Better equipment but it sounds worse

[Miztaken]

Ok well to start off I am completely new here so thats why this is in this section i was not sure where else to place it.

I have been doing really minor home recording for like the past year or two and I usually use
M-Audio Nova or MXl v57
which are both very budget mics.
and pro tools 8(mbox 2 mini)

Well i recently purchased a shure ksm 32 which was quite a bit more expensive and just seems built better however recording on it does not seem to sound as good as the Nova and i would expect it to sound a lot better. Now honestly I don't area-test or anything or test for dynamics on my own if there is a bad take due to dynamics or something like that i adjust then but not knowing a lot about recording or mixing what should i do to get the most out of this mic and should i be expecting it to be a better mic because I have read all good reviews on it but that isn't saying much now. Can somebody help?

 

[philbagg]

Ok well to start off I am completely new here so thats why this is in this section i was not sure where else to place it.

I have been doing really minor home recording for like the past year or two and I usually use
M-Audio Nova or MXl v57
which are both very budget mics.
and pro tools 8(mbox 2 mini)

Well i recently purchased a shure ksm 32 which was quite a bit more expensive and just seems built better however recording on it does not seem to sound as good as the Nova and i would expect it to sound a lot better. Now honestly I don't area-test or anything or test for dynamics on my own if there is a bad take due to dynamics or something like that i adjust then but not knowing a lot about recording or mixing what should i do to get the most out of this mic and should i be expecting it to be a better mic because I have read all good reviews on it but that isn't saying much now. Can somebody help?

Just because it's more expensive doesn't make it better. Maybe the nova complements what you're using it on. I have a shure 57 (apparently THE guitar amp mic), and a shitty sennheiser e818. The e818 wins hands down on my lead stuff. Play around with other stuff and see which sounds best on what.

Also, don't base your opinions on other peoples. Make your own decisions. A top class engineer could tell me that mic A sounds best, I might prefer mic B. This is the beauty of recording, it's all opinions (for the most part).

 

[darrin_h2000]

the source and room can be the difference between the KSM32 being one off the best mics available...or a mic that is exploiting a bad room.

One of the things I do know is that if the voice isnt pretty...the KSM32 isnt going to flatter it very much...and it isnt what Id put in front of a rock'n'roll voice...unless if it is a girl.

 

[Miztaken]

the source and room can be the difference between the KSM32 being one off the best mics available...or a mic that is exploiting a bad room.

Honestly the room probably is not ideal for recording and the KSM32 sounds a lot more clear when solo but it sounds drowned out by the background instrumental or muddy if I adjust things.
It might just be me not being good at mixing but unmixed the Nova sounds more 'full'

How far should the mic be from the person recording and how loud should the input be on the m-box 2(for people who use pro tools)

 

[TimOBrien]

The room is 80% of the sound.

Just buying equipment wont give you studio sound;
that's why the big boys spend millions building acoustically perfect studios.....

 

[Miztaken]

The room is 80% of the sound.

Just buying equipment wont give you studio sound;
that's why the big boys spend millions building acoustically perfect studios.....

The thing is it sounds very clear if i listen to vocals solo but when listening with an instrumental layering them they sound muddy or too quiet Ive tried lowering the instrumental but then the vocals just sound obnoxious like they dont belong. Ive tried recording louder, ive tried turning up the input but then i just end up to loud and hitting the peak. I would imagine it is due to lack of proper mixing but thats part of the reason I am here. Ive read and watched a lot about mixing but even after listening to stuff it doesn't turn out as i wanted. That problem might be to lack of decent headphones/monitors.

And how would you make an acoustically perfect room. Doesn't that slightly matter on your opinion. Completely padding a room I imagine would make it sound very bland. Not padding it may result in echo. Certain people like a certain sound but i have no clue what perfect or even decent is. Enlighten me

 

[stealth_prod]

See thats how your hearing it, which has to do with either 2 things or both. Acoustics of your room and mixing. Have you tried bouncing your mix to a cd and see how it translates on other systems? Does it sound that boomy in a car? CD player? etc.

Acoustics of the room may also be showing you the boominess(yeah). What kind of monitors are you using? How small is the room your mixing in? Sorry but its not always plug and play unfortuneatly. You will get there.

Plus I take it your using premade instrumentals and rapping over them? Not the easiest to get to sit into a mix if half the song was already mixed once without your vocals.

 

[Miztaken]

See thats how your hearing it, which has to do with either 2 things or both. Acoustics of your room and mixing. Have you tried bouncing your mix to a cd and see how it translates on other systems? Does it sound that boomy in a car? CD player? etc.

Acoustics of the room may also be showing you the boominess(yeah). What kind of monitors are you using? How small is the room your mixing in? Sorry but its not always plug and play unfortuneatly. You will get there.

Plus I take it your using premade instrumentals and rapping over them? Not the easiest to get to sit into a mix if half the song was already mixed once without your vocals.

Haven't tried bouncing anything down yet but yea i would imagine premade instrumentals wouldnt make it any easier. Guess I will just have to get proper mixing equipment and more experience thanks

 

[dintymoore]

... And how would you make an acoustically perfect room...

Here's a couple of pics I like. The first is the "Snake Pit", the room in the back of Berry Gordy's house where the early Motown hits were recorded. Is this the most successful home recording studio?

And Studio 2 at Abbey Road, where a couple songs where recorded by some group, I can't recall the name... they could have gone somewhere if they'd just learned some originals...

Man I'd love ceilings 1/2 that height! Those rooms look anything but dead. And they're both far, far from perfect.

 

[darrin_h2000]

And Studio 2 at Abbey Road, where a couple songs where recorded by some group, I can't recall the name... they could have gone somewhere if they'd just learned some originals...

.

Dont be dissing Pink Floyd...sure they didnt make Abbey Road famous...but they did sell more records than anyone else that used the place...and they are in decent company.

 

[darrin_h2000]

Here's a couple of pics I like. The first is the "Snake Pit", the room in the back of Berry Gordy's house where the early Motown hits were recorded. Is this the most successful home recording studio?
.

Ive been in Elvis's home studio...I have the pics I took somewhere...weird...the studio in the house that Billy Bob Thornton bought from Slash is also called the snake pit.

 

[dintymoore]

Dont be dissing Pink Floyd...sure they didnt make Abbey Road famous...but they did sell more records than anyone else that used the place...and they are in decent company.

That they are!

There must be some message there when the rooms where the musicians (the snakes?) go keep being called the Snake Pit...

 

[mshilarious]

Rooms matter a whole lot when tracking drums or mixing, but less so when there is a mic mere inches from your face. The M-Audio has a presence peak whereas the KSM32 is flat response. You apparently like a presence peak on your voice, which is common. Mystery solved.


PS that Motown room is plenty big. Use the grand piano for scale, that room could hold six of them. Also, wood floor, absorptive high ceiling . . . I think they did OK.

 

[dintymoore]

... that Motown room is plenty big. Use the grand piano for scale, that room could hold six of them. Also, wood floor, absorptive high ceiling . . . I think they did OK.

Yes they did, and in many ways!

What I notice when I look at those pics, besides the obviously nice ceiling heights, is that there's a variety of absorbent and reflective surfaces, and that there's a lot less (to the naked eye anyways) sound treatment than a lot of people would recommend. A lot less, and they're both basically one big room.