Can yall help me with some purchases?

[tone_aot]

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Whasup guys. I'm sitting here mapping out the next few purchases i want to make for my studio. I'm going to put back money and budget so i can save for these items. I only want about two more mics, a compressor, and a preamp. The only thing i have on the list at the time is an adk a-51. I've used that mic at a friends house and it is excellent. I need a recommendation for another mic, a good quality compressor with good gate function, and a good preamp that is almost as good as the FMR RNP, but better than the m-audio dmp3/vtb-1. I'm trying to improve my vocal sound little by little. I don't have enough cash coming in to just buy this stuff so i gotta budget. Two weeks from now, i'll be finishing up a deal with one of my customers. I should have about $320 from that. I'm spending all the money i make from music on the studio. If i were to save half and spend half, what should i get first? Thanks in advance guys!

 

[tbone36109]

it might be a little ahrd to a preamp better than the dmp3 and still get 2 mics and a compressor for 320. you are probably looking at 320 on a preamp alone if you want something as nice as a RNP. and considering atleast 100 on both mics(which wont get you anything all that good and probably should buy just one mic for atleast 200) and atleast 100 on a compressor which might get you a decent one. depending on what software you use there are some free plugin compressors that on bad. i think it was sl boards giving away a pretty nice compressor for free just for signing up for their forums (it was some company like that)

 

[tone_aot]

Sorry i confused you. I didn't mean $320 for everything. I just wanted to know which items i should get off the list with the $320. It'll probably take me a while to get everything i want.

This is what i have so far:

I want 2 mics out of this list:

Adk a-51
At 4047
cad m9
Sennheiser Md 421
ksm 27
Oktava mk-219
mxl v6
mxl m3 b
mxl v69me
Re-20
se 2200A
Rode Nt1000
Studio Projects tb-1
Nady tcm 1150
adk vienna/hamburg
apex 460

I want 1 of these preamps:

Fmr-rnp
Symetrix 302 dual preamp
Focrusite Trackmaster Pro

I'm also planning for the following:

Studio project xlr cable
Popless 6 inch screen
FMR RNC

 

[superbeatballer]

Buy some sort of ol' RCA broadcast pre. They are well built and sound amazing if you can live without pads, phantom, phase, and other gadgetry. About $250 and up.

 

[tbone36109]

well if you are asking which to buy first what is currently the weakest part of your signal chain

 

[tone_aot]

I think the weakest part of my signal chain would be my mic pre. I use a cheap behringer mixer pre. I would like to buy an fmr rnp, but it would take too long to save for. I think i'm going to go with the rane ms b1.

 

[tbone36109]

ok the behringer would probably be a good place to start but also what mic are you currently using and do you need 1 or 2 channels in the preamp

 

[tone_aot]

I think the weakest part of my signal chain would be my mic pre. I use a cheap behringer mixer pre. I would like to buy an fmr rnp, but it would take too long to save for. I think i'm going to go with the rane ms b1.

Again, i use a behringer mixer preamp. I am thinking of purchasing a rane ms 1b preamp. I only need one channel. Thanks.

 

[daav]

haven't used it, but the m Audio Tampa is generally well thought of and (used) would probably fit right in between the DMP3 and RLP price range and will have (suppoesedly nice) compression as well.

For 300-400 you can also gfet a GT Brick therse days. I haven't heard of a heck of a lot of other respected pre's at less cost than the RNP though.

Definately consider the compression as part of the input chain, either on the pre (tampa) or outside (RNP). I am still the bargian pre stage myself, but i one of my bargians is a focusrite with built in compression, and though i don;lt think that the pre or compressor are much beyond the good-for-the-price category, some very light compression in the tracking stage has made for a really nice improvement in gain staging and overall recorded signal strength. It helps make up for singer with less dynamic control as well.

Daav

 

[tone_aot]

I'm astonished. Seems like i had TOO much soundproofing in my "closet" booth. I took all of the foam out and just left the blankets that i had in there. HUGE DIFFERENCE. I guess all that soundprooffing sucking out all my highs and boosting the lows. Now i see what they mean when they say you can put the Studio Projects c1 in the mix adding little to no eq. It's the exact vocal sound i've been looking for. Now, i'm going to scratch off everything on that list i made. I already bought the xlr cable so it's too late for that tho. The only thing i might still buy is the preamp. The behringer preamp has a noticeable amount of noise the farther up you turn the volume. As for the pop filter, i took the screen out of my old pop filter, attached it to a binder clip, then attached the clip to the gooseneck for my old pop fiter. PERFECT!!!! The hoop for the pop filter made my vocals have a strange "phasing" effect. Sounds much better without the hoop.

 

[tone_aot]

I'm 100% happy now. Today, i've taken out almost all of the soundproof foam, moved the mic into the corner of the booth, fumbled around with compression techniques, and finally, did a high frequency cut on my outboard mixer. I now know how to get different sounds out of the same mic. The c1 does not sound like a c1 now. I've got the exact sound that i've been trying to get since i've been buying mics (2 yrs roughly). I'm so happy i could kiss my gear, jus kiddin of course Now i got to figure out where to put all this foam. I put it in the booth on the floor behind one of the blankets for right now. I wanna put it in my mixing room (a.k.a. bedroom) but i'm in an apartment and don't want to mess up the walls. Also, i really don't know what particular spots i need to put them in. Anywayz, thanks for your help guys. Holla

 

[tbone36109]

you might not want the foam in the mixing room either. its best to just experiment until you like something but most types of foams will only effect the highs and not the lows so it really just unbalances things more. just try alot of options with the foam and whatever you like best go with that

 

[kidvybes]

I think the weakest part of my signal chain would be my mic pre. I use a cheap behringer mixer pre. I would like to buy an fmr rnp, but it would take too long to save for. I think i'm going to go with the rane ms b1.

...the Rane MS-1B is an excellent pre for the price...clean, straight line design with Burr-Brown opamps...no bells or whistles, just nice smooth gain...add an FMR RNC to the chain and you'll have a very capable and inexpensive setup (mic pre>compressor) for around the price you mentioned...if you can find a used Tampa for less than $300 (pretty common on eBay) you'd be in good shape as well...but I prefer seperate components over all-in-one channel-strip boxes...that way you are free to upgrade individual elements of your signal chain as you progress (or add new flavas to the setup)...