$400, what will improve me most?

  • Thread starter Thread starter EdJames
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Or go ahead and get the $400.00 pre and when you save some more money, get a better mic. Heaven forbid there be a gap between purchases.....
 
Creamyapples1 said:
Or go ahead and get the $400.00 pre and when you save some more money, get a better mic. Heaven forbid there be a gap between purchases.....
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This probably is the best advice. A better preamp will make the V67 sound a lot better, and then you can upgrade the mic next.
 
So here's what I'm doing...

I have bought a ten metre mic lead to extend it to my fitted wardrobe. In here I am going to hang transit blankets on clothes hangers in a digital C shape. This should block out the sound.

Since the Mxl V67 is brand new I will relist on Ebay and use that money towards the Audio Technica AT 4040. I might buy a Shure SM-58 as a backup vocal mic too.

Preamp wise I have ordered a $300 DBX 286 A microphone preamp which I was advised on this board was good for the money.

So, have I taken on board what you all said and made a good decision?
 
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If you are happy with your end result, then it was well worth it. I don't think anyone will really be able to tell you much more than that, accurately, but it's progress and a step in the right direction for sure.
 
I like your mic choice, but I'm not crazy about your preamp choice.

You'll keep that AT4040 for as long as you are recording. You may purchase additional mics later, but AT4040 the AT4040 is a mic that you can keep around forever. Good choice.

The DBX 286 better than the Audio Buddy, no question, but another couple hundred dollars or so gets you into a whole different league. That's my only comment on it really.

However, you have definitely upgraded your front end. I think you will hear quite a difference in the results. Live with this setup for a while and then in a year or two think about taking it another step up.

I also think you were probably right to go with a balanced kind of approach and upgrade both the mic and the preamp. The only thing I would have suggested is maybe keep the V67 and add AT4040 the AT4040 to it. Assuming you can afford to do that. I think it is a good thing to have at least a couple different mics around.
 
SonicAlbert said:
I like your mic choice, but I'm not crazy about your preamp choice.

You'll keep that AT4040 for as long as you are recording. You may purchase additional mics later, but AT4040 the AT4040 is a mic that you can keep around forever. Good choice.

The DBX 286 better than the Audio Buddy, no question, but another couple hundred dollars or so gets you into a whole different league. That's my only comment on it really.

However, you have definitely upgraded your front end. I think you will hear quite a difference in the results. Live with this setup for a while and then in a year or two think about taking it another step up.

I also think you were probably right to go with a balanced kind of approach and upgrade both the mic and the preamp. The only thing I would have suggested is maybe keep the V67 and add AT4040 the AT4040 to it. Assuming you can afford to do that. I think it is a good thing to have at least a couple different mics around.
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So which pre-amp would you be mad about?
 
EdJames said:
So which pre-amp would you be mad about?
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Well, unfortunately that would be above your current budget!

I think you did pretty well with your choices, the more I thought about it. I would probably spent the money on a Grace 101 or maybe Groove Tubes BRICK. Or I might have just gone a little simpler with the preamp and got a Rane MS-1b.

But having a channel strip like the DBX will be a great learning experience for you, so I really think you have done well with your choices.

Like I said earlier, you might want to keep the V67 for variety, or at least long enough to try it out with the 286 and see if you like it.
 
Cool, you are a star mate, thanks.

I have decided to keep the V67 for the moment. I don't actually record OTHER artists, so a mic palette isn't neccessary but I'll see how it sounds with the pre first.

My main problem is, I'm from the UK, and I've searched everywhere and can't seem to find the Grace 101, GT Brick OR MS-1b. A few people recommended the Grace.

One thing that concerns me is you mention channel stripping. I guess I'm a novice and could be shocked when I get the DBX since I've no clue what that is! Can you give some idea?
 
Well, a channel strip just means you have eq and compression along with the preamp. More knobs to twiddle. Which can be good or bad. :D

I took a listen and you've done quite well with the gear you currently have. I think a mic and preamp upgrade will be good for you though. Because your music is so vocal oriented, it is money well spent to make that as good as possible.

The reason for having a few mics even with one vocalist is that you can use the character of the different mics on different songs. Or, you can use one mic for lead vocals and another mic for backup harmonies. That can help separate them naturally in the mix. So like the more upfront in your face mic would be used on the lead vocal, and the mic that sits a little back or darker or whatever could be used on the backgrounds.

I'd think the Grace would be available in the UK, but maybe not. There's a two channel preamp made by D&R that I've had recommended to me, but I've never used it so I can't give a personal recommendation on it. It's around $500 and is a European company.

I'll keep my thinking cap on.

As has been mentioned in your other thread, there's the DAV BG-1, which is great. But that is a bit over $500 US. Great quality though.
 
Cool, thanks for explaining that.

Afraid the DAV BG-1 isn't available in the UK though :(
 
Hey guys, thanks for all the help. Just thought I'd let you know that I found a price match offer at Dolphin Music and have managed to get:-

DBX 286 A £155.00 ($280?)
Audio Technica AT4040 £99.00 ($170?)

I've guesstimated the dollar pricing, but I'm pretty happy with that. Am going to go ahead and order both on the 27th once my paycheck comes in (I'm £50 short in my PayPal :()
 
Really the best improvement for your $400 if you are very vocal orinetated would be singing lessons and how to get the best out of your voice.

Everyone here overlooked this and went right into "gearslutmode" :D
 
I appreciate your point, but having had singing lessons before I found them a huge waste of time and money. Much like all industry, I don't think there's anything better for your progression than being thrown/throwing yourself in at the deep end and just honing your skills day and night.

Vocally, there's no amount of coaching that'll make someone sound like they sing 10 hours a day seven days a week if they don't. Christina Aguilera for example, is not someone who was trained extensively, that is someone who has just worked damned hard themselves and practiced and practiced and practiced.

In summary, whilst I appreciate the point you make, artists such as Victoria Beckham have proven time and time again that vocals come second to decent equipment. With the right equipment you can make the weakest singer in the world sound like a platinum selling artist!
 
SonicAlbert said:
Well, I kind of feel the same but the other way around. As in: you are suggesting feeding a $400 mic into an $80 Audio Buddy? :D
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Fair enough. I'm not sure how good/bad the AB's pres are, but I figure they're at least passable.

I guess the reason I'd lean towards a mic upgrade first is that buying a second mic will get you a significantly different (not necessarily better) sound, and at that point, you now have two distinct sound qualities that you can use to better match with what you are recording. By contrast, buying a pre gives you just a cleaner reproduction of the same original sound.

In my opinion, adding another mic is almost always a good investment, no matter how big your mic cabinet. By contrast, ignoring significantly colored pres (which you're not going to get in that price range unless Behringer noise counts as coloration), buying a new pre will only seem like a big improvement if A. it is significantly cleaner than the pre you already have, and B. you already like the overall sound of the rest of your chain (epsilon any noise or high end roll-off issues coming from the pre).

I wouldn't be at all surprised if you had to spend a good bit more than $400 to get a really obvious improvement by replacing the Audio Buddy... or its pres may suck, in which case it could be night and day. Without knowing that particular pre, I can't say for sure.

By contrast, I can say with some degree of certainty that just about any mic you could purchase from $10 up to $400 will sound very different from the mic that the original poster is using now. Maybe better, maybe worse, but definitely different. Hence my suggestion to go with a mic. :D


SonicAlbert said:
What about splitting the budget, like an Audio Technica AT4040 and a Studio Projects VTB1? Or an ADK Hamburg into a Rane MS-1b?
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Agreed, though I'd probably have suggested a ShinyBox ribbon (for a -really- different sound) with the upgraded transformer, coupled with either a DMP3 or maybe a Peavey PV8 (which has exceptionally clean pres for the money, IMHO).
 
Think I've changed my mind again Albert.

Was all ready to by the DBX 286 a and AT 4040 on Friday, but I've bottled getting the preamp. I rung Grace's UK seller but it's £500 so well outside my budget. I'm now considering spending just a bit extra and getting the AT4040 with an ART MPA Gold, whatchu think?
 
What about the ART Pro Channel? The MPA Gold is two channels, but doesn't have all the channel strip features that the Pro Channel does. If you don't need two channels there's no reason to pay for them. Better perhaps to have the eq and compression to play around with.

Also, keep the M-Audio Tampa in your consideration. I haven't used one myself, but I've read so many positive remarks about it that I think you shouldn't eliminate it.

But again, there's no reason to pay for two preamps if you only need one. The MPA Gold is two preamps in one box. If that is what you need then great, but if not, then get a single channel preamp that has more features that you could use.

If it were me looking for a $300 mic preamp/channel strip for singing, my top contenders would be the Art Pro Channel, and the Tampa. Or the Toft EC-1, but I think that is already beyond your price range. Maybe you could find a deal somewhere, because isn't Toft in England?

http://www.toftaudiodesigns.com/ec1.html
 
Art Pro Channel is too much sadly, £379 is the cheapest I can pick one up for, I don't want to go over £250 though.

The EC-1 is near £500 and well outside the price range

The TAMPA seems the best option, but it's still £225, which despite being under my £250, I just don't know how much of an improvement it'll be over the £160 DBX or Presonus. Seems a lot of extra money, but I'm not sure it'll be a lot of extra difference. The MPA Gold I can also get for £225, so I guess it's betwee nthat and the TAMPA.
 
You may be right. Perhaps go the cheap route now and then save up for a while and later on down the road pick up a truly top flight preamp.

Between the 286 and the BlueTube I personally would go for DBX. Especially based on what you are saying about the kind of sound you want.

But either will be an improvement over the Audio Buddy.
 
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