A few questions please

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CD OF SSL

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Yah , i record hiphop music (myspace.com/cdofssl) and i gots some equipment questions if some people would please help me out thad be tha shit ,, also im shure this has been asked tons of times so links can be helpful to ,,, anyway i have a mxl 990 alesis mixer stand pop filter and thats it ,,,, to me it sounds awful others say its alrigth but im tryna enhance my sound anyways know what i mean ,,, i use cool edit to record and mix everything ,,,

But can somone please help me out with what mic , and i dont now what else i need im sure studio monitors good cheap ones prefereably .. i plan on soundproffing a small closet with like bed eggcrate stuff is that a ideal idea ? lets see what else .. what other things do i need this usb alesis mixer is pretty much being used as a sound card and preamp right now because i use only one mic and i been messin with tha effects and eiter i tell no difrence or without them sounds better ,,,

on a mic i dont wanna spend more than like 200 but i want one thats nice

i dont know how much monitors cost but i would like good ones but not to costy

im jsut useing crappy headphones so whats a good cheap pair

i been lookin at this http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/240475/?c_bg=1 do i need it

i really have no idea what else i need please help out

Thanks

aim-cdavakacd
yahoo-cdavakacd07
 
Hi.

There are many good mics in the 200.00 range, and there are some for cheaper. Depending on how far you want to go with this, the more you should spend. I dont know much about the mxl 990 but i'm sure its not completly useless garbage or anything. I use a Rode NT1 for vocals that i paid about 199.99 for about 5 years ago. It sounds good for what I do, a good lower budget mic IMO. I'm sure you can find it cheaper now.

Assuming its not a toy, an entry level preamp may hinder the mic a bit, but not rediculously to where its going to sound "aweful".

Since you didnt mention what model mixer you used, I cant really comment on the preamp, or built in sound system but it's probably good enough for now.

Decent monitors are a must for playback and mixing and if your serious about getting deep into this then I would pick up a good pair, with a decent amp to power them. Or you could buy a pair of active (pre powered) monitors. Maybe the Tannoy reveal Actives? Also learn about acuostics while you are at if you plan on making decent portable mixes. Alot of good information on the subject can be found here http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html among other places.

Headphones are good for when you are in the booth but I wouldnt try mixing on them, not that its impossible its just more difficult to get things right.
Any pair will work in the booth, assuming they didnt cost 4.99 or came free with your portable cassette deck.

You could spend a very large amount on a mic and a very large amount on a preamp, but personally for recording hiphop i wouldnt blow 5000 dollars on a mic/pre/amp/mixer/monitor combo when you can get great results with cheaper gear and learning how to use it to its fullest extent.

Maybe there are other things causing issues? Why does it sound bad? Static? Vocals just dont seem right? If you can explain what sounds bad about it then it would be easier to help solve the problem.

There are alot of other things involved than just going to buy high dollar gear. The room you are recording in will effect the overall sound of the mic. I wouldnt try recording in the closet that you mentioned if its not treated with anything or it will most likely sound very boxy. Treatment is a whole other subject. Dont waste any money on bed padding unless your buying it to sleep on because its useless and a fire hazard i'm sure. Read around this forum, there is loads of information on treating vocal booths just in this section alone.

Buy a compressor. Vocals without compression arent very fun.

Cool edit pro is great for certain tasks but making it your primary piece of software doesnt seem like a good idea to me. How are you making the beats?
Also, maybe i'm wrong, but i didnt know you could mix with it either.
Picking up a copy of cubase, sonar or any other good quality production suite wouldnt be a bad idea.

You mentioned wanting "Good, but cheap" products. Well... There is no such thing. Quality costs money. Generally, as with anything on the consumer market, you get what you pay for. The more you spend, the better it is. Companies price their product on what their product is worth, they know they cant get away with selling a piece of shit for more than its worth. (for the most part at least!)

Basically what i would do is buy a cheap compressor, like an alesis nanocompressor, buy cubase, treat that closet (the right way) and stick with the rest of what you have for now. I bet you would be amazed at the quality that you can get out of the equipment if its used right.

Hope I was of any help at all.
 
Yo

Great info thanks ,,

This is my mixer http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/630166/

I believe it acts as a amp to monitors to ? ima looking into the compresser thing , and ne good ideas for monitor brand ? ill give u a link to a track later when i get home from work and school so u can see what im sounding like now ..

o and my mixer came with a cubase prgram , ill install it and tryt to figure it out

Thanks
 
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