How much am I missing?

OhSh1rt

OhSh1rt

Who needs a 57 anyway?
Greetings HR, you've all been pretty awesome as a resource even if I rarley start a thread,

but anyways.

I've been recording drums latley, 4 mic's setup usualy something like: One on the left, one on the snare, a kick, and one on the right

Now, hold you're breath, im using some nice, uh, amature-amature-amature NADY microphones and honestly, they don't sound too bad after using ProTools to compress and pan them out, it really made my crappy kit come to life with a not so bad/wide sound



If I spend $100 or $150 on a pair of mic's am I going to see that huge of a diffrence? Judging by my ability to save money, I'd say it's going to be quite a day when I can save up enough to get a $400+ mic


-jeffrey
 
Glad to have you Jeff, and that's exactly what I think this site is for...you've done it well if you've been here for a while, read lots, and finally found a question you want answered!

To stab at your question, I think it depends on what your desired end result is. I'd have to say that Mic placement is more important than what mic you use when you're using mics in that under 100-200 price range. I've found that I get small advances in sound each time I upgrade my mics. I went from an SM57 alone to an e609 and MD421 on my guitar cabs and saw some better sound, I also went from an SM57 on the snare to a Beyer M201TG on the top and a AT pro37r on the bottom and saw some better sound - that's spending over $300 per upgrade (and I kept the 57 to use too)... But I went from JM27's to 603's (a small price upgrade <200) and saw no sound advances.

I think that sometimes you'll get better results learing more about the mics you have and learning how to put them in that 'sweet' spot.

HOWEVER - there's a lot to the sound you're getting: The mic, the pre, the interface, the monitors, the cables you're using, your compressor... What's the rest of your soundchain and what's the specific mics you're looking at upgrading? Once we know that we can suggest better...

Jacob
 
My path to very basic recording:

RECORDING:
Nady (or other off brand mic) -> Behringer UB1204-PRO (low noise if controls are setup right) -> Delta 66 -> ProTools M-Powered


MONITORS:
Delta 66 -> Some cheap mixer -> Headphones OR
Delta 66 -> Cheap mixer -> Old (70's? it's real cool looking) Radio Shack (Realisitc) (given to me by my dad) Radio Receiver -> Pioneer Speakers (very large, home theatre? and should be replaced with a real monitor speaker)


currently no hardware compression/quality preamps, would these possibly be a better investment for the time?

And I must say after messing around, well, forever, I have seem to get a decent placement of the mic's



-jeffrey
 
Looking at your chain, I say you should save for monitors, and then after that get better pres, and then after that you should look at better mics.

Usually, I've found that the rule of thumb for upgrading is to upgrade the weakest link in your chain as best you can. I see your weakest link as your monitor situation, and after that your pres.

Jacob
 
Alright, sounds good to me, how long should I hold to save up for out a quality set of (active) monitors?


-jeffrey
 
OhSh1rt said:
Alright, sounds good to me, how long should I hold to save up for out a quality set of (active) monitors?


-jeffrey
Click to expand...

I would say that 4-600 bucks is a good minimum...but that's just my opinion. Look around here for some used ones - for 3 or 4 you can get a pair of monitors that would've originally cost 5 or 6. Be careful when you get used monitors though... (for obvious reasons)

Jacob
 
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