Tube Pre -or- Compressor

[Aquanaut]

Right now i have a mackie 1402vlzPro, a CAD M39, and 4 sm57's. i'm looking for a warmer sound, but also a more refined one. would a tube preamp benefit me more than a compressor? i'm running into Cakewalk's SONAR, and that has compressors, but it only compresses the final signal of all the mics. i guess i'm not sure on how to improve my studio.

thanks

 

[xtremedb]

Buy a good mic pre before you worry about anythig else. The difference will be like night and day.

You may also want to consider trying another mic. I tried the 39 once and wasn't crazy about it. 4033 is better for the same price range (in my opinion).

It's strictly cardioid, but that's all you'll need to get started.

Anyway, get the front end sounding good and then worry about compression, etc...

Garbage in... garbage out.

Hope that helps,

Brad