making the most of a bad room?

[austin4130]

i'm stuck in my apartment til march, and theres absolutely no way i can wait that long to record! and since i need to stock up on equipment anyway, before i get my new house, i figure now would be a good time to do it.

currently i'm just using a studio projects b-1 into a firebox, to record MOSTLY vocals, and some guitar and bass.

what would the smartest upgrade be? i was thinking about getting a high quality dynamic mic, like the sm7 or anything similar. would that be a good idea? i mean, of course it's an upgrade from the b1, but is it the best upgrade for me at this time? keep in mind i mostly just want to record vocals, with the occasional guitar/bass.

thanks in advance guys

 

[Massive Master]

The SM7b would probably wind up being your "go to" vocal mic. Almost a no-brainer there. You might want to upgrade to a slightly cooler preamp... True's P-Solo, Grace's 101, even FMR's RNP will comfortably sit with the big boys.

 

[danny.guitar]

Sound treatment doesn't have to be permanent, and in most cases, isn't. Don't even have to mount anything on the walls.

I'd get a few absorber panels to put behind the mic in a /----\ kind of shape.

This has helped me a lot and made recordings with my cheap $50 omni mic sound a million times better. (https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=253727)

I think that, along with a decent mic would be a huge improvement. I'd even go as far as to ditch the pre if it means you can get some room treatment in there.

This is where I bought my panels:
http://www.atsacoustics.com/cat--ATS-Acoustic-Panels--100.html

For vocals, you probably would only need the 2" thick ones. I got the 4" thick bass traps to be on the safe side.

 

[austin4130]

The SM7b would probably wind up being your "go to" vocal mic. Almost a no-brainer there. You might want to upgrade to a slightly cooler preamp... True's P-Solo, Grace's 101, even FMR's RNP will comfortably sit with the big boys.

yeah, I'm most likely going to get a sm7b.
as soon as I move I plan on buying an analog mixing desk, most likely a neotek. then after that is when I'll start my preamp collection =)

Sound treatment doesn't have to be permanent, and in most cases, isn't. Don't even have to mount anything on the walls.

I'd get a few absorber panels to put behind the mic in a /----\ kind of shape.

This has helped me a lot and made recordings with my cheap $50 omni mic sound a million times better. (https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=253727)

I think that, along with a decent mic would be a huge improvement. I'd even go as far as to ditch the pre if it means you can get some room treatment in there.

This is where I bought my panels:
http://www.atsacoustics.com/cat--ATS-Acoustic-Panels--100.html

For vocals, you probably would only need the 2" thick ones. I got the 4" thick bass traps to be on the safe side.

can you post a pic of your setup? and how would I assemble the panels?

 

[Pitseleh]

Sound treatment doesn't have to be
I'd get a few absorber panels to put behind the mic in a /----\ kind of shape.

would it work to have a bedroom wall be a side and panel be the other in a kind of a triangle shape like /\. or would the wall not work.

 

[lasagne]

I would be careful about getting an sm7 to use with a Firebox. I know that the sm7 needs loads of gain. I asked the question about using that combination on a couple of sites and got conflicting responses.

 

[Sinistah]

I would be careful about getting an sm7 to use with a Firebox. I know that the sm7 needs loads of gain. I asked the question about using that combination on a couple of sites and got conflicting responses.

so are you saying that the sm7 would be too powerful for a firebox to sound decent?

just asking, my only Dynamic mic was some non-descript $50 mic i snagged from an electronic store in my city.... i switched to a condensor mic AKG Perception 400, and that thing is so clear with my Presonus Eureka u can almost hear ants fuckin.......

i use gold-plated cabling, i didn't even know that it was considered "high-class" type cabling, i just got em cause that shit looked epic when i was doing my window-shopping E-Style......

 

[Sir_Matthew]

i use gold-plated cabling, i didn't even know that it was considered "high-class" type cabling, i just got em cause that shit looked epic when i was doing my window-shopping E-Style......

I'm constantly amazed by the difference good cables can make. A mic with a high-end cable is a completely different mic than one with a cheapo cable.

 

[danny.guitar]

would it work to have a bedroom wall be a side and panel be the other in a kind of a triangle shape like /\. or would the wall not work.

The wall will just reflect sound back into the mic which is what you're trying to avoid. I'd say 2 panels in the corner...hell, even one 4" one in the corner can help. The panels come already assembled. Nothing you need to do except take them out of the box.

 

[Sinistah]

I'm constantly amazed by the difference good cables can make. A mic with a high-end cable is a completely different mic than one with a cheapo cable.

yeah its kinda crazy right, i would've neva thought that plating would make such a big difference in overall performance

 

[lasagne]

so are you saying that the sm7 would be too powerful for a firebox to sound decent?

No. What I'm saying is that the sm7 needs a lot of gain from a pre to get any decent volume out of it. I'm not sure that the Firebox delivers enough gain.

 

[austin4130]

how much gain does it need?

if it's too much, what's a very close alternative?

edit - went to shures site and they said it needs 60db of gain from the pre. pretty sure the firebox is only at 30! haha.

any recommendations?

 

[austin4130]

The wall will just reflect sound back into the mic which is what you're trying to avoid. I'd say 2 panels in the corner...hell, even one 4" one in the corner can help. The panels come already assembled. Nothing you need to do except take them out of the box.

they come already assembled in the /----\ shape?

 

[Sinistah]

No. What I'm saying is that the sm7 needs a lot of gain from a pre to get any decent volume out of it. I'm not sure that the Firebox delivers enough gain.

oh ok, cool wit me, i don't use firewire things, so i'm not too inclined in that aspect, thats why i asked...... i guess my good ol, analog strip and condensor mic was all i needed for my main tasks.....

 

[Sinistah]

how much gain does it need?

if it's too much, what's a very close alternative?

edit - went to shures site and they said it needs 60db of gain from the pre. pretty sure the firebox is only at 30! haha.

any recommendations?

so you saying that the firebox only offers 30db's of gain but your mic needs 60db's? well all i can suggest is find a stronger pre...... i use a presonus eureka for my AKG perception 400, and it works just fine, i checked the specs for it and it ranges from +12db's to +52db's as far as the pre-amp, so i don't think it will help you out too much....

but hopefully you find somethin, no need in wasting a workable mic.....