Microphones and PC connections

S

sotorious

New member
Well this is my first post let me start off by saying hello.

I have a few concerns and i was wondering if you guys can help me here. Let me start with the first.

I am looking for a mic mainly for vocals. my budget is between 200 to 500 (if necessary) I am all about quality.

So my question here which mic is the best for vocals that my money can buy me. I was looking at the Shure KSM27 and the 32. I would love to hear you guys opinions.

Also I am looking for the best way to connect it to my computer. Where i have complete control of controlling gains and the best quality.

I was looking at this

http://www.musiconmypc.co.uk/maudio-firewire-solo-mobile-audio-interface-with-preamps-p-248.html

no i am not from Europe i am from the states that's just a quick link i could find.

Also what about if i upgrade my sound card. Right now I have an Asus Xonar D2/PM I was thinking about the Asus Xonar Essence XTX since that has the mic and head phone pre amp. Let me know your opinions.

I am on a PC with windows 7. It is quiet a powerful machine. i7 @ 3.8 6gigs of ram etc.


This part may be for another section. Right now i just have a standard usb mic logitech and i am getting some delay when i record something to the beat it seems to be off by half a second. I am using Adobe Audition. Thank you in advanced.
 
Welcome aboard, Sotorious.
You have some required reading, I'm afraid.
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
You'll get a lot from that site, Including why you get that 1/2 second delay. (Latency)
Basically, your audio signal is running around your motherboard, getting converted to a digital signal and then back to analog for playback purposes. Takes time.
That's why you want an Audio Interface.
You are allowing a generous amount for a microphone but falling short in the interface department.
Read Tweakheadz guide.
Then shop around, possibly for a package that will get you started.
A word about Microphone quality though. (And this is my humble opinion)
The difference between a $100 microphone and a $250 microphone is roughly $150.
Quality doesn't really improve until you hit the $350 mark.
No harm done if you take that $500 (Which is an excellent starter budget) and divide it between an audio interface $200 - $250, a Large and small condenser mic $75 - $150 for the pair and a decent set of powered monitors $100 - $150.
This is all starter gear and you will outgrow most of it but by that time, you'll know exactly what you want and that's different for everyone.
Now.. Read Up & Enjoy! :)
 
In your opinion is that M-Audio that i posted a pretty decent one i even see that he has mentioned it in his guide.

As i am briefly looking through it i will sit down and read the whole thing.

I am just looking for a decent mic. I have used a cheap walmart plug in mic before and created a song that sounds pretty good. took a lot of tweaking thats why im trying to eliminate that part even though i know tweaking is always necessary.
 
Nope.
Not good enough.
I am a fan of M-Audio and have no trouble recommending their Fast Track Pro or Fast Track Ultra to you but nothing less than that.
And make sure it says "Pro" or "Ultra". Not the Fast Track USB.
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MDOFTRACKPRO
These units come loaded with features that you do not even realize you need yet.
You can pick up a large condenser mic for less than $100 and will find lots of threads here on that subject.
Small condenser mics come in pairs for as little as $50 and can be quite amazing.
M-Audio makes a pair of powered monitors for around $100 which are better than PC speakers and will do the job until such time as you are willing to pay $400 for a serious pair.
 
Unlike Jim, I am not an m-audio fan. This is from personal experience and should be only be considered my opinion. Lots of folks love m-audio stuff and I'm sure that if I used it more, I would find good qualities. I just had a bad experience with support.

I would set my interface budget then look at several brands including m-audio. Other good ones are Presonus, Lexicon, some of the Alesis stuff plus a bunch of others. I would check that they have good Win 7 drivers. A lot of manufacturers are behind in their Win 7 drivers.

I agree with what everyone said. Interface number 1 priority, then a decent mic.
 
MOTU, Edirol, Emu... the list goes on.
Just take your time.
If you can hang on to your money for another week, I'm sure there will still be gear for sale. :)
 
I chose M-Audio because it was kind of the first thing i kind of set my eyes on. Thats another thing i am worried about driver support. As i have been still looking into M-Audio and seeing what they have to offer, and you guys are saying the interface is the most important thing. I am thinking about going kind of expensive on that and sort of skimming on the mic.

I have been looking into the M-Audio profire 610 for 399. Also the AT 4040, i hear it seems to be the best bang for the buck, and its pretty amazing for the price. I mean i am fairly new to this stuff and its probably going to take me a while before i figure out what brand is good etc.

I would just love something with great driver support for windows 7 really. Even XP if i decide to put it on a laptop. I am def open for recommendations.

Been watching a bunch of youtube videos of the 610.
 
M-Audio are stellar when it comes to keeping their drivers up-to-date.
Pro Fire looks good. No inserts that I can see but that's not such a biggie.
According to the reviews, there's a huge improvement in the preamps. That's good but according to others... the drivers can be a bit buggy. If that's true, M-Audio will fix it but as is often the case, the poorer reviews look like they were written by a failing grade sixer.
I'd say "Yes" but at $400, there's lots more looking to do.
How much is the Zoom R16?
 
Jim Lad said:
M-Audio are stellar when it comes to keeping their drivers up-to-date.
Pro Fire looks good. No inserts that I can see but that's not such a biggie.
According to the reviews, there's a huge improvement in the preamps. That's good but according to others... the drivers can be a bit buggy. If that's true, M-Audio will fix it but as is often the case, the poorer reviews look like they were written by a failing grade sixer.
I'd say "Yes" but at $400, there's lots more looking to do.
How much is the Zoom R16?
Click to expand...

I found the Zoom R16 on amazon for 399. It is a bundle pack. It also seems to be usb. I was trying to go firewire since it seems to be the best way to connect it, but if usb is just as good i have no problem. Boy does that thing look confusing.

http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-Stand-Al...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1276993354&sr=8-2
 
For what you want to do, I don't think you would see a difference between firewire and USB. Where firewire excels is for multiple inputs, like running 8 mic's for a full band set up. USB will easily handle 2-4 inputs without noticing a difference.

That said, for around the $400 range, I would seriously look at the Presonus stuff. One other bonus thing to look at with an interface is that most come bundled with some flavor of software. Presonus will come with Studio 1 Artist, which is a newer DAW program, but I tried the demo and it is excellent.

Cakewalk (Edirol) interfaces will come with Sonar 8.5 LE. M-audio stuff will come with a lite version of Pro-Tools. This is one of my beefs with M-Audio. They try to lock you into the Digi-Protools trap and you end up with perfectly good gear that they don't support, so you have to spend a wack of money to get the latest stuff that they will soon not suport again!
 
USB has come a long way.
Besides this thing is also a stand alone recorder.
Walk into any music shop, by the way and expect to pay $20 - $30 per XLR cable.
It's a no brainer.
No doubt, it also comes with Cubase 4LE.
 
Your links aren't working but if it's any one of the Presonus Fire Hydrants, Fire Poles, Fire Pods, Fire Fighter thingies...... Yup!
Lots of folk swear by them.
Incidentally, be prepared for a steep learning curve, no matter what you choose.
Have fun with it. :drunk:
 
If you go to guitarcenter.com and type this PreSonus FP10 Audio Recording Package <--- on this one i hear that the mic inputs are low.

let me know if that package is worth the price, and is that interface really necessary? i know the more the merrier but i dont want to loose any signal strength by having more ports (idk if that even make sense)


and this is the other one PreSonus FIRESTUDIO MOBILE I am sure im in for a steep one but im ready. <--- im really thinking about this one.

Also seems like i am going to need xlr cable to the plug type cable. Ive used a tascam before which didnt require that.
 
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Yeah: I just keep finding myself in their homepage and not going to run around looking for their gear but I pretty well know what you're looking at.
It's all great stuff and it's your money.
You won't go wrong with Presonus.
I still prefer the Zoom but it's your choice that matters.
Go for it.
Read the reviews and dive in. :)
 
Jim Lad said:
Yeah: I just keep finding myself in their homepage and not going to run around looking for their gear but I pretty well know what you're looking at.
It's all great stuff and it's your money.
You won't go wrong with Presonus.
I still prefer the Zoom but it's your choice that matters.
Go for it.
Read the reviews and dive in. :)
Click to expand...

I eneded up going with a focusrite saffire 6 usb because they didnt have anymore in stock im going to test this thing out.
 
I look at your primary objective and what you finally bought and have to say "Yes".
Good choice for what you want to accomplish.
I don't know the unit but the brand name is well respected.
Really nice mic too.
You're ahead of the game, Bud.

What about software?
 
Jim Lad said:
I look at your primary objective and what you finally bought and have to say "Yes".
Good choice for what you want to accomplish.
I don't know the unit but the brand name is well respected.
Really nice mic too.
You're ahead of the game, Bud.

What about software?
Click to expand...


Adobe audition.
 
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