Hard time getting the right sound out of my new set-up. Interface? or Microphone?

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TheOnlyThesis

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I just got recently got myself home studio setup and im decently new at recording and i'm just not getting the right sound in my mix and i think it has to do either with the interface or the mic.

I picked up an AKG perception microphone, Digidesign M-box 2 mini, pro tools of course, a set of 8inch KRK's, and various instruments, beat machines, I also Isolated the whole booth room with sound proofing material and ECT.

Also another question, what does the mix knob do with your vocal mix? I'm having a hard time figuring out the right settings for my voice. I'll appreciate all the help I can get I've been trying to start my mixtape for over a month now and just haven't been satisfied enough with the outcome of my vocals. :confused:
 
I would hazard a guess at it mostly being the mic, and possibly partly whatever it is you're doing to try and get it to work if you're new to recording.
which akg exactly did you get?

the mix knob changes the ratio of direct sound going into the mbox, against the mix returned to the mbox from pro tools, on the headphone + monitor outs.
 
The mic I have is an AKG perception 220. I noticed when I put the mix knob all the way to the right my voice is alot more clearer and not as dimensional sounding. When I turn the knob left it sounds almost cheaper and backed up with a dimensional sound. Where do you have yours set for vocals? I just need some tips on making my mix sound smooth and not forced you know what i mean?
 
If you want real help, you'll need to post a soundclip of your vocal. We're just guessing otherwise. This is an audio forum, lol. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. Well, an audible word is worth a billion written words about what it sounds like.
 
TheOnlyThesis said:
The mic I have is an AKG perception 220. I noticed when I put the mix knob all the way to the right my voice is alot more clearer and not as dimensional sounding. When I turn the knob left it sounds almost cheaper and backed up with a dimensional sound. Where do you have yours set for vocals? I just need some tips on making my mix sound smooth and not forced you know what i mean?
Click to expand...

Like that, for example...I could guess that what you're hearing when you have the mix knob turned to the left is actually latency because you have monitoring turned on in your recording software...you SHOULD be monitoring only through whatever outboard unit you have. If it sounds chorusey, you're fucking up.

But even if that were the problem, it should still RECORD your vocal just fine. It'll just sound weird during tracking. So post up a clip.
 
youtube.com/watch?v=mykJUzn8MPE

Okay heres just a random verse that sounds like hell. I also need help on dubbing ending lines and add libs. It's so hard for me to get a sound without it sounding forced. I walk into my buddys studio who has a cheaper set up than mine and my vocals sound INCREDIBLE almost like I bearly have to try it just comes out perfect.
 
Taxi?

I'm not hearing any phasing in that take. I think ChrisHarris nailed it about hearing the latency when you are trying to dub.

Try dubbing with the vocal track off and record the dubs to a new track, then comp the tracks together for the final product.

I'd be more concerned about the backing tracks because they sound way too hot and distorted, and I don't think all of that is coming from the lossy conversion to Youtube.
 
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The biggest problem with that clip is that the whole thing is distorting like a mother fucker.

But what I'm talking about is different. To determine where the problem is, you need to help us trouble shoot. You can't really post a clip of something that you mixed, because there are ten thousand fucked up things you might have done after you recorded the vocal that could be making it sound "off" to you.

Most guys here can probably tell you what's wrong if you can post just a recorded vocal...no processing...no reverb...no doubling. Just a vocal track, dry as a bone.

Honestly, it's rarely a gear issue these days, as you seem to understand from listening to your buddy's cheaper gear.
 
That just sounds like a whole lot of clipping. Which happens when you mix tracks without applying negative gain first to compensate for the additive affect of mixing. Or use software that does that math for you to prevent clipping.

And looks like clipping too.
in linux:

$ cp /tmp/Flash.... temp.flv
(for older versions of flash anyway. firebug can help with the actual download link on newer versions.)

$ ffmpeg -i temp.flv -vn -sn -acodec copy -y temp.aac

$ faad -o temp.wav temp.aac

$ audacity temp.wav

(ffmpeg can in theory do that conversion for you, but I still don't trust it's AAC abilities much / yet)


But I don't normally mix much. Maybe two tracks at most. And mainly to check for oddities like phase cancellation. Or for special usage like extracting the noise floor (two close and matched mics) to invert and mix with the original track(s) to reduce noise. But I almost always have to reduce gain first or I get clipping (with only two tracks). Effects -> Amplify -> -8 (or best guess / trial and error) in audacity. Then Tracks -> Mix and Render.
 
It seems unlikely that theonlythesis is running linux because he IS running Pro Tools as mentioned in the first post.
 
But there's liveCDs where anyone who can successfully burn a CD/DVD can run linux. Just going with the lowest common denominator. If only for the other folks who do run linux and/or don't have protools. And just documenting how "I" checked to verify clipping. As I try to wrap my head around something called "pro" anything that lets someone output something that clipped without some form of nag screen yelling at them for trying to do so. Like that stupid M$ paper clip, it looks your trying to do... you might try to do... was this helpful?
 
Yeah, I'm not running through Linux. I'm going to post a Raw track on here real soon so you guys can critique my raw vocals.
 
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