simple pre amp and mic question :P

[Steenamaroo]

hi all,

put simply, i use a presonus firepod and currently my main vocal mic is a rode nt 1a.

i was wandering if anyone knows, can the presonus preamps justify me buying an akg414 or studio projects c1, etc.

basically,,,at what point does the mic quality surpass the firepods capability.

thanks everyone.

 

[cusebassman]

As they are all condensers, you should be fine. The real issue I've found with the Firepod preamps is how noisy they get when you crank the gain past about 3pm, however, the quality is perfectly fine. I've run a Rode K2 through them and gotten just as good a sound as I have with decent stand-alone preamps.

 

[Tajmoben]

I just got finished recording an album that was mixed in high dollar studio (not mine). I used the presonus firestudio and no external pres. The album has alot of horns and I used a 414 for the bone, sax (bari and tenor) and one of the trumpets. I also used it on all the background and harmony vocals. The mixing engineer actually complimented the presonus pres. He said they were really clean and easy to work with. So from my experience I'd say go for it. I love my 414.

 

[dgatwood]

As they are all condensers, you should be fine. The real issue I've found with the Firepod preamps is how noisy they get when you crank the gain past about 3pm, however, the quality is perfectly fine. I've run a Rode K2 through them and gotten just as good a sound as I have with decent stand-alone preamps.

Agreed. For condensers, you're golden with just about any pre as long as it has phantom power. It's pretty easy to get 30 dB (or so) of gain....

For ribbons, it's okay as long as you're close to the source. Back off or mic a quiet source with a ribbon and you'll be annoyed at the noise level. Still less noisy than the self noise of my old Rat Shack condenser mic, though.

 

[dgatwood]

hi all,

put simply, i use a presonus firepod and currently my main vocal mic is a rode nt 1a.

i was wandering if anyone knows, can the presonus preamps justify me buying an akg414 or studio projects c1, etc.

Tell us what you don't like about the NT1A, and that should help us give suggestions.

 

[Steenamaroo]

thanks to everyone for postin back.

the main reason i'm askin is cos i've more or less finished doin a cd with a guy,,

it's mostly drums,piano,acoustic guitar and vocal, but the vocals always seem to sound a bit dull and full of mid. if i try to carefully use eq,,,,it doesnt take much at all to leave the vocals completely empty, and any high end boost at all results in harsh ss's,even with waves d esser.

tbh,i'm startin to think it's more down to this guys voice, but i thought new mic or two would be worth a try.

he think's he's bryan adams if that helps.

thanks again guys!

 

[dgatwood]

...the vocals always seem to sound a bit dull and full of mid. if i try to carefully use eq,,,,it doesnt take much at all to leave the vocals completely empty, and any high end boost at all results in harsh ss's,even with waves d esser.!

Midrange-heavy? Really? I thought the NT1A was sort of bright. Sounds almost like maybe the singer is singing too close to the mic or singing into the back of the mic or something.

 

[Steenamaroo]

must just be his voice then, cos i can rule out those two things.

anyways,,thanks for all the replies!