knows, you might like the sound you get through the Mackie enough that you won't feel you need a mic right now...

[omtayslick]

Sounds like you don't need a mixer at this point. And no, it won't add to your sound. The omni studio preamps are very similar to the DMP3, so that should do you for a while. I only suggested the Yamaha mixer if you needed all the inputs a mixer provides. If you don't need the additional inputs, you're fine without it. And M-Audio preamps sound as good as a small Mackie mixer.
(some might say better)