Nice laptop solution?

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Douglas256

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I tried searching, but couldn't find what I wanted . . . I'm sure it is there, I just didn't know what to search for.


I want to make some amazing recordings of spoken word (and maybe a little acoustic guitar). I'm mainly talking poetry, story-telling, etc.

I have a M-Audio MobilePre and AT 3035, and they sound decent enough . . . but, I can't help thinking I can do better.

What are your thoughts on something like the Apogee Mini-Me and another mic or two? My only requirements are: (i) being able to use them with both my laptop and my desktop, (ii) being able to record without any external power (no AC in the middle of a mountain meadow), (iii) be around $1500-2000.

On a related note, I was thinking of getting a Benchmark DAC 1 ($850) to monitor/mix/master with. Are there any other good stereo DACs I should look at in that general price range?

Thank you so much,

Douglas
 
Full mobility is fairly rare yet - most firewire interfaces I've seen require AC power. The 3035 is hard to beat for anywhere near that price range. If you're not happy with sound quality, make sure you're gain staging properly (near max undistorted at each stage of the chain) As far as the Benchmark stuff - there IS no competition anywhere NEAR the price. Even major mastering engineers are buying them. Nuff said... Steve
 
Thank you Steve.

I'm glad to know I don't have to worry about upgrading my 3035, as I had no idea what to look at in terms of mics.

As for gain staging, whenever I try and turn up the gain on the MobilePre (past the half way mark on the pot), it gets noise and harsh sounding. Do you think it would serve me better to get a small pre-amp to feed into my MobilePre instead of spending all my money to get another all-in-one unit? If so, what portable mic pre-amp options should I look at?

Thank you again,

Douglas
 
Spec-wise, the Mini-Me doesn't sound all that much better - however, we all know the SOUND is what matters, not the numbers - still, that's a fair chunk of change if it's not necessary - As far as gain staging, the AT mics tend to be fairly hot so I'm not surprised you run into problems turning up the level. That's not what I intended, only that it was optimum (not too low)

If you're wanting to move up to 96k for cleaner nature sounds, the Mini-Me does that where the M-audio only goes to 48 at 16 bit - that alone (16 vs 24 bit) should make a noticeable improvement in clarity and depth on your recordings - with 24 bit, you can afford to leave a little headroom on top and still get 20-22 bits of real information.

Maybe you could find a shop that will let you try the Apogee - that's kind of a lot of money for a "maybe", even though I'm pretty sure you'll see a marked improvement... Steve
 
Most the places around me said I could special order it, but they didn't have one in stock. One of the sales people suggested I look at the Edirol UA5 which was 24 bit/96 kHz via USB at only $265 verse $1240 for the Mini-Me. He also added that if I'm putting out that kind of money for a Mini-Me that I should consider his used Grace Lunatec V3 for $1275.

I'm thinking now that the UA5 might be a good compromise. At least from the specs, it is closer to the Mini-Me than it is to the MobilePre and saves me nearly a grand. Maybe after my recording skills get to the point that equipment is the limiting factor, I'll upgrade again.

Thank you again Steve for your help. You helped me realize that maybe I should try and work on my technique instead of trying to buy fancier equipment.

Yours,

Douglas
 
Well, I decided to go all out and get the Lunatec V3 and the UA5 (as an interface to get the digital signal into my laptop). While I'm still waiting on the wallwart for the Grace, I am amazed at the construction of the Lunatec.

Not only is it built to survive any thing you could possibly throw at it, it comes with a spec. sheet for MY actual unit! Not some mean measure of other units, it is for my actual unit! I just can't get over it.

Anyone have any good suggests of a nice condensor mic to go along with my new Grace for spoken word and acoustic instruments?
 
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