i have the mbox 2 and my vocals dont sound that good, would a mic pre help me out. i dont like the digi pre amp. i was wondering if a diffrent pre would get me better results or will it not make a diffrence. i use a studio projects b3 mic. if a diffrent pre could give me a more worm vocal recording can someone suggest a good one.
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mic pre yes or no
- Thread starter azrider
- Start date
the pres in the mbox are okay. a good preamp could possibly give you what you're looking for...but if you're not willing to fork up a good amount of money, chances are that you're not going to hear a whole lot of difference though. there are a lot of things that you could concentrate on other than the pre though. the room can play a huge part in the sound. and the voice plays a much bigger part than anything else. you should be able to get some decent sounds out of the pres in the mbox. if what you're getting right now is nowhere close to where you want it to be, maybe you should start trying to find where the problem is. it may be the singer. it may be the room. it may be the mic. it may be your mic technique and positioning. you should probably check all of these things out before spending the money on a good preamp.
Richard Monroe
Well-known member
It is not possible to answer your question from where I'm sitting. There are so many cumulative factors that can cause vocals to suck. The most common ones are:
1. The singer sucks (today).
2. The engineer is inexperienced or incompetent. (the first one can be fixed)
3. The song sucks.
4. The room sucks.
5. The singer is singing through the wrong mic for them.
6. The mic sucks.
After you have dealt with #'s 1-6, you have finally gotten to your question- what to do if ...
7. The singer is singing through the wrong preamp for them.
or the ever popular...
8. The preamp sucks.
#1 is first, because if it is true, fixing all of the rest of that stuff doesn't help. Only you know if you suck. If you're an American Idol reject, you suck, but you *don't* know it.
#2 is what it is. There are many more inexperienced people than there are incompetent people. Keep trying, you'll get better. This, of course, applies to #1 also. Many singers who suck can get better. Very few suck terminally, but it's a question of attitude. Some people *refuse* to learn.
#3 is mostly a matter of opinion. Watching a great performer sing a song that sucks is very interesting. Ray Charles probably could have put on a show singing the weather report.
#4 - ding ding ding! You have selected the most common problem that people will not fix! They will spend hundreds, or thousands on gear, to use in a room that sucks, and they complain about the gear. This is 10 times more likely to be your problem than the preamp. It is easier to find a room that does not suck to begin with than to fix up one that does.
#5 This is a common problem. Don't you hate it when you suck through a mic that makes another singer sound like a god? What will open your eyes (and ears) is when you switch to a different mic, and the situation is reversed! Maybe a SP B3 isn't the right mic for you. In order to find out, you have to deal with #'s 1-4 above, and *then* sing through a bunch of mics.
#6 Could happen, but almost every vocal mic on Earth sounds good on
somebody.
#7 Preamps are less finicky than mics, but some mic/pre combinations aren't so good, and some of them are bad (or good) on certain singers. Preamps, like mics, are like shoes. They either fit, or they don't.
#8 I doubt it. The preamps in the Mbox are average. Not stunning, but they don't suck, unless they are compared to big bucks badass pres, which is not what you appear to be in the market for.
So my best answer is another good quality cheap preamp will probably not be any better than what you have now, but- it will be different, and it might or might not work better for you than the mic/pre combination you are using now, which you think you don't care for. Or- you haven't dealt with #'s 1-7 above. In a nutshell, that's what I've learned about tracking vocals. The rest is all in the realm of psychology.-Richie
1. The singer sucks (today).
2. The engineer is inexperienced or incompetent. (the first one can be fixed)
3. The song sucks.
4. The room sucks.
5. The singer is singing through the wrong mic for them.
6. The mic sucks.
After you have dealt with #'s 1-6, you have finally gotten to your question- what to do if ...
7. The singer is singing through the wrong preamp for them.
or the ever popular...
8. The preamp sucks.
#1 is first, because if it is true, fixing all of the rest of that stuff doesn't help. Only you know if you suck. If you're an American Idol reject, you suck, but you *don't* know it.
#2 is what it is. There are many more inexperienced people than there are incompetent people. Keep trying, you'll get better. This, of course, applies to #1 also. Many singers who suck can get better. Very few suck terminally, but it's a question of attitude. Some people *refuse* to learn.
#3 is mostly a matter of opinion. Watching a great performer sing a song that sucks is very interesting. Ray Charles probably could have put on a show singing the weather report.
#4 - ding ding ding! You have selected the most common problem that people will not fix! They will spend hundreds, or thousands on gear, to use in a room that sucks, and they complain about the gear. This is 10 times more likely to be your problem than the preamp. It is easier to find a room that does not suck to begin with than to fix up one that does.
#5 This is a common problem. Don't you hate it when you suck through a mic that makes another singer sound like a god? What will open your eyes (and ears) is when you switch to a different mic, and the situation is reversed! Maybe a SP B3 isn't the right mic for you. In order to find out, you have to deal with #'s 1-4 above, and *then* sing through a bunch of mics.
#6 Could happen, but almost every vocal mic on Earth sounds good on
somebody.
#7 Preamps are less finicky than mics, but some mic/pre combinations aren't so good, and some of them are bad (or good) on certain singers. Preamps, like mics, are like shoes. They either fit, or they don't.
#8 I doubt it. The preamps in the Mbox are average. Not stunning, but they don't suck, unless they are compared to big bucks badass pres, which is not what you appear to be in the market for.
So my best answer is another good quality cheap preamp will probably not be any better than what you have now, but- it will be different, and it might or might not work better for you than the mic/pre combination you are using now, which you think you don't care for. Or- you haven't dealt with #'s 1-7 above. In a nutshell, that's what I've learned about tracking vocals. The rest is all in the realm of psychology.-Richie
VSProductions
New member
Richard Monroe said:It is not possible to answer your question from where I'm sitting. There are so many cumulative factors that can cause vocals to suck. The most common ones are:
1. The singer sucks (today).
2. The engineer is inexperienced or incompetent. (the first one can be fixed)
3. The song sucks.
4. The room sucks.
5. The singer is singing through the wrong mic for them.
6. The mic sucks.
After you have dealt with #'s 1-6, you have finally gotten to your question- what to do if ...
7. The singer is singing through the wrong preamp for them.
or the ever popular...
8. The preamp sucks.
#1 is first, because if it is true, fixing all of the rest of that stuff doesn't help. Only you know if you suck. If you're an American Idol reject, you suck, but you *don't* know it.
#2 is what it is. There are many more inexperienced people than there are incompetent people. Keep trying, you'll get better. This, of course, applies to #1 also. Many singers who suck can get better. Very few suck terminally, but it's a question of attitude. Some people *refuse* to learn.
#3 is mostly a matter of opinion. Watching a great performer sing a song that sucks is very interesting. Ray Charles probably could have put on a show singing the weather report.
#4 - ding ding ding! You have selected the most common problem that people will not fix! They will spend hundreds, or thousands on gear, to use in a room that sucks, and they complain about the gear. This is 10 times more likely to be your problem than the preamp. It is easier to find a room that does not suck to begin with than to fix up one that does.
#5 This is a common problem. Don't you hate it when you suck through a mic that makes another singer sound like a god? What will open your eyes (and ears) is when you switch to a different mic, and the situation is reversed! Maybe a SP B3 isn't the right mic for you. In order to find out, you have to deal with #'s 1-4 above, and *then* sing through a bunch of mics.
#6 Could happen, but almost every vocal mic on Earth sounds good on
somebody.
#7 Preamps are less finicky than mics, but some mic/pre combinations aren't so good, and some of them are bad (or good) on certain singers. Preamps, like mics, are like shoes. They either fit, or they don't.
#8 I doubt it. The preamps in the Mbox are average. Not stunning, but they don't suck, unless they are compared to big bucks badass pres, which is not what you appear to be in the market for.
So my best answer is another good quality cheap preamp will probably not be any better than what you have now, but- it will be different, and it might or might not work better for you than the mic/pre combination you are using now, which you think you don't care for. Or- you haven't dealt with #'s 1-7 above. In a nutshell, that's what I've learned about tracking vocals. The rest is all in the realm of psychology.-Richie
great explanation! you really took the time out to give this guy a hand.. very worthy of rep!