Mic or Preamp?

Jburn34

Jburn34

New member
I did some mic comparisons today a a fairly dark and bassy voice using a Studio Projects C1 and an AT 4047 mainly but also threw in an mxl 603 and beta 58. I recorded through an M-audio dmp3 directly into protools. The singer sang along to an orchestra track that had been recorded earlier in church.

I never got a good sound out of any of the mics. We ended up staying with the c1 and 4047 mainly, and I could never get the clear highs that I wanted. With some minor eq, reverb, and compression, I got it blending with the accompanient OK but not great...kind of muddy I guess.

I then compared it to the same orchestral track with his voice reocrded on a Beta 87 WIRELESS through a soundcraft Ghost mixer, live, in church. Obviously there was better natural reverb ( I record in a dead room and add reverb in the mix) but there was so much cleaner of a sound. No muffledness and a lot of "openess." This mix was not eq'ed at all...It was totally raw.

Is it the soundcraft preamps that are that much better? What can I find in the 500 to 700 dollar range that will be that much of a stepup to the dmp3? I am willing to buy used off ebay but I am wondering how much of this is preamp and how much of it is mic. I guess I am shocked that a wireless mic in a live performance out-did my "studio" mics so badly.

Jeremy
 
I don't think it is the equipment, I think it is your micing technique and your room. The highs will be the first to be absorbed in a dead room. How close was this dark and bassy singer to the mic? The proximity effect is exponential.
 
Yea, dude. Think about it a little.

Contrast your Church; A big, wide-open space with what I'm assuming are very high ceilings, etc. versus tracking in your basement or bedroom closet. :D
 
At first he was maybe 8-12 inches. Later on I thought about that so he moved back to maybe 1.5 feet. What is your advice then? We added slight reverb that helped but he didn't like too much. Also the C1 is fairly bright already.

I admit that I'm sure my experience or lack thereof had a lot to do with the sound. I tried it sometimes with the mic level with his mouth and sometimes I put it up higher with it pointing slightly down at him.

Thanks,
Jeremy
 
If you have a long mic cord, try putting the singer in another, bigger room. I don't know that processed reverb or compression are going to help you, but you can try a little eq boost in the 8-12 kHz range to add brightness or a little cut in the 250-800 Hz range to remove muddiness.
 
I'm thinking about taking a couple of the fiberglass panels out of the room and exposing a part of the cedar wall on one side. The room is about 6x5 and right now the walls and ceiling are covered with absorptive material. I also have a foyer with tile floor that I might try recording some vocals with some gobos set up around the person. We tried it in there with no gobos last night but it was full of slap echoes and such.

Thanks for the advice guys...I did add some boost from about 6khz on up pretty heavily last night (3-7db) and that seemed to help.
 
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