Please advise me on my studio.

[Blink 182]

I'm extremely sorry if this is not the 'correct' way of doing this, or if I am in the wrong section. I just have quite a few questions and I thought it would be best to do it all in one thread.

Firstly, I'm not proud of any of my gear. Most of it was bought without the thought of creating a project studio, and I don't know an awful lot about equipment. So my choices were probably very bad.

I have been recording for about 2 years, so I'm still a novice, but I don't make as many stupid mistakes as I did two years ago. I have a basic grasp of most of the fundementals of recording, some more basic than others. I'd like to think I can at least track and mix a piece of music that isn't totally unlistenable to.

My set-up currently;
2 Shure PG81s
2 Shure SM57's
2 AKG clip on tom mics
Audio Technica ATM25
AKG C2000b

Running into a Yamaha O1V (I realise this is superior to my mic choice, but eBay was fantastic to me) to Wharfedale Diamond 8.2 Pro Active monitors. This is all goes into my Creative emu 1212m via the ADAT inputs.

I record mainly drums with this set-up. I want to replace the PG81s with a pair of Studio Projects B1s...am I right in thinking this would be a significant improvement for overheads? I'm not a fan of close mic'ing drums, so I really would like to create a nice overhead sound. Any recommendations on other microphones that would suit my needs? I think around £150 for each mic would be my limit.

Although I am not too informed on mic pre-amps, I am under the assumption I will need to buy some to improve my sound. I've searched the threads, but I couldn't really find the right answer. I just want to know, for around £300, would I be able to buy 8 channels of pre-amp, and would this improve my sound and be a worthy investment? Could anyone recommed some to me?

Next, I would like to cater for guitars if possible. I will be mainly recording my band, which uses a pretty stereotypical heavy distorted tone. I thought I would record the guitars with a mixture of the SM57s and B1s, but I would like the option of direct recording, as I don't exactly have a stack of vintage amps to play with, a nice room and quality mics. I would also like a good platform to record direct bass guitar, as the tone I am getting direct from my mixer is pretty awful despite alot of experimenting with different settings on the guitar. I've been looking at the Line 6 Toneport to solve these problems. Are their any alternatives, or any totally different approaches within a reasonable price range?

Finally, I would like to upgrade my mic cables. I have no problem in soldering if I must. Is it plausable to upgrade to high quality cables for around £150?

Thankyou for your patience. I am not looking for answers here, just helpful advice, as this is the only place where I feel I can get a worthwhile opinion.

Thanks alot.

 

[dgatwood]

I record mainly drums with this set-up. I want to replace the PG81s with a pair of Studio Projects B1s...am I right in thinking this would be a significant improvement for overheads?

Probably....

I'm not a fan of close mic'ing drums, so I really would like to create a nice overhead sound. Any recommendations on other microphones that would suit my needs? I think around £150 for each mic would be my limit.

Maybe the Oktava MK-012. You could probably get a matched pair for £200 or so (judging from the U.S. price with the current exchange rate; actual prices may vary considerably)....

Although I am not too informed on mic pre-amps, I am under the assumption I will need to buy some to improve my sound. I've searched the threads, but I couldn't really find the right answer. I just want to know, for around £300, would I be able to buy 8 channels of pre-amp, and would this improve my sound and be a worthy investment? Could anyone recommed some to me?

Yamaha's pres are generally pretty good. I'd be surprised if you could get too terribly much better in the $66/channel range. Take the money and buy a couple more mics instead. Consider a Shinybox/Nady/Thomann ribbon mic. Several folks have said they like them on guitar cabs. They're also nice on male vocals, IMHO.

I think Thomann is the most local seller for them. They have a couple of models for about 129€ + VAT (88.50£ + VAT). http://www.thomann.de/index.html?partner_id=97926&page=thoiw2_the_tbone_rb500_prodinfo.html

You might find other places cheaper, though; at least here in the U.S., there are a bunch of people who import the things from the manufacturer in China and sell them on eBay at low margins. If there are folks doing that where you are, you might find a better deal that way.

Finally, I would like to upgrade my mic cables. I have no problem in soldering if I must. Is it plausable to upgrade to high quality cables for around £150?

Is there something wrong with your cables? If you have problems with hum, you probably need to rewire the connectors and make sure the shell of your microphone is properly grounded by the cable.

Failing that, just how long a cable are we talking about? I don't think it's ever worth upgrading a run of mic cable that's under about 200 feet (60 meters). Heck, I have runs that are 40 feet long that are 22 AWG foil-and-wire shielded lines that are half the diameter of a pencil, and they sound just fine. Seriously.

IMHO, the difference that you'd make by replacing the cables is so utterly insignificant compared to other factors that you're much better off spending that money on a good mic or two.

Based on what you're doing, a good kick mic would probably improve the mix significantly (no matter what overheads you use). I'd suggest maybe an AKG D112. £139 at E-AV (don't know anything about the company or how good that price is; they're just the first UK dealer I found in a ten second web search). http://www.e-av.co.uk/info.php?id=1640