Dynamic mics and preamps

The pre in a VC3 is superior to a budget mixer like a Mackie or
Behringer.

When you get into near/full gain, however, that chip is prone to become less stable, especially on a powerful singer through a '57.
(did that with my voice too on the VC3Q)
It's not junk, but you'll both be happier with a superior mic pre
like the ones mentioned in this thread.

AFAIK there was talk of a "great Joe Meek" exchange or some such from PMI (based on a "credit" towards with a trade-in).
You may want to contact PMI and ask them about that.

The pre in the new Meeks is quite good IMHO.
Same Burr Brown chip as in the Grace line of mic pre's BTW.
If I get one to play around with, will post accordingly.

The point should also be raised that a good parametric EQ is typically needed to tweak these microphones for better results too. Dynamics usually take EQing very well, condensers are more
problematical sometimes.

Chris
 
chessparov said:
The pre in the new Meeks is quite good IMHO.
Same Burr Brown chip as in the Grace line of mic pre's BTW.
If I get one to play around with, will post accordingly.
Click to expand...

I seem to remember Hyatt mentioning that they were going to use the INA-217 chip instead of the 163. Not to be nit-picky, but I know some techie heads who don't really like the 217 for some reason (they claim the high end sounds kind of funny).
 
Harvey that link doesnt work.

BubbaGump, I like those recordings you did, particularily the drum tracks. Kinda reminded of Pink with the drum programming. The singer is great for the style. I really like the Egyptian vibe on "Worth Dying For."

What did you record the rest of your music with?

I was advised that the Pheonix DRS-1 mic pre was a good pair with the SM-7B and was thinking of buying that myself. You might want to pick up one of those on Mercenary and try it for 30-days. Im not sure what the difference is between good and great pres for dynamics but im thinking the rule is once you step into professional gear just about everything is going to make your dynamic sound good. You get what you pay for. Hope that helps at all.
 
The RNP is reputed to have a seemingly symbiotic :) relationship with
the Shure's also. Been considering that one too as the Unidynes
pair well with my voice.

Harvey (and anyone else), how well does the RNP drive the SM7 as
far as having enough quiet gain on vocals?

Chris
 
PersonalJesus said:
Harvey that link doesnt work.
Click to expand...
That's because the "Rec Pit" is temporarily closed while they move to new forums. It's a great thread... try the link again later, you'll be glad you did.
 
chessrock said:
The Joe Meek is really good for recording loud sources -- basically because it has a ton of headroom and it's tough to make it crap out. On quieter things, it's really iffy. It has an unusually high amount of noise and various other artifacts when you crank the gain up too high. It's a decent pre though -- and the comp and EQ are pretty cool.
Click to expand...
That's my experience too. Too noisy for quieter things but it's a nice pre (VC6Q here).
 
The noise is exactly what is killing me with the Meek. I hit about 25-20db on the dial at just below unity at the output and it is hiss city. With the SM7, I need that kind of gain to get decent levels. If you listen to our stuff, it's not Sex Pistols screaming, so if the Meek is good on loud, loud we are not. I tried some violin over dubs with a it a week or so ago and went about nuts.

Harvey, thanks for the link to the Big Pre AMp thread. Sounds like it has lots of goodies in there.

Personal Jesus, well, the drums tracks ain't real. It's all programmed. The singer is my girlfriend and we are both pretty eclectic in our writing. We were thinking more Lebanese than Egyption. ;) We have fun.
 
when i compared an Audix D1 on snare with presonus digimax and an Avalon 2022 there was a HUGE difference. The avalon sounded so much silkier, it sounded very accurate like someone was hitting the snare right next to you.
 
I would say that the crux of this question will be a pre that maintains its clarity at a high gain.The SM7 is notoriously low gain.....And it has enough character of its own to warrant using a clean pre.Not to say that a Hardy isnt clean, and I do agree with the comment made about pres for dynamics needing a variable impedance feature and some iron in the path...A Phoenix or even the Speck 5.0 would be a good choice.The best being a Groove Tubes Vipre.But then it does a lot of things really well......
 
Bubbagump, I was wondering if you could tell me what mics and pres and other gear you used to record the song "worth dying for." It sounds pretty well recorded to me. :)
 
That particular track was back when I knew jack and we did it in a studio in maybe 1998 or 1999. (Yeah, we've been at this game for a long time.) I believe, if I remember correctly, the vocals were on an AT4050. The pre I don't know. Most of the stuff is MIDI. About the only live things other than vocals on it are the acoustic and electric guitars and the violin. I believe the electric was just a 57, the acoustic a 414(s), and the violin an SM81. Pres, again, I don't remember. Like I said, I didn't know jack about recording back when we recorded this. We were naive kids at the time who thought making it in the music business was reasonably possible with a good product.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top