Pre-amp and mic advice once again...

[cellardweller]

Choice of preamp and mics

Need some advice (as always), and hope you guys might point me in the right direction. I’m going to take out a loan, this will be my expenditure for probably a year (six months if I can sneak it by the wife though!). Not to worry, I’m not going to spend beyond my means. Probably in the neighborhood of $1000.

I play mostly metalish stuff, but I love to diverge from my norm on a regular basis. There is not a form of music, which does not have some value/interest to me. So while I remain rooted in “metalish” stuff, I’d like as much diversity as I can afford.

This is a labor of love for me, with no visions of grandeur, nor ambitions of short-term world domination! I’m just a guy who can’t find enough decent people to jam with, but must create music to the best of his physical and financial abilities!!!

Here’s what I have;

SM58
SM57
SPB1
Fostex MR8
Mackie 808m

*edit*
Zoom drum machine
various cheap to mid-level electric and one acoustic guitar(s)
Ampeg V120 and a ol' kick-around Crate
Yorkville powered nearfield monitors/PC w/n-tracks and plug-ins
Peavey 4X12
Various ANCIENT keyboards
harmonicas, kazoos, and a thousand other unmentionables!
*end of edit*

What I think might benefit me;

MD421 OR MD441 OR SM7???
M-audio DMP3 OR Tampa???
E609 (a bit of extra flavoring for cab micing)

All suggestions/advice/additions are appreciated more than words can express!!! Please do not hesitate to replace "or" with "and" in the "benefit" column above!

Thank you,
CD

 

[mshilarious]

Mmmm, $1K. I'll spend it happily.

Why not sell the low end axes and buy something nice? What do you do for bass?

But if you must spend on recording gear:

Sure, a DMP3.

The SM7 is nice for growly vocals.

Still a lot of money left. Yeah, throw in the e609.

You know, with those two mics for vocals & guitar, your 58, 57 might not see too much use.

Another cheap mic that's cool is the Shure Green Bullet. It's a harp mic that plugs into an amp and has lots of other groovy uses.

PS I love ancient keyboards.

 

[cellardweller]

DMP3 huh?

How does the SM7 do on mic cabs w/semi-heavy distortion? I've recorded some growly vocals w/57, and compared it to a radio shock mic and didn't notice much difference. It's been quite a while ago, and I don't record those too often, so would you still recommend the SM7 over either the MD421 or 441?

I forget to mention that I also have a quartet of backup singers, ranging in age from 09-15.

My latest addition to my collection of ancient keyboards has some kind of air pump in it (impossible to record with B1) and sounds like an accordian! It's kinda neat, but probably unusable, which makes it fit right in! I gotta take it apart this weekend and see how it works...

Oh yeah, bass. It is possible, however difficult and limiting, to program bass on my drum machine. I would like to find a bass, but I'll be patient as I can get by for now without...

Thanks for spending my 1k, usually that's my wifes job, you'd better be careful, she doesn't like competition!