Maybe the dumbest questions ever...

[Erockrazor]

Man, your tin can comment is basically how I feel. Can you recommend a good quality preamp? I'm up for spending somewhere between $600-$1000.

thanks

Maybe the apogee duet. 2 channels of pre's and converters. I think you know apogees converter reputation. But I dont know about these pre's.
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Apogee-Duet-Firewire-Interface?sku=234444

Maudio's dmp3 is known for transparent/clean pre's at an affordable price.

My digi 003 rack gives me a nice foundation for converters and pre's. The pre's are comparable to my dmp3's I'd say. I think they're just as transparent but maybe a little more brittle... maybe. I might be claiming to hear things i dont though!

For 600-1000 you might be able to do something nice for your converters and pre's. But I'm not too seasoned in that range of equipment.

Good luck!

 

[Erockrazor]

My problem isn't that it's going to make bad recordings, my problem is that the preamp is colored. If he is going with just one preamp, he should pick something transparent. Then if he would so feel the need, add the MP as a secondary pre to bring out the personality of a specific layer.

Even still, if he'd rather choose something with personality, it should be something with a little more class, like an RNP or Grace.

I agree with you on this. Get transparency first. Replicate the sound in the room as best as you can before you start adding colors to the palette.

It's like getting a good foundation for your makeup! Then you add the mascara!

 

[tateros]

It's like getting a good foundation for your makeup! Then you add the mascara!

So I'm guessing the sound being recorded represents the hott chick having the make-up applied?

 

[Erockrazor]

So I'm guessing the sound being recorded represents the hott chick having the make-up applied?

I'm really not even sure. But hot chick is definitely part of the equation.

 

[tateros]

I'm really not even sure. But hot chick is definitely part of the equation.

Of course she is. Otherwise, what would be the point?

 

[tateros]

[Q
UOTE=Erockrazor;3029964]Maybe the apogee duet. 2 channels of pre's and converters. I think you know apogees converter reputation. But I dont know about these pre's.[/QUOTE]

I would have loved the Duet. Too bad for me it's Apple only.

 

[Monkey Allen]

I think the tubes can be replaced in the Gold...some tubes apparently lend more of a transparent signal than others which colour the sound.

As with everything, it depends on what you read and what you want to believe. I've read some nasty remarks about the Grace 101 and the same about the Gold...then again I read some ejaculatory statements about both of them too.

 

[Hagle]

Regarding question 2, make sure that the duration of the midi notes is appropriate. If too short, it will sound staccato and not very natural. Correct duration will make the bass line flow better.

 

[tateros]

I think the tubes can be replaced in the Gold...some tubes apparently lend more of a transparent signal than others which colour the sound.

As with everything, it depends on what you read and what you want to believe. I've read some nasty remarks about the Grace 101 and the same about the Gold...then again I read some ejaculatory statements about both of them too.

Like I said, live and learn.

 

[tateros]

Regarding question 2, make sure that the duration of the midi notes is appropriate. If too short, it will sound staccato and not very natural. Correct duration will make the bass line flow better.

One method I found helps make electronic music flow more naturally is to play at least one of the layers live and not quantize it, as opposed to sequencing the whole piece.

 

[MCI2424]

I record acoustic guitar and singing...that's about it for audio...the rest I do with midi...anyway...so here is a list of questions:

1. When I apply compressors, limiters, multiband, equalizers, gates..etc on my voice or on my acoustic guitar....blow me if I don't have to go to an extreme when I fiddle with the plugin's knobs to perceive any change to the sound...basically I can get my acoustic to sound boomy and dull OR tinny and telephoney...so...what's the go with that? I often hear people saying to just do this or that a little bit a little bit there...but I do a little bit and I can tell no difference at all. I have to really crank the knobs one way or the other. Are acoustic instruments, like the acoustic guitar, less likely to be manipulated through such plugins?

2. Say you have worked out a midi bass line and you mix down and make it audio...is there anything you typically do to that track to make it smoother so that it sounds slightly more natural?

3. I have 3 microphones...MXL SP1, the CAD m177 and a matched set of Behringer C2's....all different mics (well all condensers)...but F me if they don't just sound exactly the same to me. My acuostic (I have a Taylor 110 and a Martin DX1...so they aren't exactly shit guitars) still sounds shitty. Are my ears, recording techniques/ room/ playing style etc just shit?

Usually I put reverb on my voice and that seems to work ok...but as for everything else it seems that I just aim a microphone at it and record it and end up leaving it as it is. I feel like I want to twiddle with a few knobs (No hecklers please) but I suppose I am pretty clueless about all that frequency chart theory etc.

Anyway, I am annoyed a bit that my recordings still sound like shit when I have the gear to make them sound better..but don't know what to do.

thanks for any comments

You need some better monitors and/or monitoring environment. You can't hear a change if you can't hear it right.

 

[tateros]

You need some better monitors and/or monitoring environment. You can't hear a change if you can't hear it right.

If he were having problems with stereo imaging or positioning of sounds, I'd be all for the monitor suggestion. But that's not his problem.

 

[Monkey Allen]

I think it is a problem tateros. I live in a hotel room and I currently mix and monitor on $15 pc speakers.

 

[rayc]

Hello Monkey Allen,
Are you going to the Bledesloe tomorrow night?

 

[tateros]

I think it is a problem tateros. I live in a hotel room and I currently mix and monitor on $15 pc speakers.

I find it funny that you kicked this thread off by mentioning that you have an MXL SP1, CAD m177, a matched set of Behringer C2's, a Taylor 110, a Martin DX1 and the means to add a slew of effects, yet you failed to mention that you're using a pair of $15 speakers.

It's even funnier that a 35 year old has all this gear feeding through a $15 pair of speakers yet doesn't have the common sense to answer his own question as to why he's having problems with sound before he posts it.

I had said live and learn before.

I guess not.

 

[Monkey Allen]

Yeah tateros but I'm not very smart...I should have mentioned that at the start too...well I posted in the newbies section...so it should have been a dead giveaway.

Anyway...it's a bit more complicated than that...I recently have started to live in a HK hotel room...but before that I lived in Australia and had access to some M-Audio BX5 monitors. Not the best...but ok.

Anyway...what I was having trouble with...then (with the ok monitors) and now, is getting an acoustic tone that doesn't suck. And to add more detail...as it turns out, I have (almost simultaneously) begun to make some ground in the technical details regarding recording and eq'ing and what not.

I've only been diong home recording for a little while...and very sparodically at that.

I am smart enough to know that if you post in the newbies section, sometimes you will get some helpful advice which is dumbed down enough for dumb people like me to understand. I think it's good to talk through it.

You know, I'm pretty slow on the old uptake. So thanks for your patience etc etc

 

[Erockrazor]

Bash me all you want for this...

I think in your situation, a decent pair of headphones might be better than your speakers in the room. I know when I put my headphones on, I at least FEEL like ive taken away a veil of obscurity. I feel like I'm hearing everything. This is on my consumer Philips headphones. I know things are hyped on the cans but there are nulls, reflections, and plenty of listening imperfections in my room just like in the cans(though at this point, I think less inaccuracy in the cans). Cans were made to be put on your ears. My speakers were not made to be put in this crappy of a listening environment(krk rp5's in my hard floor and wall basement).

Monkey, you posted this probably in the right place. There's some questions that just seem to go unanswered and I think this is one of them.

Nobody wants to admit,"I cant hear a 3db boost".

A lot of people are working under much better conditions than you but you know that you're trying to work with what you have. Sometimes that's the best choice in home recording, to make what you have work. Not to always upgrade your gear when you fall short somewhere else. A lot of people on this board are fast to buy a new piece of gear... "My vocal sounds suck, do you think the Neumann is the right choice?" Well, you know my answer for that.

I guess my point is that, maybe you don't have the commercial sound that you're used to hearing out of an acoustic guitar. But you don't have the means that they go through to get that sound. Don't let other people tell you how a guitar should sound, it matters when it sounds good for you. This isn't directed towards you Monkey but I guess I'm just ranting for the hell of it.

Change your strings and try a different pick on your guitar

Eric

 

[tojo]

good call eric

 

[Erockrazor]

good call eric

I'm surprised anyone agrees?

I'm still waiting for the bashing!

 

[Lt. Bob]

I'm surprised anyone agrees?

I'm still waiting for the bashing!

no bashing from me ..... I frequently use my headphone rig to mix ... out of necessity. Now ..... I do have a $700 headphone set-up but the basics are the same ..... sometimes I can either use the phones or not do it at all. I always check everything on my monitors when the sound restrictions don't apply of course.
But sometimes you have to use what you can.