Help :'( Sound improvment with my equipment

[wx3]

O.k. I've been doing quite a bit of recording latley. Just about all my recordings have come out quit badley. They sound dull and flat, and otherwise amature. When I listen to profesionally recorded music I'm amazed with the quality of it. Well anyways I don't have the much in the way of equipment but here's what I do have.

Macke 1202 mixer
Shure SM 57, PG58
Radio shack p.o.s. mic ... lol
Just about every cable, coupler in the world
A sound blaster of some sort with 1/8" inputs

Now I don't really have to much money to spend right now so I was wondering if anyone could tell me the best way to set up this equipment. I'm recording basic band music... guitars, bass, vocals, drums.... and I know I'll have to do it one track at a time. When i recored clean guitar it sounds nice, but distorted guitar and drums always sound horrible. Bass is pretty bad too.

1. I was wondering if I need a preamp even though none of my mikes require phantom power?

2. If there is one thing I could buy that would improve my sound quilty what is it?

3.What is a compressor and do I need it?

Anyother tips on getting the best sound quilty possible with budget equipment would be very appreciated.

Thank you

 

[wx3]

oh yeah

I forgot to mention that I have Cakewalk Sonar 2.0 xl and Cool Edit Pro 2 !

 

[James Argo]

I've got all you got...

1. I was wondering if I need a preamp even though none of my mikes require phantom power?

2. If there is one thing I could buy that would improve my sound quilty what is it?

3.What is a compressor and do I need it?

Good place to start... just wondering, your spec is exactly the same I had years before, when I started it out... except SONAR, it used to be CWPA6

1. If you have a proper good condition 1202 Mackie mixer, then you don't need any preamp by now, consider the mic you have. The ones come with Mackie is pretty good for your mic.

2. Better Sound Card. Some like Delta 66 would be reasonable in price, sonic sound differences compared to your SB.

3. For compressor, you can check MANY threads in mixing / mastering forum, on the other side of this BBS. But if you do have SONAR, I believe it comes with Timeworks Compressor dirX plugin bundled, there you can see how it work. For you to know, good compressor is always Mac Gyver knife for audio engineer. Aaah, I'm talking too much... cum on, go to mixing / mastering forum...
See you there...

 

[Cyrokk]

I don't have a Mackie. Am I correct in assuming it has preamps on board? In other words, are there buttons that allow a +48V or a 20 db increase in signal? If so, then you don't necessarily need preamps at this stage. You should be able to plug your mic into the mixer and press the button to activate the preamp.

Your biggest problem may very well be your soundcard. If you aren't getting a good analog to digital conversion into your pc, then the sound coming out won't be very accurate.

You don't need to worry about compression at this point. In the most general terms, compression takes a sound that reaches a specified volume, and suppresses it (think of it as an automatic volume controller). Compression will contribute nothing to the overall sound quality of a track.

In essence, look to see if you need a preamp. Then look into getting a better soundcard. Eventually, once you get a little more cash, you need to look into getting some studio monitors to hear your recordings through.

Hope this helps,

Cy

 

[AlChuck]

I was wondering if I need a preamp even though none of my mikes require phantom power?

The Mackie mixer has mic preamps.

You don't need to worry about compression at this point. In the most general terms, compression takes a sound that reaches a specified volume, and suppresses it (think of it as an automatic volume controller). Compression will contribute nothing to the overall sound quality of a track.

Wow, now that's a minority opinion if I ever heard one. Compression is almost universally used in recordings, especially in the rock and pop world, to control the dynamics of a recording.

Here's a pretty good article about it: http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/files/B425578C027460898625661000745390

 

[Track Rat]

Cyrokk, I have to disagree with that too.

 

[wx3]

hmm

Yeah my 1202 is in very good shape, I bought it next to new. It has phantom power in it and it has a switch on the mic ins that gives it a boost. I'm pretty sure its a low cut filter, but maybe its a preamp or something.

So basically the first thing I should look at is a new soundcard? Would this dramatically improve my audio quality? What about a condenser mic?

 

[Cyrokk]

I'm sorry. Did I misunderstand the original post? I thought the original poster was having problem with the clarity of his audio. I didn't mean to imply that compression is never used. I meant that it will not make the quality of his recordings sound better.

Granted, it may smooth out the peaks and valleys, making for a more consistent sound but I don't think the quality is going to change unless he looks into the preamp or soundcard situations first.

Cy

 

[AlChuck]

OK, Cyrokk... I can see how you would have thought he was asking if a compressor would help his clarity and tone...

my 1202 is in very good shape, I bought it next to new. It has phantom power in it and it has a switch on the mic ins that gives it a boost. I'm pretty sure its a low cut filter, but maybe its a preamp or something.

Regardless of whether or not the switch is a low cut filter or not, THE MIC INPUTS HAVE PREAMPS. Any mic input on any audio mixer has to have a preamp in the channel or there will be no signal to route.

 

[Sennheiser]

Sounds like you may have a gain structuring problem too.

When i recored clean guitar it sounds nice, but distorted guitar and drums always sound horrible. Bass is pretty bad too.

Check your input and output levels from device to device to make sure you are not overdriving an input. Commonly known as "clipping" in the mysterious digital realm of computer recording.