Niimo said:
so if you were me what mics, preamps, and rack gear would you suggest? Still unsure exactly what a preamp is used for
A preamp is an amplifier that takes the relatively weak signal from the mic and amplifies it to the level that you can add it to your mix so it sounds good (and is comparable in strength to "line" level instument inputs, like from a keyboard, or even a guitar signal from a amp modeler or the like). Basically you need a preamp to use a microphone. The inputs for the MR8 has preamps built in, but these are widely regarded as extra super crappy. Basically you want a nice strong signal as early in your signal chain as you can (so righ after the mic would be ideal), but with these pre's, once you start cranking htem up, they start adding noise and distorting the signal quickly. All this means that most people using the MR8 quickly realize that to get a decent signal, they need an outboard preamp, the inputs of a mixer will have built preamps, presumbaly of better quality than those onthe MR8. I generally use my small mixer preamps and then add just a tiny bit of gain throught he MR8 preamps if the signal is not quite strong enough going into the recorder.
You can also buy dedicated micrpohone preamps, and the best add a great "color" to the signal with "warmth", " clarity" and all sorts of non specific things that you will pick up as you get into recording more and more. THe real deal folkson this bard tend to be strong proponents of nice preamps, and if you ahve the money, they can really help your signal chain.
As for mics, luckily there is quite a bit out there that add a lot to your pallette for recording that are fairly affordable. That maens that for less than say, $200 each you ahve some ooptions. Sure SM57 is a standard for many things, micing guitar amps, snare drums, even hats and toms, and some voices sound good through them (and they are very durable, and so are used for live setups alot), used can be found from $60-80. I have a pair of small diameter condensors, MXL 603s that are pretty good for a bright aucoustic sound, overheads (for drums or general room micing) and a Octava 319, the 603s cost about $75 each and the octava was on sale at GC for $70. The Octava is a Large diameter condensor and is brand new to me, but i plan to try it out on vocals and aucoustic recording etc. I have an SM58 also (essentially the same as the SM57 but more suited to vocals). Between these i have the very basics covered for most kinds of htings i want to record, with one exception, bass drum. THere are several different kind of mics for that, but the cheapest good ones are at the higher end of $150-250.
Basically, different mics help you capture different nuances of the various instruments and voices. Many can be used several different ways, the key is to give yourself options.
If you move things into a PC recording works (I use the very cheapo Ntrack at the moment) you can add effects via the sofgtware there without spending additoianl cash. Otherwise a compressor, and EQ would probabaly be your next best bets. For a beginniner, i think the route i have gone has been good for low $$ investment and plently of opportunities to mess up stuff and learn. Read these board for a bout a month straight (especially the microphone stickies in that forum) you will learn more than you can take advantage of.
Hope this helps,
Dave.