Major Overhaul

[ginett101]

I have a dell inspiron 1200 laptop, mxl 990 mic, a small 40 dollar m-audio pre amp and all its hooked to my laptop by mogami gold cables. I am lookin to do a major upgrade to improve my sound and the quality of my music this year Any Ideas where i can start?

 

[dgatwood]

I have a dell inspiron 1200 laptop, mxl 990 mic, a small 40 dollar m-audio pre amp and all its hooked to my laptop by mogami gold cables. I am lookin to do a major upgrade to improve my sound and the quality of my music this year Any Ideas where i can start?

Hard to say. You have a so-so mic, a pretty awful audio interface, and a pretty awful mic pre. Replacing pretty much any of those components would yield a big improvement. Pick one. I'd probably get a decent USB or FireWire audio interface to start with (with pres built-in). That way, you'll actually be able to hear the difference when you compare different mics.

 

[Chili]

I can think of other places where you should be looking for improvement, your monitoring chain, listening environment and your recording environment; in that order.