Give your opinion - whats my weakest link?

  • Thread starter Thread starter folkben
  • Start date Start date
ummmm lol

Ok, I am by no means an expert in recording..... however I have been told by several people who are more experienced then the "average joe" and they have said that there was a recording made with a 4 track recorder at home and it set the standard for even today's recordings. I have no idea who it was, when it was done or anything so I guess it's not much help. I'm not using great equipment myself... but i've found a couple of real sweet spots micing amps and acoustic guitars. Compression has REALLY made a big difference for me as far as getting that more "studio sound", so messing around with different settings can really help and i'm just like everyone else as far as wanting to get a better recording, but i'll have to agree that for the most part that you're not gonna get a hundred thousand dollar studio sound using 2 3 4 even 10 thousand dollar equipment. If i'm wrong then that's great and I'll start runnin up the credit card lol. By the way..... what would some of you all recommend as far as a tube preamp and an outboard compressor?
 
That recording was Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska" and in my opinion, it was not all that great an album. But it was done on a 4 track.

If you're into low priced gear for recordings, check out James Taylor's "Hourglass" album. That was recorded on a Yamaha O2R. Pretty impressive result for digital recording.
 
Outlaws said:
You room acoustics.

Best thing you can do.
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Almost, but the source is far more important than the room. A plywood toped guitar is ALWAYS going to be the week point in recording guitar sounds. New strings are also a must (though I am fine with changing them the day before the session, as it gives them a chance to stretch, and greatly improves tuning stability). And don't just put them on fresh. Make sure they haven't been sitting around on a shelf for more than a year, unless they are in an airtight package (such as the D'Addario packaging). Strings oxidize from contact with air, and that can happen in the package too.

Get your self a solid wood guitar YOU like the sound of. If you are on a tight budget, I like the Martin D-15 (or any of the 15 style guitars, really). They are amongst the cheapest all solid wood guitars you will find, and they sound really good. They do not sound like a spruce toped guitar, but they sound good. But the most important thing is to try as many guitars as you can, and see which ones YOU like. As the saying goes, opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one. Mine maters a great deal to me, but should not be definitive to you. Try them all (whether you can afford it or not), and decide for yourself.

As for the rest, until you can make a recording which sounds great with what you have, don't sweat the gear. For what you are doing, you have enough to make a good sounding recording. The only thing you are missing is the ears, and they only come from practicing this stuff. Remember, what we do, even if it is only for fun, is work. You need to work at it to get good at it, so spend the time, and learn how to hear. That will help you ten times as much as a new mic pre, or a new sound card.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
You are looking for the weakest link in the chain? Well,,, just start with the beginning of the chain and experiment and see what the results are at the end of the chain.
instrument=>acoustics=>mic placement =>mic choice=>preamp=>A/D convertor=>DAW
1.
try another guitar from a friend or something. Check out the difference
2.
Try moving around in the room, try other rooms...
3.
Mic placement is so important. I got a million kinds of sounds out of my drumkit with the NT1 the other day. Try different angles and stuff,,, avoid the low freq waves to sparkle up the highs
4.
You are stuff with the NT1, but that's a fine mic for home recording
5.
I use joemeek with the NT1. It just makes it sounds a bit more natural and relaxed compared with behringer pre-amp or the one on my computer interface. Don't expect big differences. The real difference is noticeable if you improve on every link in the chain!
6.
The quality of the convertor and samplerate/bithdepth make a small difference once again. Buying a better card would cost you a lot of money and I'll bet you wouldn't hear the difference. high samplerates give good specs to a device, but it only catches the refinement of the sound. The refinement you won't really have in a home-recording. I use 24 bit, because I won't need a really hot signal (avoiding clips). The resolution will always be higher then on the carrier (cd)
Just process the sound with a proper DAW, but it's more about the plugins. Waves is great. I use the renaissance series. Just a bit of eq'ing, compression and reverb (in that order). Try boosting freq that are giving rumbles and stuff. If you found them, just dip them a bit.

You know, it's more about spending time then money in first place.
 
jkvd said:
6. The quality of the convertor and samplerate/bithdepth make a small difference once again.
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In digital recording, the quality of the converter makes a HUGE difference -- as a matter of fact, the converters DEFINE the quality of the digital recording (ie, a Martin in a great room through a C12 with a Massenburg pre will sound awful recorded through poor converters.)
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
Then this points to needing improving in recording skills/techinques and quite likely, room acoustics....
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Couldn't agree more. Don't let the quality of your equipment exceed that of your recording skills/ techniques.
 
Blue Bear Sound =>

I understand that the converters define the whole sound in the digital recording. But do you think that a home recorder would find a huge difference between his current converters (Echo Mia) or something within reason (like a Motu) ?

I don't think that within his moneyrange it would make a huge difference. Please prove me wrong if you think you can. We are not comparing soundblastercards with apogee or his mixer preamp with a focusrite red right?

Are there reviews who compare converters of audio interfaces?
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
In digital recording, the quality of the converter makes a HUGE difference -- as a matter of fact, the converters DEFINE the quality of the digital recording (ie, a Martin in a great room through a C12 with a Massenburg pre will sound awful recorded through poor converters.)
Click to expand...

Converters are a major bottleneck in digital recording, as I found out one time when I used a Fostex VF16 when I was used to a HD24 or a MOTU 2408 MK II. *EVERYTHING* else stayed the same in my setup, yet that Fostex had 1/4 the sheen and fatness of previous recordings I had done.

It was maddening to say the least.

So don't discount quality AD/DA!
 
One more vote for converters. They are ultimately the sound of your recordings. Put your money here first and monitors next. You need to be able to hear the subtle differences not just the obvious ones.
 
i can't tell you what part to upgrade until you tell me what kind of mixer you are using. since your cheapish mixer IS your pre-amp, we really need to know what it is.

there's no point in telling you to upgrade from the Mia (for instance) if the signal you are sending into it is aweful.

oh, and you should record in 24bit.
 
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