Money for one/two colored mic pre(s), what do I get, and where do I apply it?

Roozter

Roozter

New member
I have a Tascam US-2000. If I had it my way I would simply run everything through high quality pres, but its looking like Ive only got room in the budget for one. Im trying to get one to two high quality colored pre's. Preferably tube.

I usually record guitars-guide vocals-drums-bass in that order and then do my full arrangement/composition and the vocals around that base when its solid.

My problems arise when it comes to recording the drum kit. I cant afford a high quality pre for each mic on the kit, so if I do buy one or two high quality pre's, where should I apply it? I record the drum kit with 2 Snares top and bottom, 1 kick, 1 OH, and I occasionally mic the toms. Where would be the best place to apply the pre's in this setup?

Also Im looking for a pre that will be work horse. Would it be smarter to just forget the pre's and simply use the ones on the new Tascam? Focusing on room treatment and mics instead?
 
Roozter said:
Would it be smarter to just forget the pre's and simply use the ones on the new Tascam? Focusing on room treatment and mics instead?
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If your acoustics suck, then I would work on taming your recording environment. But it can be done pretty inexpensively with rigid fiberglass like OC703/OC705 or mineral wool panels, depending on the size.
 
Yeah, I would say go for room treatment first as well. What is your budget, and what is telling you to want a tube preamp?
 
I just like the warmth that tube brings. And by budget is something along the lines of 4000-5000 for all of my new studio ugrades, not just the pre's. New interface, new monitors, new mics, more stands, more cables, and hopefully some good pre's to give me a little something on my tracks.
 
In the words of my audio engineering professor (his name is Steve Gamberoni, if you wanna know how credible he is, Google his name),
"Anything with the name, "Neve" on it will work."

This was his response when someone asked what gear would be good to buy for our studio building project. xD
 
I was looking at picking up a handfull of Golden Age 73's. Neve clones basically. Not going to be the real thing, but its affordable and does seem to have good reviews.
 
Right now my setup is looking something like a Neumann U67 on OH, D12 on kick, and Im probably going to mic the snare with 57's top and bottom, or even see what some 609's sound like on it, or a combo if both. But its looking like its all going to go through the neve clones. Including my other tracks as well.
 
My chain is old school and I don't even have a monitor to see a sonic graph that I could post for you, but I can tell you by hearing both that the e609 is a little less detailed in the mids and highs than a 57, traits that I want to capture from my Marshall amp, so I switched them. I like it as much if not better than the 57 on snare because the mids on snare (to me and the way mine is tuned) can be a little honky, so unhyped mids are good for not accentuating that sonic trait. Both are nice mics and do a great job, just a little different in sound w/o eq.
 
You can probably get an API 3124+ used for around $2k, which comes out to ~$500 per channel. Maybe not what you're looking for, but when I heard your dry track that's what I though of. They're pretty high output and so you might have to budget for an attenuator so as not to clip your converters, but maybe not.
 
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