Guyotsmith
New member
Friends, I made my first studio recordings 52 years ago, and also continually recorded at home over the years, with Teac reel-to-reel recorders and Shure microphones – and was very pleased with the sound quality.
Decades have passed and I am now an old-timer, long retired from performing in public. Despite not being tech-savvy, however, I am fascinated with the contemporary concept of file sharing and urgently want to give it a try. Hence, I purchased a Tascam DP 24SD. Believing that my old Shure microphones would not be equal to the task of giving me a good sound on vocals on my fine new Tascam, I bought a Sennheiser MK4 condenser mic. I struggled with the lingo in the instruction book, then hooked up the Sennheiser for vocals and another condenser for my Martin guitar, and blithely performed an old 19th century traditional song.
I was deeply disappointed. I was primarily interested in the vocal, but my efforts to adjust the volume through several takes of the song still gave the guitar excessive prominence. Yesterday, I took away the second mic and just recorded vocal and guitar via the one Sennheiser – since my purpose is to send vocals to other musicians for file sharing and the adding of instrumentation. The sound on the vocals is not one-tenth as good as it was, decades ago, on the reel-to-reel Teac units! It is dull, muffled, and very unimpressive – far inferior to what I used to get on an old 4-track cassette Portastudio.
What am I doing wrong? I cannot find an on-line tutorial to guide me. I am performing very simple, extremely old-fashioned, historical songs. All I want is a clear vocal sound with some presence. The phantom power is activated, I have repeatedly adjusted and tweaked the recording levels, but the sound quality is not what I expected. It is…..well, miserable. The unit is superb and the fault obviously lies in my lack of technical know-how. Any advice would be sincerely appreciated. Thank you so much.
Decades have passed and I am now an old-timer, long retired from performing in public. Despite not being tech-savvy, however, I am fascinated with the contemporary concept of file sharing and urgently want to give it a try. Hence, I purchased a Tascam DP 24SD. Believing that my old Shure microphones would not be equal to the task of giving me a good sound on vocals on my fine new Tascam, I bought a Sennheiser MK4 condenser mic. I struggled with the lingo in the instruction book, then hooked up the Sennheiser for vocals and another condenser for my Martin guitar, and blithely performed an old 19th century traditional song.
I was deeply disappointed. I was primarily interested in the vocal, but my efforts to adjust the volume through several takes of the song still gave the guitar excessive prominence. Yesterday, I took away the second mic and just recorded vocal and guitar via the one Sennheiser – since my purpose is to send vocals to other musicians for file sharing and the adding of instrumentation. The sound on the vocals is not one-tenth as good as it was, decades ago, on the reel-to-reel Teac units! It is dull, muffled, and very unimpressive – far inferior to what I used to get on an old 4-track cassette Portastudio.
What am I doing wrong? I cannot find an on-line tutorial to guide me. I am performing very simple, extremely old-fashioned, historical songs. All I want is a clear vocal sound with some presence. The phantom power is activated, I have repeatedly adjusted and tweaked the recording levels, but the sound quality is not what I expected. It is…..well, miserable. The unit is superb and the fault obviously lies in my lack of technical know-how. Any advice would be sincerely appreciated. Thank you so much.