How do I achieve this quality?...

[StrictlyB]

I have been working for a while to get my quality like D-Pryde but never works. I've followed YouTube tutes, boards, threads, even the Salvdor settings but my quality remains crap. You can see that in the following link, click on the vids on side:

youtube.com/djsugz

Basically the quality i am trying to achieve is like this guys, click his vids:

youtube.com/dprydemusic

I have the exact same set up as him and i am sure as he has videos on his channel of him recording.
The set up is a Samson CO1U, a pop filter and Cool Edit Pro 2.1.
Simple as, no pre-amps or nothing.

If possible, can someone give me advice on what I am doing wrong and what i can improve to get my quality like his. I DO NOT want the same voice and whatever, just that studio quality that he gets.
Thanks, FP.

 

[RAMI]

(I can't believe I'm answering this)......

I didn't bother listening to either link, but......

no pre-amps or nothing.

That's impossible. Somewhere between every mic and DAW, there is a pre-amp. The difference might be his sound card compared to yours, etc....

The room makes a difference, too. You might be recording in a bad acoustical environment, he might be a in a well-treated, controlled room that is made for recording in.

Also, you're listening to a finished product (I'm assuming), which means that he might be EQ'ing, compressing, auto-tuning, etc...or a number of other things, during mixdown.

There's a lot more to getting quality recordings that just the mic.

EDIT: I'm a bit of a masochist, so I went and listened to D. Pryde (for abut 12 seconds, which was all I could handle). His voice is completely drenched in that horribly annoying auto-tune effect that everyone and their Grandmother has been using in the last 5 years. If that's what you mean by "quality", then get yourself an auto-tuner.

 

[StrictlyB]

(I can't believe I'm answering this)......

I didn't bother listening to either link, but......


That's impossible. Somewhere between every mic and DAW, there is a pre-amp. The difference might be his sound card compared to yours, etc....

The room makes a difference, too. You might be recording in a bad acoustical environment, he might be a in a well-treated, controlled room that is made for recording in.

Also, you're listening to a finished product (I'm assuming), which means that he might be EQ'ing, compressing, auto-tuning, etc...or a number of other things, during mixdown.

There's a lot more to getting quality recordings that just the mic.

EDIT: I'm a bit of a masochist, so I went and listened to D. Pryde (for abut 12 seconds, which was all I could handle). His voice is completely drenched in that horribly annoying auto-tune effect that everyone and their Grandmother has been using in the last 5 years. If that's what you mean by "quality", then get yourself an auto-tuner.

Nah, CO1U is a USB condenser, no preamp. he records in his bedroom which is same as me.
As for the autotune, i aint talkin bout that, i got autotune, i mean how does he get such clear vocals in such a normal environment. Don't listen to that track, listen to any of his other shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaA1_UYdbXE

and then when u compare that to mine, (www.youtube.com/djsugz) mine is nowhere near as clear with the exact same setup. Could you tell me what i could improve to get to his level or what i am doin wrong OR what d-pryde is doing that i'm not.

PROOF of his setup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWjdmabIMQw

 

[Steenamaroo]

nope...this guy says there's no preamp RAMI!

we eagerly await your apology



btw dude, your vocals sound more like they're in a kitchen/bathroom than a bedroom.

if you wana sound like that other guy, i'd suggest finding a better room or dampening your room, and from the sounds of it, maybe being closer to the mic?

 

[RAMI]

nope...this guy says there's no preamp RAMI!

we eagerly await your apology

Yup. I apologize for posting in the first place.

I knew I should have trusted my instincts, as demonstrated by the very first sentence in my original post.

 

[miroslav]

(I can't believe I'm answering this).......

Me too!


This is at least the second time someone has posted this type of thread recently about needing/wanting to "sound like DPryde"....
...personally, I think it's just marketing spamp to get people interested in DPryde.

Hey...I guess everyone is playing every angle they can think of.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Ya need ta lay back on the juice and then get on up into the grill with the comprizzy on the vocizzle.

Translation:

Keep your recording level peaks well below -3dBFS, compress the crap out of the vocals after you record them until there are no dynamics left, mangle the remaining tone with Autotune, and then mix in with the beat tracks appropriately.

It also sounds like maybe he might be filtering out some of the edge frequencies low and high, though it's hard to tell without being able to hear what he really sounds like without a million computers between him and us.

BTW - and just picking nits for fun - you ARE using a preamp; it's built into the podcast mic.

G.

 

[StrictlyB]

miroslav- i think a lot of people just think his quality is good for cost of set up, I am far from a marketer.

glen- thanks but on cool edit, even when i stand like 8 inches away, when i rap it still peaks over 0 dB, do you know how to turn it down? In terms of compression, what ratio or attack time should i use? and what freq do i roll off?

 

[miroslav]

miroslav- i think a lot of people just think his quality is good for cost of set up, I am far from a marketer.

OK.

It's just funny how "they" post here once, twice...and then never come back.

 

[StrictlyB]

lol, nah might be with some but i'm a newbie. ill try and help when possible but i dunno much in the first instance. anyone got any solutions to my problem then??

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

glen- thanks but on cool edit, even when i stand like 8 inches away, when i rap it still peaks over 0 dB, do you know how to turn it down?

You first want to check to see if the USB driver you're using for that mic has it's own input gain control you need to throttle back. This is the best way to go, but if that's not possible for some reason, then you need to turn down the input trim level (aka Track Volume) on that channel in Cool Edit.

In terms of compression, what ratio or attack time should i use? and what freq do i roll off?

There are no standard settings, it depends upon the nature of your voice and your recording. As far as compression, you'll probably want a pretty high ratio - perhaps even limiting - but the question will be at what threshold, and that you'd have to figure out yourself depending upon what you have to work with. EQ will be strictly to taste and necessity, if it's needed at all.

G.

 

[Steenamaroo]

from samson website.


To set the CO1U as the default device and change computer-controlled gain:

2. Access Sounds and Audio Devices through Control Panel :

3. Select Samson C01U as Sound recording Default device under the Audio tab. The default device is used in simple programs like Sound Recorder. In most pro audio programs you can select which device (or multiple devices) to use within the program itself. To set computer-controlled gain, click the Volume button:

4. The Wave In window sets the computer-controlled gain or mutes the microphone. The microphone is monaural, so the Balance control should not be adjusted. The signal is carried on the left channel. The gain is from −∞ dB to +20 dB."


the further away you are, the higher you'll put the gain, and your recording will sound weak and airy.

the closer you are, the lower the gain will have to be, and the more you'll sound like frasier

 

[StrictlyB]

both Glen and Steen, appreciate your guy's help so much. Thank you. So in terms of gettin my quality up,

1. prevent clipping
2. compression
3. eq

is that how d-pryde does his you reckon?

 

[Steenamaroo]

no probs, glad to have helped,

and yes,,,i'd say so


also, not meaning to patronise you at all...but in case you don't know. clipping can't be undone.

if you record and your waveform is peaking, or your channel is hitting red and it sounds distorted, u gotta turn the gain down, (not the fader in your recording software), and record again.
if you were to turn the fader down afterwards,,,all you'd have is a distorted vocal track playing quietly.

gd luck!

 

[Chibi Nappa]

both Glen and Steen, appreciate your guy's help so much. Thank you. So in terms of gettin my quality up,

1. prevent clipping

Set your full instrumental mix/beats to peak at about -10 on the master buss. Set your vocal channel (in the software) to 0 (unity). Set your recording gain (on the preamp, built into the mic in your case) so your recorded vocals are approximately the correct volume in relation to the mixed instrumental music. Then you're good.

Note that you could be recording with peaks as low as -20. Not a problem. If the peaks start to creep up to -5 or so... that's a problem.

2. compression

Maybe. Maybe not. Compression is a tricky one and you will do way more harm than good if you don't know compressors inside and out. Learn exactly what you're doing. It can't be a copy of somebody's settings even if they're using the exact same software and equipment. The speaking volume of your voice and your recording gain alone are enough to totally invalidate other settings that work for other people.

3. eq

Very, very, very important. Way more important than compression. What are you monitoring on? You need competent speakers to begin to EQ or else it's just blind stumbling.

is that how d-pryde does his you reckon?

That is how everybody does it. The whole thing has everything to do with listening and adjusting.

 

[StrictlyB]

im just using standard dell bass boosts...hmm i get that ok, but peaking at -20 for vocals? isnt that ridiculously quiet? or do i just turn that up on the channel?
finally in terms of his songs you might see the slight delay on his voice, any CEP users, how do you achieve that type of delay?

 

[Chibi Nappa]

im just using standard dell bass boosts...

If you mean you are using standard computer speakers, then that is most of your problem right there.

hmm i get that ok, but peaking at -20 for vocals? isnt that ridiculously quiet?

Loud/quiet is all relative. -20 could be extremely loud if everything else in the song is -30. If it sounds quiet in the room, turn up your volume knob on your amplifier. Don't turn up any faders or you will run out of headroom.

or do i just turn that up on the channel?

It will not be too quiet since as I said above you set your vocal preamp gain to where the vocals are just the right volume with the music.

It sounds like the faders for your beats are set too high. Again, mix the beats so the master buss reads peaks of about -10 before recording vocals. Set the vocal fader to 0, and set the vocal preamp gain to a position that mixes the vocal volume correctly with the beats.

The only reason I mentioned -20 at all was because if you record as I described above the peaks may seem unusually low to many beginners, so don't think peaks that low are unusual or wrong.

 

[NYMorningstar]

... but peaking at -20 for vocals? isnt that ridiculously quiet? or do i just turn that up on the channel?

The -20dbFS is what you are recording at. Once recorded you will be processing your recording adding compression, EQ, effects, whatever it needs. When you process your recording is when you will raise the volume up to normal levels.

 

[gcapel]

OK.

It's just funny how "they" post here once, twice...and then never come back.

Just let me know and I will dispatch the red chicklet army!

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

The -20dbFS is what you are recording at. Once recorded you will be processing your recording adding compression, EQ, effects, whatever it needs. When you process your recording is when you will raise the volume up to normal levels.

I think this is a very important concept to internalize (and I'll green rep it if the BBS allows me to).

When one considers signal levels, one should consider as most important the optimal levels *for the current stage in the process*, and not always for what the final result should be when all is said and done.

It's not just a matter of ensuring that one does not clip in digital, though that is indeed important, but also that one works with a signal level that is "comfortable" to work with, not only for the operational range of the gear, but also for the engineer to have "room" to work with in mixing and mastering without having to over-police the levels at every step just to keep them in line.

Again, assuming one is working in 24-bit digital, they have a good 138dB of "space" to work within between clipping on the top and the digital noise floor on the bottom. The average dynamic range of an analog signal going into digital rarely exceeds 70dB, and more often will be somewhere in the 55-65dB range. The Samson C01U tech sheet is woefully lacking on specifications in this regard, but the fact that it outputs 16 bit means that it certainly has an upper limit of 90dB usable dynamic range, and is almost certianly well below that.

But even if it had a full range of 90dB (virtually unheard of in a microphone) that means you could theoretically record in Cool Edit at a peak level of -48dBFS and still get the full range and resolution in your recording. Which is all you're really concerned about when recording. In that regard, -20dBFS is not really "low" at all.

Yes, you'll most likely want to bring that level up in mixing, and perhaps even in mastering, but to bring it too far up before those stages only gives you less headroom with which to do your mixing (adding tracks together, plug-in processing, etc.)

It's really easy to run out of headroom if you record your levels too hot, but it's damn near impossible to run out of room if you record your levels low.

G.