Am i on the right track with a good vocal preamp?

[ In other words, I'm happy about the quality of vocal recordings I'm getting, and have even been complimented on it at times by people in the know.

There ya go

I've tried out the occasional preamp, all of them below €1k/$1.5k (JoeMeek, RNP, DBX, Aphex, SPL, M-Audio, Presonus),

not very good stuff, okay, but a lateral move in your case

So basically what I'm asking between all the thinly-veiled bragging going on is whether I'm doing the band and myself a disservice, Gene Frenkle-style, by not capturing the best possible vocal sound, but only one that's good enough. Am I?

probably. what mics do you use? the rest of your chain?
 
...here's an alternate plan...the best sounding preamp under $500 IMHO is the Golden Age Projects PRE-73 ($299)...a very viable chinese Neve-clone that offers a broad range of tonal variations from clean to "mojo"...and 80dB of gain to drive any condenser, dynamic or ribbon mic...if you like the Great River ME-1NV, you'll like the PRE-73...similar vibe for cheap...great on vocals...you just have to understand the gain staging on the Neve-style preamps to make the best of the tonal possibilities...

...look, the RNP is a nice clean pre, but a bit of a "one-trick pony" IMHO...why not give yourself some options in the "mojo" department...and one more recommendation...if you're tracking vocals in an untreated (or minimally treated) space, don't overlook the Shure SM7B as a mic option...a dynamic is less sensitive to picking up the neighbors dog barking, or similar ambient noise, than an LDC condenser mic...and it sounds terrific with the PRE-73...

...I track only vocals in my studio...while Reggae is my preferred musical style, my team and I have recently had some success in the House music arena in Europe...and the PRE-73/SM7B combo delivered the goods!...
 
Big Kenny said:
probably. what mics do you use? the rest of your chain?
Click to expand...
Behringer B-1 90% of the time, and when it really sounds wrong on a vocalist (my voice happens to be perfect for the Behringer), I'll whip out the old SM-57. Into the Allen&Heath ZED420 for preamplification and phantom if applicable, and then through the RNC in Supernice mode at about 2:1 (it's hard to say exactly with the Supernice mode as you may know), up to 6/8db of reduction according to the meter, and into the Yamaha A3000 sampler - tada!
 
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