matched pair, mixer

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daveblue222

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im looking to invest in a nice pair of mics for stereo micing as well as a mixer for recording into cubase. i have about 150 for the pair and about 150 for a mixer. since im only recording in stereo i dont mind if its not i firewire mixer i.e recording onto separate individual tracks simultaneously. so i guess usb mixer would be fine?

i will be using guitar, vox, acoustic bass, and classical guitar for most stuff.

i was also wondering what is everyones prefered stereo micing techinique and what are the differences between each of them.

cheers
 
That is a small budget, so about your only solution is a USB interface plus a couple inexpensive mics. You could go omni, buy a pair of Naiants and have extra money to spend on a slightly better USB interface. You could also check out these:

http://www.karmamics.com/k10.html

I've never used them, but if I were starting out again and looking for a pair of cardioid condensers in the $150 and under range, I would definitely consider them.

Juan
 
That is a small budget, so about your only solution is a USB interface plus a couple inexpensive mics. You could go omni, buy a pair of Naiants and have extra money to spend on a slightly better USB interface. You could also check out these:

http://www.karmamics.com/k10.html

I've never used them, but if I were starting out again and looking for a pair of cardioid condensers in the $150 and under range, I would definitely consider them.

I've never been impressed with the Chinese capsules (and AFAIK, that's what Karma sells). The SDCs basically have no low end. (Looking at the response curve, that particular version appears to have no high end either. Must have a Chinese transformer inside. :D)

That said at $100 for a pair right now, that puts them cheaper than the other Chinese SDCs and they're theoretically matched, so I guess it's better than the other choices in that price range. You'd still be better off saving your money for a pair of MK-012s or C4s or any of a dozen other mics, IMHO, but if you need something to record with immediately, I guess those would probably be about as good as any other cardioid mics in that price class....

The only mixer I'd touch in the $150 and under price range is the Peavey PV series, but that would get you an audio interface. Don't touch the Behringer stuff. If I were doing this, I'd get either the Karma pair or perhaps a pair of Naiant X-Q mics, then take the money you saved (minus shipping costs, whatever that is) and add it to the $150 you planned to use on the mixer.

That extra few bucks puts you over the top for being able to buy a used Phonic Helix 12. It's a BeBoB device, which as FireWire hardware goes, is pretty reliable (unlike USB mixers which usually aren't, and unlike the DICE II chipset in the Alesis, which is pretty dodgy).
 
yeah i think i may save up a bit more and opt for the phonic firewire mixer. my friend has an alesis 16 friewire mixer and it took me days to get it to work!!! terrible drivers and updates, and not compatible with windows vista yet.
 
Why do you need a mixer if you are only recording in stereo? You will get a better sound with the DMP3. Pair that with two MXL603s and you have an excellent acou guit recording setup. The DMP3 and MXL603s combo will also do a decent job on vox.
 
yeah i guess that would be fine, how would i connect it to my laptop though????


cheers
 
Why do you need a mixer if you are only recording in stereo? You will get a better sound with the DMP3. Pair that with two MXL603s and you have an excellent acou guit recording setup. The DMP3 and MXL603s combo will also do a decent job on vox.

Only with a decent interface. Using built-in audio on laptops or some SoundBlaster card on a desktop is never going to give you low enough latency to keep you from going nuts. :)
 
yeah i think i may save up a bit more and opt for the phonic firewire mixer. my friend has an alesis 16 friewire mixer and it took me days to get it to work!!! terrible drivers and updates, and not compatible with windows vista yet.

That sounds like a good plan...if you absolutely can't wait to get recording, you can always get one of the Tascam 144 USB interfaces. You can even get a used one off ebay and save yourself $50. Before anyone rips on the 144, it may not be in the same class as the more expensive interfaces, but if you can't make a good recording with it, your problem is most probably your recording technique, not the equipment. I now use an Alesis 8 Firewire Interface and I can here an appreciable difference in sound quality with the Alesis interface, but not a night and day difference. Sorry to here you had problems with Alesis. While I had some set up issues the first couple days with mine, it now works very well. As a side note, if you can wait, it's probably worth the wait since your talking just and extra couple $100 or so,

Juan
 
yeah i guess that would be fine, how would i connect it to my laptop though????


cheers

Lexicon Alpha, EMU 0202, Tascam US122. I'm not that familiar with the these interfaces, but I believe they would work. I definitely do not care for all-in-one recording boxes that include preamps.
 
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The mics really are the most important link in the chain so dont buy cheap rubbish as you will always be disappointed with the end result. If you are strapped for cash try and find something good but uncool on Ebay like a shure sm81.
 
The mics really are the most important link in the chain so dont buy cheap rubbish as you will always be disappointed with the end result. If you are strapped for cash try and find something good but uncool on Ebay like a shure sm81.

This is, like everything else, very subjective. There are times when I will reach for an MXL 603s before a Neumann KM184 depending on what I'm going for. I have had the 603's for a very long time and haven't gotten rid of them because they find their way into almost everything I do.

plus, it seems as if he has no audio interface, having an sm81 won't do him very much good.

My advise would be to get a used onyx satellite and and a pair of MXL 603s. The 603's can be had for $110 for a pair new.
 
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