compressor & pre-amps for mics but.....

[Jamal]

what can i use to make my music(beats) sound better. I want the best sound i can get. Or is it all in the mixer when i comes to that kind of stuff?

[Blue Bear Sound]

Hmmm.... you'll have to be more specific...

What exactly do you mean by "sound better"? What's the problem with the sound you're getting now?

The best sound you can get is million-dollar gear with top pros who know how to use it...

A little less ambiguity and maybe we can make some specific suggestions!



Bruce

[Jamal]

Well i think it might be my mixer(radio shack) but I cant really explan what it sounds like i just want some clear sounding stuff will an exciter be used in this process? oh yeah i am planing to get a new mixer so i want to know this so i can get some nice clear sounding stuff.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Well - your mixer may very well have something to do with it... but before you even get to the mixer, you have to be sure that whatever you're recording is already sounding good going to tape (or hard disk, or whatever you're recording to).

So, a good mic, and a good preamp is the place to start. Once it sounds good on tape (or hard disk or whatever), it should sound good as you mix it - if it doesn't then your mixer may be the problem, or it could be that you didn't really record your tracks well to begin with!

Bottom line is, every part of your signal chain needs to be good (or at least decent) to get acceptable results, if any one area is lacking, then it's difficult to narrow down the problem, since you can't be sure if your tracking well, but hearing wrong, or tracking badly to begin with.

So.... what is your signal chain as you record?? Also a gear list might help!!

Let me know!

Bruce

[Jamal]

thanks I think it just might be my mixer when i just play a beat stright from my sound source it sounds funny. This mixer is old and beat up. I have a Radio Shack mixer( i would say its from the early 90's) that i why i wonder if that is the problem. when you record do you go stright from the sound source to your mixer or do you run it through something first?(not including mic)

[Blue Bear Sound]

Unless I have to mix sound sources, I usually track thru a preamp, direct to tape (ADAT)....

If I have to mix sound sources, then I go thru the mixer.

You should know that Radio Shack does make pretty bad to mediocre gear, and it may be noisy and unflattering, but it shouldn't sound "funny"!

Bruce

[Jamal]

"noisy and unflattering"

thats the discription

[Blue Bear Sound]

Forgive my ignorance on the "beats" terminology - what exactly are you mixing?? Are you recording individual tracks to tape, disk or sampler, then mixing using the mixer? Are you just mixing turntable/cd/samplers as sources?

Either way, Radio Shack mixers are definitely NOT the way to go. I'm out of my league when it comes to DJ'ing gear, maybe someone else can jump in here! Hey SPIN.... where are ya?

Bruce

[Jamal]

nah it really comes into effect when i record some music onto tape thats when i really does not sounds like that

[Blue Bear Sound]

How do you know that your tape player not the culprit?

Bruce

[Cyrokk]

does this radio shack mixer have meters? (i know they sell some that don't) If so then you should at least make sure that you are recording at peak levels (short of distortion) and the meters read as close as possible to the meters of the tape deck.. if not you'll get noise, lack of clarity, or distortion.. not to mention complete loss of stereo imaging..

I'm assuming you have analog and not digital equipment.. with digital you need to be a little more careful with recording at high levels..

Cy

[Jamal]

i know about the meters and all that, now that i think about it it could be my tape recorder its a sony dont remember the type but its the $99 one.

[hixmix]

Noisy and flatulant. Been there. Done that.

[regebro]

$99 for a tape recorder from Sony doesn't sound to great. Sony gear is usually good, but not cheap... You'll be able to find tape decks that are good enough for $300 or above. But tape is dying fast now...

I'm not that muh into DJ gear either, but seem to know at least as much as most here anyway.

Vestax seems to be cheap and reasonably good DJ equipment. Not pro quality I guess, but has been quoted as good entry level stuff.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Look Jamal, let's lay it on the line --- a $99 tape recorder and a Radio Shack mixer is not going to be your ticket to good (or even acceptable!) sound... In many cases, a Minidisc recorder will outperform the majority of consumer tape decks available out there right now. Tascam makes very good pro cassette decks, at around the $500/$600 mark.

I think you need to make some decisions about what you're trying to accomplish (in terms of sound-quality) and then decide how much you can afford to spend (or save up for!) to realize what you want to acheive.

Bruce