Budget_Recording_For_Vocals/Guitar

M

Metaphoria

New member
(Sorry for the underscores, by the way. For some reason it wouldn't let me post the topic if there were spaces in the title)

I recently bought myself a copy of Cubase SX, and I've found with my Edirol PCR-M30 Midi Controller and a slew of VST instruments and effects, I can get a pretty authentic sound with just about every instrument I need.

The number one exception to this is, of course, vocals.

At the moment I'm using a 20 year old SM58 that's been dropped countless times, survived at least a hundred beer spills, and has basically been through hell and back. I have that running into my Behringer Ultra-DI DI20, and then into the mic slot on my Sound Blaster. With a bit of mastering I can get the vocals to sound half decent, but I'm sure there's a ton of room for improvement.

Anyway, I have the following questions.

1. I'm sure getting a new mic would help a ton. I was thinking a brand new SM58, but of course I'm looking for the best bang for my buck. I would like to keep the mic under $150, but if you strongly recommend something above that I'll definitely look into it. My vocal style is fairly smooth, but something that would be cable of rocking out would be great.

2. Rack effects. I figure I'm going to need at least a decent compressor and preamp. However, would the DI box suffice in terms of a preamp? Would using a software compressor after the vocals have been recorded be enough? Or would it be best to go out and buy new hardware? If so, what would you suggest for a decently priced preamp/compressor? Once again, I wouldn't like to go much over $150 for each, but I'm not to familiar with the prices on this kind of hardware so anything you have to suggest I would love to check out.

3. I would also love to be able to record acoustic guitar, but the vocals are my main priority. I'm guessing a decent vocal set up would be enough for recording a decent enough acoustic guitar? Also, my last priority would be micing my guitar amp. At the moment I'm just plugging my guitar in straight to the mic slot and using amp simulators, which sounds good enough, but if there would be a way of actually micing it effectively on a more vocal-oriented set up that would be great.

4. Would you recommend running the signal through an EQ before it reaches the sound card, or would EQing it afterwards work just as well?

As you can see, I'm pretty new to the world of home recording, so I apologize if some of my questions seem a little obvious :D

But yeah, thanks a lot for reading, and I'm looking forward to your suggestions.
 
i know the situation your in, i used to use a guitar amp as my microphone pre :(
I would recomend getting a fairly decent large diaprahm condenser microphone (Ive personally found the Studio Projects B1 to be good) that will give you a much better sound than a sm58 on vocals and acoustic guitar.
You will need a preamp with phantom power, but if i was in your position i would splash out on a soundcard with a preamp in it (upgrading my soundcard gave me a big improvement)
 
You need a dedicated mic preamp, running at line-level in to your "Line In" on the sound card.

M-Audio DMP3 is good and cheap.

That will help out a lot. The sm58 isn't the worst mic in the world; it can get you passable vocal tracks if used properly. Beer spills, drops and all.

.
 
Apparently your familiar with the 58, I recommend a Shure Beta 57 as its a great mic and right around your price range.

You can get some pretty good entry level Pre/Interfaces for a good price these days.

Does your computer have a firewire interface?
 
If you're actually going to buy a new mic, I would recommend a large diaphragm condensor. you can use that on both your vox and the acoustic guitar...

you definitely do not need outboard eq and compression, do all of that with plug-ins. a good preamp and a FW interface that records at 24-bit would help a ton.
 
i think the better combo for a cheap setup is this:

the VTB-1 as a preamp and the CAD M177. Both are around 100 each = 200 but it's very very versital, the VTB-1 is a solid state pre with dial in tube when u want, it's clean (according to people) and it's got a bunch of stuff u can change (the dmp3 is 2 channel for 150, but if u only need 1 channel i would go with the VTB-1, the reason is that tube will give u something to play with and generally real tubes are good).

the CAD M177 is probably a better choice than the SM-58, the SM mics are good with decent pre, with a cheap preamp i'm kindda scare to use them. around this area there's also the AT and the MXL V67 or other brands, but i do feel the M177 is pretty good for it's price, not alot of people use it though for some reason.
 
warlock110 said:
but i do feel the M177 is pretty good for it's price, not alot of people use it though for some reason.
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Actually the m177 is very popular and getting a lot of use in professional facilities. I keep hearing tons about it over at gearslutz. I think it's this seasons spb1 or v67g.
 
chessrock said:
You need a dedicated mic preamp, running at line-level in to your "Line In" on the sound card.

M-Audio DMP3 is good and cheap.

That will help out a lot. The sm58 isn't the worst mic in the world; it can get you passable vocal tracks if used properly. Beer spills, drops and all.

.
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This is a good option, I was expecting something sarcastic from ya chess but it's solid advice. I used a dmp3 with a 57 on snare on many many tracks and it worked great. If the OP keeps the 58 then I'd just go with something like a Joe Meek 3Q so you can add a little eq and some light compression going in.
 
Thanks for all the replies, guys! I've looked into every suggestion that was made, and figured the best mic option for me would be the CAD M177. However, I'm kind of torn between the VTB-1 and the Joe Meek 3Q. From what I've read the VTB-1 is an excellent dedicated preamp, but as a DI for guitar it's somewhat mediocre. I am just running my guitar straight in dry though, so I'm not sure if this would be a big deal. Also, the Joe Meek 3Q, while more expensive, seems to perform very well as both a mic preamp and DI for guitar and such. Plus, the fact that it includes an EQ and compressor certainly sweetens the deal. However, is it really worth the extra $150, or would the VTB-1 suit my needs just as well?

Also, my sound card is a Sondigo Inferno (w-ww.sondigo.com/inferno, minus the hyphen) which does have stereo 96kHz/24-bit inputs as well as a S/PDIF optical input and output.
 
well then you could look at a pre with a spdif input, something like a maudio tampa. To be honest the soundcard doesnt look like its really mean for recording (although asio drivers will help) and by using a digital in your avoiding its convertors without paying much more

*just looked at us prices, i think this it a little out of your intended range*
 
I understand the card isn't really made for recording, and I know there's a huge difference between sound cards and audio cards, but the Inferno seems to suit my needs well enough.

Still, I think I'm going to have to lean towards the VTB-1. Would this be the best choice for my situation?
 
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