Rap Oriented (advice please)

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RhythmAndPoetry

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Excuse my lack of knowledge in most shit regardin recording. But im gettin a soundproofed booth in my basement (soundproofed by sheetrock), and am lookin for a microphone set up for it.

Im a rap head and this is gonna b used for the most part for just that. I see alotta mics that seem to be oriented for instruments and singin vocals and such. I was wonderin if anyone rapped and had a reccomendation for a rap type mic... if that makes sense :-\.

We gonna be workin off a laptop just outside the booth so i first looked to the Samson CO1U USB Condenser Mic. I hear theres a latency problem and that specifically is killer when considerin its gonna be used for rap. I also wondered howd thatd get through to the laptop. I guess just a hole through the soundproof glass/door side. Wireless would be nice i guess lol.

Also plan to have it off the celing... saw another thread dealing with that and gonna go with the surface mount with some rubber method... dunno exactly how thatll work either though.

Any advice at all would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
I used Samson C01U mic and it didn't have latency problems with me.
But I'm assuming that "latency" problem is because they're recording not at 44.1k and it was 22k or something, that happened to me that's why.

But I'm upgrading to an AT4040 Condenser mic. :D
 

Since you didnt mention your budget...

Ima say pick up a Neumann mic and Universal Audio compressor...then call it a day:cool::p:)

 
I just want to strongly advise against USB mics. They're pretty much one trick ponies. Half of them don't even provide a way to listen to what you are recording without huge latency because they have no headphone outputs. The ones that do are at least usable, but still sound pretty bad (and I'm being kind here).

More importantly, though, with USB mics, you're buying an audio interface and a microphone in a single package and paying about 2/3rds what a usable interface and a comparable microphone would cost. When you get tired of it (and you will---probably about three seconds after you hear somebody else's recording setup that contains even a so-so microphone and a so-so interface), there's no upgrade path except to throw out the interface along with the $30 built-in microphone.

If instead you spend the extra $50 or $60 to get a usable USB interface and a crappy $30 condenser mic separately, you have an easy upgrade path for the craptastic microphone. Just toss it out and get a better mic.
 
Or sell to your friends who have no knowledge at all about microphones and the USB horror stories. :D

It's my easy $100 to make with my bunk C01U
 
Grafolicious said:
I used Samson C01U mic and it didn't have latency problems with me.
But I'm assuming that "latency" problem is because they're recording not at 44.1k and it was 22k or something, that happened to me that's why.
Click to expand...



Woah there partner. Latency is not generally an attribute associated with microphones.
 
RhythmAndPoetry said:
Excuse my lack of knowledge in most shit regardin recording. But im gettin a soundproofed booth in my basement (soundproofed by sheetrock), and am lookin for a microphone set up for it.

Im a rap head and this is gonna b used for the most part for just that. I see alotta mics that seem to be oriented for instruments and singin vocals and such. I was wonderin if anyone rapped and had a reccomendation for a rap type mic... if that makes sense :-\.

We gonna be workin off a laptop just outside the booth so i first looked to the Samson CO1U USB Condenser Mic. I hear theres a latency problem and that specifically is killer when considerin its gonna be used for rap. I also wondered howd thatd get through to the laptop. I guess just a hole through the soundproof glass/door side. Wireless would be nice i guess lol.

Also plan to have it off the celing... saw another thread dealing with that and gonna go with the surface mount with some rubber method... dunno exactly how thatll work either though.

Any advice at all would be appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...

You seem to be needing both an interface and a microphone.

If your Sager takes firewire, I recommend a firewire interface.

For rap primarily, I'd stick with a high quality dynamic like a Shure SM-7 or an Electrovoice RE-20 - which incidentally have excellent boom-arm mounts available since they are used so frequently for broadcasting.

The key here is that your interface will likely include microphone preamplifiers at a budget price point - and those preamplifiers must have enough gain to push the microphones properly.

You also are going to need some room treatment if you're recording in a sheetrock vocal booth.

So let's talk about your budget.
 
Oh my apologies... my budget would have to be round 300... for the whole set up of equipment... yeah :-.

That Shure sm7 and RE-20 look nice no doubt lol... but just ebay prices on em 300 and up. So i cant.

I guess broadcaster mics sposed to be most fittin for rap since is for the most part speach? Maybe i could find a cheaper joint.

But if not, Grafolicious, was the sound quality good on the C01U? Maybe you could drop me a sample or somethin. I mean i dont need it to be impeccable persay... but gotta be good nawmean.

Sager?... laptop brand?... nah. Im usin an old ass wacked out laptop for temporary use till i got enough to cop a mac or somethin. And I dunno much bout audio interfaces lol sorry.
 
Get an interface. A USB interface might not be a long term device in your recording setup, but will be far far better sounding and longer lasting than a USB mic.

Then, get a good mic, recommendations I'll leave to 'budget mic' forum searches.

For example I use a Behringer B2 Pro ($150, large diaphram condenser), which sounds great for my rock vox but may be too sibilant for rap (what kind of sound are you looking for?)


I'm thinking $100 for an interface (don't know the best ones myself, but lots to choose from around that price), and $200 for mic and cable, etc.
 
You might want to think about room treatment, you don't need SOUNDPROOF, If you put a mic in a little room made of Sheetrock and nothing else it will sound like shit!!
 
Suggestion: why don't you buy a nice mic, and then save up and buy a nice interface, and then treatment?

You're trying to spread 300 bucks way too thin. You're going to wind up with a pile of stuff you want to replace. Just spend the money once.
 
What, the shit i picked not so good? Well i mean i get what your sayin but i mean i gotta buy headphones and save up for a laptop as well. I dont even know bout this room treatment stuff. Im just tryina start up really... im willin to replace/upgrade everythin later on.

$100 mic (with shockmount and windscreen), $70 interface, $50 headphones, $20 stand and mount for celin... that leaves like 60 for room treatment and savin for a laptop.
 
Room treatments are not cheap...but if you are good with the glue and spray paint you can build nice diffusers out of scrap 2x4...corragated foam can be cheap if you buy it from a foam supplier instead of shopping auralex or some other ripoff outfit...be sure you get flameproof stuff.

But Id reccommend in your case a used SM57...a line6 ux1 or UX2 interface...that will keep that arround 200 bucks...you want to avoid condencers because rap artists ruin them with the excess spit.
 
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