Great River ME-1NV for vocal only, wise choice?

  • Thread starter Thread starter aznwonderboy
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I don't think I'm adding anything new to the mix, but if YOU are the one who knows what your recording environment is. If you're doing this in your bedroom/basement, then odds are you need to think about acoustical treatment.

spend $120 for a Clearsonic gobo and do some recording with it (since it's a large foldable "V" you should know right away if your room is a major issue.

If it is... fix it.

Next, check your cables. They good? If you're using no-name, $2.99 cables for everything, then you might have an issue there. Get some quality cables, ones that have established reputations for quality... if you need them.

Now onto the gear. Sadly, the best way to find out if there's a weak link is to A/B pieces with other gear. While it kinda sucks if you don't have a place around that that let's you do this kinda thing, the upside is that you learn a bit more about different pieces of gear, which allows you to experiment more.

I've got nothing against the Great River ME-1NV. Used it, liked it... but not enough right now to buy one. Call me crazy, but for the $, I got more of what I wanted with an M-610. Maybe you'll feel differently, but I can't stress it enough that you're never going to know unless you play with the gear and your environment to find out what your needs are and what recording chain suits you best.
 
musical5 said:
The GR is a great pre for vox. It makes inexpensive condensors sound much better than they are.
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The GR gets my vote also.
 
If you're going to be using condensers only, then I do think there's a better place to spend your money than on an expensive mic pre (even one of the best such as the Great River NV series). However, if you're going to be using dynamics and ribbons, then go for it. Suddenly, with switchable input impedance, output level control, and all the goodies the Great River brings, your collection of dynamics and ribbons will come alive in a way that just doesn't happen with most cheap mic preamps.
 
You ONLY need a vocal booth if:

1) You are having a real problem with outside noise getting into your recordings.

2) You need to record other things at the same time in the same room, and still want to preserve isolation.

If none of the above is true - DO NOT BUILD A VOCAL BOOTH.

Vocals, like anything else, sound worse when recorded in a small confined space. The only way you can make it work at all is to completely deaden the booth, and then add in artificial ambience to make it sound like it wasn't realy recorded in a small booth. How much more efective just to record in a larger space to begin with? It is also not much fun for the vocalist, which affects their performance. Especially if you don't provide ventilation, which gets expensive.

By all means, treat your room to improve acoustic problems. But usually it is safe to say that when choosing audio recording spaces, bigger is better. Looking for a good place to record vocals? Think about picking the biggest room in your house, not building the smallest.

So if buying a preamp will keep you from building a vocal booth - go ahead and buy the preamp for that reason alone!
 
littledog said:
You ONLY need a vocal booth if:

1) You are having a real problem with outside noise getting into your recordings.

2) You need to record other things at the same time in the same room, and still want to preserve isolation.

If none of the above is true - DO NOT BUILD A VOCAL BOOTH.

Vocals, like anything else, sound worse when recorded in a small confined space. The only way you can make it work at all is to completely deaden the booth, and then add in artificial ambience to make it sound like it wasn't realy recorded in a small booth. How much more efective just to record in a larger space to begin with? It is also not much fun for the vocalist, which affects their performance. Especially if you don't provide ventilation, which gets expensive.

By all means, treat your room to improve acoustic problems. But usually it is safe to say that when choosing audio recording spaces, bigger is better. Looking for a good place to record vocals? Think about picking the biggest room in your house, not building the smallest.

So if buying a preamp will keep you from building a vocal booth - go ahead and buy the preamp for that reason alone!
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Great post, and very true!!
 
BigRay said:
man, that 92.1 would sparkle no matter what.

it is a gefell. :)
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it is for that very reason that I have already set things up with Fletcher and Dave at Mercenary Audio to audition some of their mics in April. The 92.1, UM900 and Horch RJ2 are definate contenders for that list.
 
You two can undermine the point of my post if you want, but in the end room treat is 100x more important than gear. Maybe you don't like vocal booths, but to tell someone to buy the gear so they don't build the thing is idiotic. At least stress that no preamp will provide the quality increase of a well treated room.

And for the record, there are a LOT of vocals done in vocal booths that don't all sound bad. This guys says he is doing "vocals only". He didn't elaborate on what they are for, but I bet everything getting recorded with kitchen or bedroom reverb is not affecting them in the best way. Even if you can't hear the bedroom reverb, I think I recall him saying he doesn't have the best monitoring setup. So he probably doesn't hear how bad his room sounds as of yet or how much outside noise really is getting into the mic. If he is recording in a house with no acoustic treatment, chances are there is a TON of outside noise.

$1000 preamps don't equal good sound until AFTER the environment is treated. Infact, he might hear how bad his room sounds after he gets the pre, so maybe its a blessing in disguise. :cool:
 
Outlaws said:
You two can undermine the point of my post if you want, but in the end room treat is 100x more important than gear. Maybe you don't like vocal booths, but to tell someone to buy the gear so they don't build the thing is idiotic. At least stress that no preamp will provide the quality increase of a well treated room.
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A good room is a good room just like good talent is good talent.

There are lots of rooms out there that sound good with little or no treatment.

The thing about the forums: I can't go listen to some guy's room. It might not need anything. But, I'd never know. Room treatment could be 100x more important than gear in certain rooms. In others, it'd be an absolute waste of time.
 
Many folks simply don't realize how critical the recording space is. My 17x27 foot studio is built in one side of our 105 year old home. First, the room was rewired on a separate 100 amp svc. I had 1/4 inch sheetrock installed over the 1/2 inch thick wood lapped walls. The windows were filled with insulation and 1/4 inch plywood placed over that. Auralex panels were placed as directed by auralex and bass traps installed in the corners. Diffusors were placed on the ceiling and back wall. A floating plank hardwood floor with a separate acoustic undercoat was installed. A double sized, steel, double panel glass, insulated door was installed between the studio and the home. This was a night and day difference. I honestly can state that this made more of a difference than any of my equipment. Currently, this is my control room, recording space etc... In two years (after son graduates from college), I will get to use the adjoining 17x17 room for a control room!

Now, you don't have to spend $10k on your room like me, but a judicous use of wall treatment will make a huge difference in the average room.
 
I too think that room treatment is of first importance, but it doesn't need to be really expensive, go check out Ethan Winer's suggestions, as well as some of the books on low rent accoustic treatment. You can make a really nice room out of a mediocre one for not too many dollars. Maybe not House Beautiful gorgeous, but not terrible either.

Then go get a good pre...:-)
 
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