Can you recommend a Mic+Preamp (£700-1000) worth checkin out? (please!)

[sach160]

Hi all, I use a c1000s direct into my roland 840ex for vocals, and genereal consensus is that's suicide.

So I need a mic and preamp. I hear some pairings just click and get a better sound than on their own. Can anyone suggest any worth tryin out? I'd like to spend £700 but I could spend £1000 if it makes a real difference. I was thinking maybe an sm57 or a SP C1 and spend the rest on gettin the best preamp i could afford, then in the future I could upgrade just the mic. Or maybe I'll get better results splitting the cash 50/50 on a mic and preamp. Any thoughts on this too!?

I know i'll have to try a few things out and it depends on where i record/my voice etc, but to get an idea, any recommendations really appreciated. I dont know it helps, but my voice is somewhere between dylan and springsteen in sound, I sing both with grit and clean, ballads as well as rock n roll songs. I work in a small room too, so maybe rejection is important when recordin both guitar and voce at the same time.

Any thoughts anyone!? Would be realllllllllllly appreciated, am most lost

 

[DJL]

Hi all, I use a c1000s direct into my roland 840ex for vocals, and genereal consensus is that's suicide.

So I need a mic and preamp. I hear some pairings just click and get a better sound than on their own. Can anyone suggest any worth tryin out? I'd like to spend £700 but I could spend £1000 if it makes a real difference. I was thinking maybe an sm57 or a SP C1 and spend the rest on gettin the best preamp i could afford, then in the future I could upgrade just the mic. Or maybe I'll get better results splitting the cash 50/50 on a mic and preamp. Any thoughts on this too!?

I know i'll have to try a few things out and it depends on where i record/my voice etc, but to get an idea, any recommendations really appreciated. I dont know it helps, but my voice is somewhere between dylan and springsteen in sound, I sing both with grit and clean, ballads as well as rock n roll songs. I work in a small room too, so maybe rejection is important when recordin both guitar and voce at the same time.

Any thoughts anyone!? Would be realllllllllllly appreciated, am most lost

I'd go with a better mic first... unless you can find a way to by-pass the VS840ex preamp.

 

[cominginsecond]

If you can spend 1000 pounds you can probably get a Soundelux U195, which is pretty much recommended by everyone in that price range. I haven't used it myself.

 

[imissthewar]

Personally, I'd go balls out on one or the other, then get something decent until you can save up and afford a complementary piece.

For example:

Great River ME-NV1 - $1100 = £600
Blue Baby Bottle - $500 = £275

 

[Big Kenny]

I don't think that mic is "pretty much recommended by everyone"
There are lots of mics that are being endorsed in that range
From your other post I think your whole set up is suspect and you should follow Richie's advice on the pre. Get yourself a couple sdc's and a nice ldc but don't spend a bunch til you know more about recording and processing and adding effects and mastering and engineering and ..............................

 

[cominginsecond]

OK, OK!! It's recommended by nearly everyone. What mic in the $1000 range gets recommended even half as much?

 

[Big Kenny]

AKG 414
R84 Ribbon
TLM 103 & 193
Blue dragon & Kiwi
AT 4060
No disrespect intended, The 195 IS a great mic

 

[cominginsecond]

I don't have any scientific data to back this up, but it is my opinion that the U195 gets recommended twice as much as any of those mics.

 

[sach160]

Personally, I'd go balls out on one or the other, then get something decent until you can save up and afford a complementary piece.

For example:

Great River ME-NV1 - $1100 = £600
Blue Baby Bottle - $500 = £275

hey imissthewar, I take it ya think I should go for a better preamp than mic first? Someone else suggests the other way round...

By the way, my voice sounds somewhere between springsteen and dylan, and I have quite a large range which I use all of... are there any mics/pres suited to this in particular?

And thank you all for takin the time to post.

 

[imissthewar]

I'm no expert by any means, but it seems to me with mics you can fudge a tiny bit more than with pres. I'd love to hear other opinions on this issue, but it seems to me that a great pre can really take a mediocre mic to the next level, whereas a great mic will merely make the flaws of a cheap preamp more apparent.

There are some really highly regarded Chinese mics from Studio Projects, Marshall, etc. being made out there for under (and waaaaay under) the $500US mark. Also, some dynamics that may work great for your voice fall within that range like some of the Beyer or EV offerings. There is basically one preamp in that range that is very well liked across the board, the FMR RNP for $475US.

Ideally, you want the highest quality preamp and mic you can afford, and your budget falls slightly short of getting true professional quality from both. I personally think that, given the value of todays budget mics, you'll get more mileage from a high-end pre and a cheaper mic than the other way around.

I personally was just convinced of this a few weeks ago, and have been selling off some of my lower end gear to fund an API-style lunchbox from Old School Audio.

 

[cominginsecond]

I'm no expert by any means, but it seems to me with mics you can fudge a tiny bit more than with pres. I'd love to hear other opinions on this issue, but it seems to me that a great pre can really take a mediocre mic to the next level, whereas a great mic will merely make the flaws of a cheap preamp more apparent.

I think it's a lot more complex than that.

I think once you've reached a certain level of mic, than the pre becomes very important. For example, it would probably be pretty tough for most of us to decide between an AT4060 going into a Great River or an Elux 251 going into a Mackie. Even though the Elux is probably a better mic than the AT, the Elux is not going to reach its potential going through that Mackie, whereas the AT is probably going to sound stunning through the Great River.

However, if you have to choose between buying a killer mic and a killer pre, mics make a much bigger difference than pres, IMO. Think about it for a second. Which would you rather have, the Elux going into the Mackie or a MXL2001 going into a Great River? I think that one's rather obvious.

I personally believe in getting decent pres and killer mics. Say, maybe the Elux 251 into a Sytek. I believe, in the end, mics make a much bigger difference.

 

[imissthewar]

However, if you have to choose between buying a killer mic and a killer pre, mics make a much bigger difference than pres, IMO. Think about it for a second. Which would you rather have, the Elux going into the Mackie or a MXL2001 going into a Great River? I think that one's rather obvious.

Yeah, it's obvious, but there is a glaring $3000+ discrepancy there. A u195 into a Mackie vs a B1 (cheaper and better than the MXL) into a Great River is a little bit harder of a choice.

 

[cominginsecond]

Yeah, it's obvious, but there is a glaring $3000+ discrepancy there. A u195 into a Mackie vs a B1 (cheaper and better than the MXL) into a Great River is a little bit harder of a choice.

True. It can get pretty complicated.

 

[illacov]

AT 4070 + Great River ME1NV

Thats one of the best sounding combos ive heard in a LONG time

Its a 1599 combo as well..so even though you're 500 bucks over...it might be worth it to get that extra dough involved.

Im dying to get that Great River though....I know people like the RNP but damn....what a difference for twice the price

Peace
Illumination

 

[ChristopherDawn]

I've done the u195 into a great river. Stunning, to say the least.

And then I had to sell the great river to buy a new guitar amp.

 

[imissthewar]

Thats one of the best sounding combos ive heard in a LONG time

Its a 1599 combo as well..so even though you're 500 bucks over...it might be worth it to get that extra dough involved.

Im dying to get that Great River though....I know people like the RNP but damn....what a difference for twice the price

Peace
Illumination

Remember, he's from the UK....1000 pounds is roughy 1800 US.

 

[sach160]

yes guys i am in the uk, so (thanks to your sliding economy ) thats $1300 - 1800 i'm lookin to spend.

Someone elsewhere told me this:
As far as cheaper preamps that suite your budget...my personal opinion is that it's a bad idea to skimp on the preamp. You'll get better results with a high quality dynamic and a great preamp, instead of choosing a top level dynamic and an average preamp.

and he recommends a beyer 160, sm7, or sennheiser 421 II with a great river mono channel to suit my dylan/springsteen-ish voice, and says it'll add some nice colour.

Does anyone agree/disagree with this?

again many, many thanks 4 the continuous help (i ended up with my c1000s after takin advice from shops, somethin i'll not do again with good guys like you around )

 

[xfinsterx]

for a first good solid microphone....

If it were me id go pick up the Audio Technica AT 4050.

that would leave plenty of money for a good preamp.

 

[Big Kenny]

sm7 into a great river
441 (or 4050) into Old School Audio

 

[cominginsecond]

The SM7 to Great River is not bad advice. You could get equally good results with a BLUE Baby Bottle going into the Great River, IMO. The SM7 is a great vocal mic, but it can be a tad dull, depending on the voice. I would audition some mics, if possible. It's almost impossible to know which mics will work best on your voice. My brother and I have very similar voices, but I sound best through the ADK TC and he sounds best through the SM7. Go figure.