£1500 for Mic and Preamp, what would you get?

P

PaddyGordon

New member
I've fortunately just been notified that I'm getting my student loan through (Backdated from August) and will recieve about £2500.

Now, I plan on upgrading the studio with the money, but I want to put aside £1500 towards a mic and preamp.

I was thinking Neumann TLM 102 Neumann TLM102 Large Diaphragm Cardiod Condenser Mic (Nickel)
And a Universal Audio 610 Preamp/Compressor/EQ - Universal Audio SOLO/610

I can get both cheaper from ebay 2nd hand also!

Do you think I should do it differently?
I already have lots of cheap (Sub £250) mics 56 that I've built up and a Focusrite Saffire so I don't need any more, this time I want to go for a proper mic and preamp!

Give me your suggestions!
 
I'd get a calculator to convert pounds to dollars ($15) and spend the rest of the $2367 on hmm...good question.

I really like the sounds I'm hearing from the UA610, very tempting when I get some more money together.

Of the stuff I have, I LOVE API style preamps for any drum stuff, rock guitars, rock vocals, and even some more mellow acousticy stuff. Very nice pres and tons to choose from (512 style APIs).

There's always NEVE style pres too. I like the ones I have and have tried a lot. To me they're wonderful on most vocals, acoustic guitars, and mellower drums and electrics.

Mics, I've been looking at, Rode K2...usually I'm not a huge Rode fan but these sound really nice on the clips I've heard. I've been wanting an AT4050 for a long time too.

But, what do you want it for? What kind of music? An all purpose mic? Guitars? Vocals? I'm sure that'll make a huge difference. Sorry I can't be more specific, but there are a lot to choose from, and I don't have a ton of high end equipment to recommend. But, the stuff you've noted sounds pretty good too.
 
This has been touched on just resonantly and the majority feeling was that you would want to at least consider toying with the idea of possibly auditioning a dynamic microphone for vocals such as the EV RE20, Shure SM7b or an EV RE320.
 
The UA Solo 610 is a great preamp and would be a good compliment to the pres in the Focusrite Saffire. I have both of these and the Saffire has good clean preamps and the 610 can do the colored vintage vibe.
As for mics the Neumann TLM102 is a great mic (I have one of those aswell) but with any mic you should really try different mics out as where one mic can sound great on one voice, it can be the opposite on another voice.
 
PaddyGordon said:
I was looking to use it in a live situation like this: BAAD Sessions: Jonny Jack - Someone still loves you - YouTube

Sometimes with full bands (BAAD Sessions: Moab - California Driving - YouTube)
And was looking to upgrade from the Behringer.

I love the SM7b, but the proximity effect is hard to control when you have a performer that likes to move about a lot.

How are the EV Mics for bass/proximity effect? I've never even heard of them before haha!
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The EV RE20 has been the gold standard for quite a few years now when it comes to broadcasters. And has spilled over into the voice over artist and lead vocal recording microphones around the world.




Goodbye Jon :(
 
dickiefunk said:
The UA Solo 610 is a great preamp and would be a good compliment to the pres in the Focusrite Saffire. I have both of these and the Saffire has good clean preamps and the 610 can do the colored vintage vibe.
As for mics the Neumann TLM102 is a great mic (I have one of those aswell) but with any mic you should really try different mics out as where one mic can sound great on one voice, it can be the opposite on another voice.
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Yeah, I record my mate, and a simple SM58 is the best mic I've found that suits his voice: Bob Marley - No Woman No Cry (Cover by John Irvine) - YouTube
That was through an apogee duet.
I've used condensers to record his voice, but they don't sound half as good as the SM58. Yet the guy I'm in a band with almost 'needs' a condenser to pick up everything in his voice.


Listening to the TLM 102, it doesn't sound too harsh (compared to cheaper Rode mics & the 103) from what I've heard on YouTube Demos, but I suppose I'll never know until I get it! I love the sound of the U87, but A/Bing, the TLM sounds less 'boomy'.

My mate's band went to record in Chem 19 studios (Chem 19 Recording Studios near Glasgow) and they have a 6176 in their small studio. As far as I'm aware though, the '6' part, stands for 610, from the old console and I know the Solo 610 is based on the same strip.
I've never heard a vocal sound as good through anything! [Yes, they're going through a Zen console, and I'll be going through the Liquid Saffire 56, but I think it'd still definitely be an improvement!] (OTP U87.mp3 - File Shared from Box - Free Online File Storage) especially compared to this for the same artist: BAAD Sessions: Pronto Mama - One Trick Pony - YouTube

I'm actually considering going for the LA-610 MkII now, because of the EQ and compressor options (I know the compressor isn't as good or versatile, but still nice to have a decent compressor with me!)
 
moresound said:
The EV RE20 has been the gold standard for quite a few years now when it comes to broadcasters. And has spilled over into the voice over artist and lead vocal recording microphones around the world.




Goodbye Jon :(
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Oh :P

I half guessed that this would be the case as you mentioned it along with the SM7b.
I'm actually considering an SM7b for the studio, but I was going to buy the Neumann Mic for the live setting!
 
The fact that Thom Yorke (radiohead) always uses EV RE20 both live and in the studio makes me think it is the absolute best mic ever built


EVER!
 
check out the Avantone CV12. goes for about £470 and sounds gorgeous. I'm still very tempted by the TLM102 and have heard some great clips from it but i do really like the tone of the avantone stuff. Someone mentioned the Rode K2 which is also a great mic imo.

with regards to the preamp, for that price you could pickup a nice channel strip which would not only give you a decent pre but also some great EQ and compression (and maybe de-esser, noise gate) the focusrite ISA220 or ISA430 are great; clean and solid sounding pre's, super sweet EQ, more than usable comp (the comp sometimes gets picked on but for somethings it's great and has the classic focusrite sound)

The UA Solo 610 sounds ace and has quite a distinctive sound. i know it's much cheaper but the Golden Age Project PRE-73 its a great pre and you could pick up two of those, or the FMR RNP would also be on my list
 
Depends who you are recording with it. If its for recording yourself I wouldn't trust on line clips or reviews. Before spending that sort of dosh I would try and hire a range of mics in that budget and see which connect.
 
Justsomeguy said:
check out the Avantone CV12. goes for about £470 and sounds gorgeous. I'm still very tempted by the TLM102 and have heard some great clips from it but i do really like the tone of the avantone stuff. Someone mentioned the Rode K2 which is also a great mic imo.
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I have the Avantone CK40 and it is a great microphone.
 
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