Preamp or mixer?

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dave m

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I have a soundcard on the way and need a preamp. I got to thinking that maybe I should just get a decent 8 track mixer with decent preamps. I have max of 850.00 to spend. What do you guys think of that?

dave
 
how many pres will you need? how many tracks to you plan on recording at once? do you have much outboard gear? are you planning on buying outboard gear?

you can get 8+ pretty decent pres for $850 in a mixer (plus all the other stuff). if you are planning on doing lots of drum recording or full band at once recording this might be a good route.

but $850 could get you a pair of pretty damn good mic pres if you are planning on only recording voice or guitar or something like that.
 
oh also, if you are just starting out i wouldnt spend the $850 on just a mic pre. you will probably be better off finding a used dmp3 and a mic or two for $400 and saving the rest for later, or maybe use the money to make the CDs you are gonna make, or use it as a down payment on a Van so you can tour... or anything like that. or monitors... do you have monitors...

that is a lot of money sitting in a mic pre for someone just getting started.
 
ok. here's the rest of the story and it ain't pretty. All I have at this time is a laptop and a soundcard on the way from Musucians Friend. I put the card on a credit card from their store and all I have left on it is about 850.00. Whatever I buy next I want it to be good and maybe use it on live gigs.
For recording I probably don't need more than two ins for stereo. As for the mixer, I could probably use it to submix drums for a musical that I will be part of and it will always come in handy. I play guitar but am helping with sound.
So, that's the story.
 
well, i hate lecturing but- dont buy on credit.

that said (ignore my advice, as i ignored it)

go for something like a dmp3 $140 and those two oktava mc012s for $99 and a used sm57 for $40.

start small. those are all pretty normal purchases. you can always sell them again for not much of a loss. and they will get you through.

if you spend a lot of time with placement you can record a drum set with 2 mics.. no problem... (you will need a good drummer though).

also, paying back $300 is a lot easier than $850. pay it back in two to three months and you wont get in trouble...
 
No prob about the lecture but it's not my credit. Someone owes me money and they're paying me by letting me use there card.
I have some SM58's and Beyer mics. I plan on using them for now. I want to start with a preamp or a mixer with good pres and I don't plan on recording drums. I use Adobe Audition. I'm just wondering if a good pre will help the mics sound better.

dave
 
A great mic will sound bad on a bad preamp. A bad mic will sound bad on a good preamp. Sm58's should do a decent enough job, so I'd get 2 preamps as said before if you don't plan on using any more I/O
 
what beyer mics?

they might be really good....

i would just get the dmp3 given that you already have some mics. it will not satisfy your gear lust, but it will get you recording... that is the important thing.

take the rest of the money in cash.
 
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