Interface Upgrade?

L

leo.slov

New member
I currently use a behringer umc1820 which works for me, but I think I need an upgrade in terms of the pre-amps. Day to day, I typically run a R1 ribbon mic and a 57 when recording saxophone, I have now recently got into recording guitar and vocals with a couple other people, using the same mics listen before in addition to a direct guitar signal. I always have a problem getting the R1 loud enough but I only just manage to get it to a decent level where it works well for vocals. Should I upgrade my interface? or is it worth sticking with what I have got.

If I would, I am looking in the £500-£750, £800 at a push, with a bare minimum of 4 (ideally 6 or 8) mic inputs. This could also be 2nd hand, I am not too bothered, as long as it sounds good I will be happy.

Any help would be appreciated
 
The great thing about the UMC1820 is that you don't need to change the interface in order to upgrade the preamps. Just hook it up to an 8 channel preamp/adc via the ADAT optical connector. If you are happy to spend your whole budget then take a look at the Audient ASP880 which offers top quality preamps and decent convertors. If you don't want to spend quite so much then look at the Audient ASP800 which offers the same preamp quality, slightly different features and slightly inferior (but still very decent) convertors. Audient also have an even cheaper option, the SP8 which appears to offer very good specs. Focusrite and MOTU also sell similar devices though I find the Audient ASP series boxes to be more practical.
 
If the ribbon gain is your issue, try a Cloud Lifter or any of other pre-preamps. I have and R10 but in front of an amp so gain ain't an issue with me. I have an 1820 as well but it's not my primary interface.
 
I apologize if I am answering this and I am ignorant to the question. But if you are doing digital recording, and you are getting a good signal (AKA clean), sound is good, then why can you just increase the gain in the track or add gain to the actual file? Most every DAW I know gives you that capability.

I know in the analog days engineers wanted a nice, pretty hot signal due to adding gain, added noise because of noise in the amps, but digital doesn't have the same issue.

Not sure if I am missing something, I am always open to learn.
 
leo.slov said:
I currently use a behringer umc1820 which works for me, but I think I need an upgrade in terms of the pre-amps. Day to day, I typically run a R1 ribbon mic and a 57 when recording saxophone, I have now recently got into recording guitar and vocals with a couple other people, using the same mics listen before in addition to a direct guitar signal. I always have a problem getting the R1 loud enough but I only just manage to get it to a decent level where it works well for vocals. Should I upgrade my interface? or is it worth sticking with what I have got.

If I would, I am looking in the £500-£750, £800 at a push, with a bare minimum of 4 (ideally 6 or 8) mic inputs. This could also be 2nd hand, I am not too bothered, as long as it sounds good I will be happy.

Any help would be appreciated
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Get better mics.
sm57 is a terrible mic to begin with, much-less record with. The cheap Chinese copies record better than the real one.
With that money, go by a Sennheiser E835, a Telefunken M80. and a pair of SE sE7 condensers. Keep the R1, get rid of the 57.
R1 is a great to the side ribbon mic for stereo tracking.
 
The UMC range of interfaces is remarkable for their functions at an attractive price and I indeed had a UMC204HD for a while. I was rather put off by its stupidly low output but otherwise it was OK. I have however recently seen a test that shows the interfaces begin to distort several dB before 0dBFS. Not a problem if you know about it and you should always keep peaks below -8dBFS or better but it does smack of less than good engineering?
Since the OP has now run up against a limitation in the mic pres ,maybe a good time to look for something better? One product that stands out for stunningly good mic amps is that by Sound Devices in their MixPre range.

Or indeed just get a FetHead or similar.

DM60, how be thee? Have not seen you about much lately? Your point about a post tracking boost is well taken but the problem comes when peeps have several inputs going on and just one is buggering about at neg 30! Makes monitoring, especially on cans very tricky.

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
DM60, how be thee? Have not seen you about much lately? Your point about a post tracking boost is well taken but the problem comes when peeps have several inputs going on and just one is buggering about at neg 30! Makes monitoring, especially on cans very tricky.

Dave.
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I am here all the time, just keep my comments to a minimum.

I get your point, and not saying it isn't correct, but rarely if one is having a problem does new equipment fix the problem. That was the main point.
 
Papanate said:
I disagree - the SM57 has its purposes and they sound good.
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E835 even beats them on guitar amps.

SM57 actually sucks for saxophone. I played with a SM7 live, but it was modified with an Sm58 transformer in it.
I'm not a fan of shure mics. They suck in various ways with a live PA and even worse when you record with them.
The only Shure mics that I like the sound after I recorded it was my modded SM7 and the Beta52 kick mic.
as far as brands, Sennheiser and Telefunken dynamic mics are the best sounding mics out of all of them.
 
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drtechno said:
E835 even beats them on guitar amps.

SM57 actually sucks for saxophone. I played with a SM7 live, but it was modified with an Sm58 transformer in it.
I'm not a fan of shure mics. They suck in various ways with a live PA and even worse when you record with them.
The only Shure mics that I like the sound after I recorded it was my modded SM7 and the Beta52 kick mic.
as far as brands, Sennheiser and Telefunken dynamic mics are the best sounding mics out of all of them.
Click to expand...
Way to be ridiculous - what you like and whether a mic is good or bad have nothing to do with each other.
 
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