What to Upgrade

A

adferrendelli

New member
Currently I am recording with a very simple recording chain. I use my zoom H4 4-track as an interface, using it's on-board mics to record my acoustic guitar, mexican strat, vocals, and my marshall amp. occasionally i will use the preamps on the H4 for plugging guitar directly in, but i prefer the sound of a mic.
I dont know what area to upgrade first, and i am on a limited budget. i am looking at new interfaces in the $400-$600 range, noisless pickups, and several mics. Which item would i upgrade in this situation to improve the sound the most
 
What are you mixing and monitoring with? I might look at that part of your setup. I would not spend more money on an interface unless the one I was using was not working for some reason. Do you need to record more than one channel at a time?

What kind of mic are you using for the acoustic? I might start there, too. Are you using a condenser mic or a dynamic mic? Or I might look at a preamp. For 225 or so you could get an M-audio DMP3 mic pre and a large diaphram condenser mic (chinese). I have a Studio Projects B-1, and it's a pretty good little mic for acoustic guitars and vocals.

I would think about your mixing and monitoring first, though.

Steve
 
Decent external mics and possibly a mic preamp will be to your advantage and well worth the investment. Built in mics do not allow you to place mics where you really need them to maximize the sounds being recorded. Built in mics also pick up a lot of noise from the machine they are in. A good monitor system is also needed, you need to be able to hear (accurately) what you are recording.
 
Definitely start with the mics. I'm not sure what the zoom has for preamps or if it has phantom power but you'll probably need a preamp or small mixer. I think that even an inexpensive large diameter condensor will sound better than the built in mics on the zoom. Check out MXL's lone of cheap condensors.
 
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