What do you think my next investment should be?

F

foreverdown

New member
Currently my studio setup includes the following :

M-Audio Delta 44
M-Audio DMP3 Preamp
P4 2.8 GHz CPU with 1GB of DDR 3200 RAM

Studio Projects C1
Shure SM58
Shure SM57

I also have a Shure KSM 44 on the way and a pair of Wharfedale Diamond Pro 8.2A's coming soon.

Now for my question. Right now I am doing all of my compression with plugins in Cubase. Should my next investment be a better preamp and continue to use plugins for compression, or should I get a compressor and then another preamp? Or maybe something else that I need. For right now I am mostly recording acoustic guitar and vocals.

Thanks,
Casey
 
Based on my own experience, snice Ive owned that gear and do acoustic music... a better preamp is going to give you the best bang for the buck right now. The price tags do get hefty though. I got a Phoenix Audio DRS-1. They cost around 1k for 1 channel but I have never regreted it.
 
forever. my personal opinion is you have enough to do very good recordings.
ive found in this biz even if you spend a wad of money the difference
between what you have now and the very high end is maybe 5 to 8 percent.
its the law of diminishing returns. and the consumer buying your song normally cant tell as long as it sounds good. i would focus on engineering skills and learning and recording as many different types of people as possible.
just my 2 cents.
 
You should invest in me to mix your songs :D

it wouldn't hurt for 50 bucks I'll do something for ya.
 
heh I am actually interested in maybe having my songs mixed by someone. I am doing all of this recording for my own music, and a few friends that also do acoustic and vocal stuff. manning thanks for your reply. I was kind of thinking that on my own. But then again I do want to get a compressor maybe? I've heard good things about the RNC. Do you think my recordings would benefit more from the use of a compressor with dmp3 between the mic and the computer or a better preamp with no compressor between the mic and the computer?
 
Yes, which is what I'm planning on doing. I wonder how much of a difference its really going to make if I add a new preamp though. I've been recording for about a year now and the main reason I got into it is so I could spend as much time working on my own music without having to worry about the price going up in a pro studio. I know I am sacrificing the experience of a pro engineer and some of the high end equipment, but I think that for acoustic tracks with vocals, its not worth all of the money I was spending in the studio.

For instance :
I paid 75 dollars per hour to record analog the song "Breaking at Dead-Ends" (the fourth track in the player at http://purevolume.com/foreverdown/) and then I recorded the song "I'll Find You" (the first song in the player at http://purevolume.com/foreverdown/) as a demo this summer at my house with the setup I listed above. (no pro monitors, only my Logitech Z-680's which are also sold by Alesis as 5.1 studio monitors, and the only mic I used was my C1) I honestly think that for the price my recording is much better. Especially since I was able to spend time and get most of the pitches right vocally. In the studio I paid for I only managed to get one or two vocal takes for each song. Do you think that new equipment on top of what I have already ordered (the wharfedales and the ksm 44) will improve the quality of my recordings enough to make a difference that I would say, "wow that sounds much better!"

Sorry for asking so much advice in this one thread, but I appreciate you guys helping me out here. This forum is one of my fav places on the net and you guys are amazing. Thanks so much.
 
forever.... my grandmother used to say , proof of the pudding is in the eating.
so - heres what i would do. go and RENT a couple of hi end pre's for a week.
do some recordings with them, and see if the pudding tastes better.
then it will set your mind at rest.
i make my own mic pre's for 20 bucks in parts and i occassionally try out others just to hear differences. or friends gear.
for example rent a great pre like a great river and hear for yourself.
then you will feel happier. some pre manufacturers will let you try on approval. an interesting site you might want to look at is jlmaudio.com.
peace.
 
I got an M-Audio TAMPA pre recently and I love it, plus it has a compressor which is very sweet....I've even started using it as an insert after tracking through it.

I've got a few tracks I used it on with a SP B1 for both acoustic guitar and vocals if you want an earfull go HERE and check out the tracks STAR and PENNY by Alan Marshall. I was very pleased with the results...mixed through the Wharfies too 8.2a's...love em!

Good luck on your search
 
Do you have any jammies recorded now with your present gear so we may take a listen and offer our OPINIONS as to what may suit you best?
 
timboz. re...diy pre's.
i basically use a standard differential front end. so i have a test rig i built ,,,i can try various op amps in. i'll save you a lot of time sorting through op amps.
instead of the cheap ones used in cheap mixers, i use higher level op37 type precision op amps. more expensive. but i like the sound.
one specific one i like is max 437 from maxim semiconductor.
you can also try other varieties. look for op amps with particularly low current noise which ive found in specs sound better over the lowest voltage noise. in particular burr borown op37 is very nice as well.
use low noise metal film resistors, keep feedback resistor loop values lower, and use low tcr capacitors. i have no pots on the circuit.
just set it with a decent gain , feed output to a line mixer and/or comp/lim
to control level going to sound card.
peace.
ps.....if your nice to some op amp manufacturers, they will send you samples
to try out.
 
MISTERQCUE said:
Do you have any jammies recorded now with your present gear so we may take a listen and offer our OPINIONS as to what may suit you best?
Click to expand...

If you are talking to me about my recordings, check this from my post a few up.

===
I paid 75 dollars per hour to record analog the song "Breaking at Dead-Ends" (the fourth track in the player at http://purevolume.com/foreverdown/) and then I recorded the song "I'll Find You" (the first song in the player at http://purevolume.com/foreverdown/) as a demo this summer at my house with the setup I listed above. (no pro monitors, only my Logitech Z-680's which are also sold by Alesis as 5.1 studio monitors, and the only mic I used was my C1) I honestly think that for the price my recording is much better. Especially since I was able to spend time and get most of the pitches right vocally. In the studio I paid for I only managed to get one or two vocal takes for each song. Do you think that new equipment on top of what I have already ordered (the wharfedales and the ksm 44) will improve the quality of my recordings enough to make a difference that I would say, "wow that sounds much better!"
===

I appreciate the feedback. thanks guys!
 
foreverdown said:
Currently my studio setup includes the following :

M-Audio Delta 44
M-Audio DMP3 Preamp
P4 2.8 GHz CPU with 1GB of DDR 3200 RAM

Studio Projects C1
Shure SM58
Shure SM57

I also have a Shure KSM 44 on the way and a pair of Wharfedale Diamond Pro 8.2A's coming soon.

Now for my question. Right now I am doing all of my compression with plugins in Cubase. Should my next investment be a better preamp and continue to use plugins for compression, or should I get a compressor and then another preamp? Or maybe something else that I need. For right now I am mostly recording acoustic guitar and vocals.

Thanks,
Casey
Click to expand...


I would wait till you get the wharfdales in and get very used to them before trying out preamps and other stuff. Once you ar familliar with the new monitors then you should be able to tell differences in pre's and such much more accuratly. Also as someone else stated earlier is that room accoustics are a very good investment and probably the most important one. This includes your monitoring enviroment too.

Well....you've heard it from the krim......good luck:)
 
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