Critique my home set-up, and help me decide :)

[Beantowna]

Since my buddy has moved down south, I can't use his set-up anymore. So I am going to make my own, but I am only going to spend roughly $600 on a mic + pre combo to record guitar and vocals. Only $600 because I figure if I am going to spend more, I should work on room acoustics; which I probably will do anyway.

Anyway.... my mics are going to be either an MXL V67 or SM7/SM57 for vocals and either an MXL 603s or Studio Projects B3 for guitar. I will be either micing my Martin, plugging in my A/E Alvarez, or mic for amp or direct inputting my Les Paul.

So my dilemma lies in the fact that I don't trust Firewire pre-amps as much as some people say I should.

My original set-up was going to be a pre-amp connected to a soundcard in the computer. The pre was going to a DMP3 or a Tubessence-207 or something of the like.

Now I am looking toward firewire devices like the Mackie Satellite, the focusrite saffire, the m-audio firewire solo, their mbox, or something of the sort.

I have direction, but I am definantly torn. Any suggestions?

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Not sure why you prefer going thorugh your soundcard, but you're almost guaranteed to get better A/D conversion by bypassing your soundcard and going in from the pre to the PC via either FW or USB (doesn't matter which, they both carry the same digital info.)

I have not yet tried the small Sapphire, but I like most of the Focusrite stuff. I also quite like the Tascam us122, which I have used. Now that it's dropped in price, it's even more attractive.

An interesting choice between those two; the Sapphire will probably have the better pres, but on a $600 budget only leaves you two hundred bucks for microphones, cables, stands, etc. Even if you already had the cables and stands, $200 for two mics is not a lot of money.

The Tascam, OTOH, while still haveing pretty good pres for the price, probably won't be quite the same as the Focusrites. But, with $450 or so left for your mics and stuff, you can do a lot more there. Assuming you had cables and such, that's enough to upgrade your V67 to a V69 or even an AT 4040 (*huge* upgrade either way), and still have enough left over for the B3.

G.

 

[Beantowna]

$600 was sort of picked out of the air as a number I could get away with. And by roughly, I end up meaning give or take about $150 . I guess I also assumed spending more money on a pre was better than spending more money on mics; probably wrong.

I only had the concept of going through a soundcard because that was what I was familiar with and figured a pre that is just a pre and not a 'combo box' would be of better quality, but probably wrong there again because of the A/D factor.

So I guess the firewire option isn't bad?

Good to know the extra money would be worth upgrading to a V69. Is the B3 condsidered better than the MXL 603?

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

$600 was sort of picked out of the air as a number I could get away with. And by roughly, I end up meaning give or take about $150 . I guess I also assumed spending more money on a pre was better than spending more money on mics; probably wrong.

Well, that's kind of a subjective and situational call, tough to make in the abstract. They are both very important.

My own opinion in this particular case (and others may of right disagree, this is really just opinion) is that the difference in quality between the Tascam and the Focusrite preamps is not a signifigant as the difference between a $99 condenser and something like the V69 or the 4040. In other words, more bang for the buck in the mic upgrade at this level than in the pre upgrade. (Of course having both the Focusrite and the 4040 or V69 would be really cool )

I only had the concept of going through a soundcard because that was what I was familiar with and figured a pre that is just a pre and not a 'combo box' would be of better quality, but probably wrong there again because of the A/D factor.

So I guess the firewire option isn't bad?

Understandable, I prefer individual components to "combo boxes" myself. But in this case it's practically impossible to get worse converters than a game card. Plus the analog side of a standard soundcard is not very clean either.

I think you'd find unanimous agreement on this board that you're better off bypassing the Soundbalster altogether. Not only is the audio side on something like the Tascam or the Focusrite much cleaner, but the converters - while still not A-list - are better than a standard game card. And the Firewire or USB interfaces on these things are truely as plug-and-play as you'll get, they install very easily and work very well.

Good to know the extra money would be worth upgrading to a V69. Is the B3 condsidered better than the MXL 603?

Ask 5 different people and you'll get 5 different answers . I've personally not used either one of those, so I cannot give you an authorative answer other than I'm sure thy will indeed sound different. As far as which one will be better depends on what sound you want and what you'll be using it for, etc.

Just based upon reviews I've read over the past months, the B3 sounds like it might be the quieter and more flexible mic, and I'd be tempted to lean that way. But this is such a subjective question, and I have no personal experience with the models, so take that answer with a large shaker of salt .

Just IMHO YMMV ETC.

G.

 

[thajeremy]

Just IMHO YMMV ETC.

G.

I have often wondered.....what does "YMMV" mean???

 

[ermghoti]

Your Mileage May Vary.

Oh, and get a used M-Adio 1010, and a used Octane, and get to work.

 

[someguy]

someguy

if you can try a bunch of mics of mics for your voice before buying I think that would be a good thing to do. Some of the best vocals tracks I've ever done have been with an sm57 and I have access to much more expensive mics. I've also heard terrible vocals through an sm57! I have an mxl small diaphragm condenser that i've used on guitar though, I believe it is a 603 but I can't quite remember the model number and it always seemed "bright" or "crispy" sounding compared to the other mics I have. As far as your price-range goes the only other small diaphragms I've used are rode NT5's which I've had really good luck with on all types of acoustic guitars.

 

[Ironklad Audio]

So I guess the firewire option isn't bad?

it's the cat's meow

at least that's how old dudes would describe it