Please help: Urgent purchase required: need advice...

[Suntag]

Hi. I've got a Tascam 414 and no decent mic. I need to record material by tomorrow. Short term is going to be Vox and acoustic guitar only (maybe some percussions). WHAT DO I NEED TO MAKE IT SOUND GOOD? Long term I'll be getting a vs-1680, sampler, and dive into project studio proper, and so I don't want to buy something that will be useless later (Roland tends to be everything in a box). Here's the emergency shopping list:

- AKG c1000s
- Art Tube Channel (I've been told the Art dual MP has "noise problems"... true?)
- Lexicon MPX100

The Lexicon is what worries me: Will the vs-1680 and all its integrated cards cover reverb as well? How necessary is the Preamp? And what about AKG's need for Phantom power? What do I get to cover that? My main problem is I need some decent sounding stuff by Saturday or I'll miss a HUGE opportunity... So I'll be using the Tascam. But I'm breaking the bank to get the mic, preamp and fx (reverb), so I need it to be a wise buy. Please help! Thx.

[S8-N]

The Dual MP supplies phantom power for the C100s. I havent noticed any extra noise from mine. Save yourself some $$$ and find a good reverb plug-in rather than shelling out $$$ for a piece of external gear.

[jeffy_2003]

The AKG c1000s are good since they make decent over-head mics for drums (if you plan to eventually buy another one). You can also use a 9V battery for these mics (no phantom power needed), but you may eventually want to buy a preamp with phantom power for it later. The Rode NT1 is a great mic for the price (~300), but $1000 mics definately sound better.
The integrated cards have plenty of reverbs in them (some of them really good). But as you may know these have to be purchased separate from the 1680. I wouldn't buy an external piece until I felt I needed more than the integrated cards. By the way the 1680 has 2 phantom power mic pre's but I'm not sure how good they sound.

[Suntag]

Difficult to plug in my plug-in since I'm on a 4-track (or am I missing something here...). Once I get the VS-1680, granted, I'll be set with a fully-functionnal system, but until then, I'm stuck with just a mic (I'll get the C100s I gather) and a tape-recorder... Not the best tools to record...

Just so I know I'm getting this feedback right: There's no point in buying the Lexicon reverb nor the Tube Channel, since both departments will most likely be covered by the VS later on, correct?

I guess I'll be paying studio time for this one demo I've got to send out, then. (Cause I can't get anything out of the Tascam 414 worth sending).

Ok. Thanks for the advice. It will have saved me some dough, it seems.