Advice on buying new gear

P

Punce

New member
Hi all, I'm new here, and I've read so much here my brain is doing backflips. Great forum!

Well this is my current setup:

Decent PC running Cubase SX2 with a few plugins
Audiophile 2496 PCI card
Behringer Eurodesk 1604 mixer
Shure SM57 mic

As you can see it's very low budget, and I get poor results recording acoustic/electric guitar, bass and vocals as a result (no surprises there!)

I have two goals: Improve sound and increase inputs.
Maybe kill 2 birds with 1 stone if I can afford it, but I'm putting the prority on the sound. I mainly record alone, but occasionally a couple of friends help out and I would like to be able to record each seperately.

Yesterday, I popped into a couple of shops to ask advice, and they said that the mic preamps weren't the most important thing, and then told me I should go for a Yamaha 01X, and see if that does the trick. And if I want to improve the sound further, I should buy a new mic (he recommended an SE Electronics mic, can't remember which one, but I remember him saying it was 9 polar)
So I then asked what they would recommend if I didn't want extra inputs just yet and wanted to concentrate on a mic/pre. So one guy said I should just buy a Focusrite channel strip and call it a day. hmmmm, then after reading more in this forum I've confused myself silly: do I stick with the Audiophile card and scrap the Behringer mixer, and buy a nice mic with a decent pre, something like "the brick", or get a channel strip that includes the extra bits like compression etc. OR do I just go for something like the 01X/Fireface/828 MkII that might save me in the long run when I want more inputs.

Too many options has fragmented my mind. I would love it if somebody could give some advice.

I don't mind scrapping all of what I got and start a fresh, but I have around £1,000 GBP to play with (give or take a couple hundred if need be) [approx $1,800]

I play mainly Rock

Sorry about the length of the post, and I apologise if it's in the wrong forum
TIA
 
You might want to pick up a Large Diaphragm Condeser mic for your vocals and acoustic guitar. Any condenser is going to be an improvement over the SM57 on your a-gtr. Other than that, your equipment is enough to provide you with excellent results.

For more inputs, you might check out some of the newer firewire based products. M-Audio has a few.
 
For those on a budget like myself, the Studio Projects C1 is an excellent condensor mic. I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water so to speak, as I agree with Raw-Tracks that with the equipment you have you should not be getting poor quality. I'm assuming you have FX covered with the plug-ins that you have. If you don't, then I'd suggest the condensor mic and an FX processor.
 
First thing I'd do is scrap that Behringer mixer.
Look for a USED Yamaha O1V mixer. You'll have a bank of decent pres, 16 inputs, and a host of usable effects.
With a simple midi interface, you can use the O1V as a control surface for Cubase as well.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to look into a pair of small diameter condensor microphones as well.
I'd suggest a pair of MXL 603's or a pair of Oktava MC012's.
Now, you're set up for true stereo recording of your acoustic guitar.
Next, look into a decent vocal mike. I can't say enough about the Shure SM7. New, its about $350, used, slightly less.

So let's tally it up:

Used O1V - $800.
Pair of 603's - $200 with shock mount.
Shure SM7 - $350

Total - $1350 USD

Take the other $450 and look at getting some OC 703, build yourself some acoustic treatments for your room, and make some music!
 
That Yamaha seems like not the most efficient use of money when trying to improve your sound.

I would say decide how many inputs you want, and of what quality (ie 1 killer, 8 decent or perhaps 2 killer, 4 decent) Depends what you're doing. (Don't forgot if you're tracking larger numbers only once in a while, you can rent the gear as need comes up :) )

Then focus on your signal path: mic, pre, conversion in that order.

You also didn't mention what you're monitoring this on. A good pair of nearfields is very important.

Hope that's helpful
 
Thanks for the replies good people :)

I'm monitoring using a pair of Active Samson Resolv65a

I would like to focus on getting 1 killer input (I imagine a pair would be needed for some stereo recording?) and having an extra 4 or 5 decent inputs would be handy as and when others join in, or if I decide to quickly record my friend's band.

Drums are taken care of by using some Roland V-drums MIDI triggering the BFD plugin. I'm also using a MIDI keyboard, which is connected to a MIdisport 2x2 along with the V-drums. I occasionally use my external AKAI sampler, which can use analog or digital outs.

I'm recording electric guitar by micing up a H&K Triamp (which has DI out on the back panel that I can add to the mix) with a Shure SM57. Sounds awful at the moment though. Bass is normally recorded straight in.

As for effects, on my DAW I tend to use the Waves VST plugins for compression, gate etc. Not sure if this is the greatest way of doing things though.

I hope that explains my setup in full
 
Last edited:
krs said:
That Yamaha seems like not the most efficient use of money when trying to improve your sound.
Click to expand...
I don't know. Have you ever used one?
The mic pres are not world class to be sure, but they are pretty decent; a lot better than any Mackie's.
Throw in its capabilities for compression, effects, routing, monitoring and surface control, and its pretty darn efficient.
 
To buy a brand new 01X in the UK costs around £970, and I've just found a 1 yr old used for £740... just thought I'd throw that in
 
Michael Jones said:
I don't know. Have you ever used one?
The mic pres are not world class to be sure, but they are pretty decent; a lot better than any Mackie's.
Throw in its capabilities for compression, effects, routing, monitoring and surface control, and its pretty darn efficient.
Click to expand...

I haven't used it, but I like Yamaha boards.

He didn't say anything about needing outboard effects, routing, monitoring and surface control. He wants a better signal path and 1 or 2 killer channels. That desk blows the budget immediately - or did I miss something?

FYI I know several pro AE's who use Mackie pres (vlz pro) in a pinch on daily basis. I have never understood why these damn pres take such a beating on these boards. I doubt very much the pres in that all-in-one destroy the Mackie VLZpros. Show me the clips.
 
i did a search on "mackie" and "preamp" ..and saw a lot of negative posts on this mixer with respect to its preamps!!...i have been using it for a real long time and its seen lots of other gear come and go and im happy with it...i know that if i did a comparison i would be on another round of spending which im trying to avoid...!!

in the back of my mind all these comments about the pros and cons of the pricier gear...well im wondering how good their music (music i assume) must be and and if it all makes that much of a difference at the end of the day??

a bit like having lambourgini of a range rover just to trundel down to the shops and back twice a week!
 
Sorry to change the subject of this thread, but I think half the people slagging Mackie pres on these have never actually had experience with them, and repeat the lines they hear over and over again. I assure you a DPA or Neumann into a VLZ-Pro can sound AMAZING.

One thing I also don't understand is jacking up these Chinese mics with fantastic pres. Maybe if these people had better mics, they'd put a slightly smaller premium on the preamp side of things ( they'd certainly have less money to throw at them :) )
 
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