is API overkill for me?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MadMax
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MadMax said:
Mister 5;
Yours sounds good. Yes, it's cleaner than mine. So what do you mean by mic/mic placement. Do you think there are some phasing issues being introduced by my placement? Where can you hear it? I guess the way to dissect my sound would be to let you hear just the OH's and then the kik mic(s), and then the snare, etc..... :confused:


Mine would sound a lot cleaner w/o the phase issues, and without all 12 mics going all the time....... You should be able to get a pretty decent sound outta just the OH's and a kick mic.

As far as mic/mic placement - I think you have some pretty dark sounding mics (the nt5's IIRC, the c1000, the 57's) - also you really need to place them properly. I like to put my OH's quite a ways up, But, I like a nice open, roomy sound. You should be able to come pretty dang close to what my clip sounded like - in fact, a good engineer could probably beat it with your gear!

As far as phasing issues, you can check in your DAW and see if they are phasing. I checked my pairs for phase issue's by ear when I recorded, and checked the whole mix as well, although I have to admit, I couldn't hear the phase issues for the whole mix when I did a mono check. Each pair was damn near perfectly in phase though!

I noticed the biggest jump in cymbal clarity and "room-sound" clarity when I upgraded converters FWIW......
 
Outlaws said:
I think the toms sound good. Not to say those are the expensive pres...just saying whatever your combo on them is good and works.


So-so pre's on all 4 toms (and the cheapest mics)..... :D

edit - The toms sound pretty good. Because of a killer drumset, played by a great drummer, who knows how to tune his drums. Also, they were played in a pretty good room.......
 
WHat kind of a converter upgrade did you do? I just upgraded to RME, and I noticed a difference for sure from my Delta 1010.
And I'm not using a C-1000 (except for talkback :D ).
 
MadMax said:
OK, I wanna post a clip. How do I do it so you can click on a link and it'll launch WMP? COuld I do that with yousendit?

EDIT; OK, I'll try usendit. here it is. This is just the raw tracks with no processing. I mixed the levels a little and checked phasing. I took out the plugs I was using. I think it's a fair representation of what was recorded to my HD.
Is there any easier way to post this so it'll automatically launch a player without having to unzip it? Anyway.....

So what do you golden ears think?

don't have golden ears :)

better overs would help, and a touch more time with kick mic placement.
sounds like a good kit.
never heard the nt5's before...... always kinda figured they'd be brighter.
 
MadMax said:
WHat kind of a converter upgrade did you do? I just upgraded to RME, and I noticed a difference for sure from my Delta 1010.
And I'm not using a C-1000 (except for talkback :D ).

I have Apogees. Your RME's are not your primary problem IMHO. A lot of people dog on Apogee, a lot of people rave about them - myself, I have had two different MOTU converters and the Apogees. The Apogees absofrickenpositivly smoked the MOTU's. And as far as hardware goes, made the biggest difference in sound quality for me.

Like I said before, I am a gearslut - it's great to buy new gear. But, if you think the API will be a magic bullet, you will be sadly dissapointed......

My final .02 cents - buy some killer OH's and a decent room mic. Work on your room, and your placement. You'll get a lot farther with that than the API....

Good Luck!!!!
 
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