looking for better sound quality

[silksmoov]

hey guys, i have a small home recording studio that consists of a Fostex FD-4, Akai MPC2000, Roland XP-80, Behringer 1602A(mixer), Digtech S-100(effects), Alesis NanoCompressor, ART Mic PreAmp, Sony Minidisc player/recorder(for mixdown), and a Philips dual CD-R 765 for final recording. My question is, I'm getting a good sound with what I have, but it still doesn't have that ummph!!! I'm looking to get a radio type sound and I was wondering what else could I add to bring out that type of sound. I'm also working with a budget of $300-$1000.

 

[SN]

I'm concerned about your quest.
My opinion, forget about the "uummph" of a radio sound. Radio is not that good sounding. Focus on replicating the sound of well recorded CD releases. That should be the goal.

The radio stations take those CDs, compress them to a dynamic range of about 5 Db and then with the background noise of transmission you get your "uummph" radio sound.

Bottom line. Radio people know how to get that "ummph" from a good CD. But buying a CD that sound like radio is a big disappointment. Focus on the CD sound and let radio focus on the "ummph"

If you really want that "radio sound' then do the following:

make as good a CD as you can.
As you are dubbing it onto a normal bias cassette (no NR), as hot as possible, compress it to a 1 Db dynamic range.
Play it back loud.

Radio sound.

 

[silksmoov]

okay SN, good point. I guess what I meant to say was what can I "do" or "purchase" to get that type of CD "full sound" quality. To compare, my recordings sound like a plain cheese pizza. Nothing exciting, nothing standing out. I want to get my recordings to sound like a "works" pizza. Full, bright, and colorfully sounding. Am I making any sense???

 

[Dragon]

You have all the equipment, now you have to learn to use it!

Read the mixing pages and the FAQs with special note on the EQ settings. Learn what effects and panning settings make sounds go away and which ones make them come out front. And experiment like hell.

 

[The Green Hornet]

Totally agree with Dragon. It took me several years of experiment to "once and a while come up with a great cut."

For example, one day a few weeks ago, I spent 5 hours toying with reverb rooms on my Ensonique DP-4; with my other reverb, I spent several hours creating a reverb room for one of my vocalists, which I stored and use frequently. But, it all depends what key she sings in and what range she attempts.

Like anything else, it's work, work, work, read, read, read, ask, ask, ask, and you will get you cool sounds.

The Green Hornet

 

[SN]

Practice.

Practice with the performing.
Practice with the mic positioning and recording
Practice with the mixing, panning and EQ
Practice with the effects (especially reverb)
Practice with the mixdown and medium transfers

Practice
Practice

Go to all the recording pages and print out all the usefull info you find and apply them.

 

[Guest]

"Wassup smoov",
A few things that i would like to know:
what type of music are you trying to do this with?
and how are your machines hooked up?
If you dont already, maybe you should assign seperate out from the mpc2000 for the kick drum eq it then compress, and resample it.
It is time consuming but the results are worth it. i do it all the time with my mpc3000.