~~~Totally Lost, Please Help!!! ~~~

[ritz crackerton]

::cries of desperation::

alright, first and formost i will solely recording vocals for rap... i've read 2mil posts on mics/preamps/scards..etc... what i want to do is update a little, current have a soundblaster audigy soundcard w/ firewire, shure sm58 (no preamp)... i want to update the mic (if necessary) and the soundcard... thinking of going condensor, which i need preamp (another thing to worry about), so what should i do... update mic and soundcard, just get a preamp, everything? what, budget is average...

thinking of...
mic - sp b1? Marshall MXLV67G? sp c1?
i wanna get the best bang for my buck

soundcard - emu 0404? (anythoughts)
preamp: no idea

current quality:
www.soundclick.com/menacex

 

[ozraves]

The only cheap mic I've ever heard any of the hip hop guys go on about is the MXL V69. One of the guys at the Harmony Central recording forum by the name of audacity works is an active pro in the genre and gives excellent advice. You might go over over there and email him or send him a private message or even post a thread asking the same question.

 

[MadAudio]

Yes, if you're on a tight budget, then I second the MXL V67. Good mic. You'll definitely need to upgrade your soundcard - Soundblasters just aren't good enough. The M-Audio DMP3 is a good clean mic pre, and sells for under $200. How much are you willing to spend? And just out of curiosity what software are you using to record?

Sorry, I couldn't listen to your stuff because I'm on a dial-up at home and it was just taking too long. I'll check it out at work. But that Van Winkle comment was pretty funny!

 

[ritz crackerton]

@ van winkle, lol took me a second to get what you were saying, on the band page...

anyway what about the emu0404? and im using adobe audition 1.5.
also would a preamp on my shure sm58 be a wise decision and hold out on the mic? want to spend as least as possible, for the soundcard 200 would be about right... less if possible (emu0404)

 

[MadAudio]

I don't have any experience with emu cards, but I've heard they're decent. Certainly better than a SB. The SM58 is a very good vocal mic, so yeah I think the combo of better soundcard and good mic pre will improve your results.

 

[ritz crackerton]

so you think i should go that route instead of getting a new mic with the pre and scard, and what preamp do you recomend for the shure sm58... also i noticed the M-Audio DMP3 is a 2channel, i should only need 1 channel since its only me and my mic.. whats agood one channel or are they not as good.

 

[MadAudio]

It's all really about how much you want to spend at this point. And please wait for other people to add their opinions - I mean, just look at my signature, LOL! But I stand by my earlier recommendation for the M-Audio DMP3. It's a really good mic pre for the money.

 

[Dracon]

@ van winkle, lol took me a second to get what you were saying, on the band page...

anyway what about the emu0404? and im using adobe audition 1.5.
also would a preamp on my shure sm58 be a wise decision and hold out on the mic? want to spend as least as possible, for the soundcard 200 would be about right... less if possible (emu0404)

There are a lot of people that use emu cards. They all say that they are very good audio cards. One word of caution. E-mu cards (or actually their software for their cards) is rather picky. E-mu is owned by Creative and Creative is not known for the quality drivers. There is a whole forum to support emu cards, I can't find it right now but I'll look for it and post later.

I personally bought the Delta 44 and I love it. I installed it and 30 seconds later I was using it.
As for pre-amp. I'm not sure where you are going in the future so it's hard to advice you. However, a nice mixer will give you at least four pre-amps and the capability to record four people (with four different mics) at one time.
If you buy one pre-amp then you can only record one thing at a time.
Maybe you only record one thing at a time, but you may want to do something else in the future. A mixer gives you the ability to have four mics and perhaps some instrument, external effects or whatever.

Again, I don't know where you are going. There is no standard budget to spend. There are people in this forum like me who have spent $500 and there are people who have spent $10,000. I would say go for a nice mackie or yamaha mixer. By the sound of your rap, it seems like you want to go pro.

If you want to go pro stay away from Behringer products, and stay away from cheaper mics, unless you are going for that sound.

P.S. I found the link to emu http://www.productionforums.com/emu/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=25
read there and decide for yourself.

 

[noisedude]

If I was you I'd start with an M-Audio Audiophile 24/96. Then if you have a half decent preamp (whether in a budget mixer or a budget standalone unit such as the Studio Projects VTB-1) you'll be fine.

Technique point - do not 'cup' the mic in your hands. You should not be touching the ball section at all ... it will make you sound very muffled.

 

[stevem554]

IMHO the M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 is a great/inexpensive upgrade from the creative card. but the Studio Projects VTB-1 is a colored pre. to hook up a colored mic + colored pre would sound like caca. IMO of course.

I would get the mxl 67g with the m audio dmp3 as recommended in an earlier post. the dmp3 which is a "clean" pre would compliment the dark mxl mic.

then add to that the FMR RNC and you'll have an awesome channel strip (for the price of course)

 

[stevem554]

fyi, there is a poll right now with the dmp3 vs vtb1 here:

http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=896

 

[noisedude]

IMHO the M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 is a great/inexpensive upgrade from the creative card. but the Studio Projects VTB-1 is a colored pre. to hook up a colored mic + colored pre would sound like caca. IMO of course.

Possibly ... but possibly for rap you don't want crystal clear sparkling highs either?

That SP is just one option, the DMP-3 is more expensive and two channels. Depends what you want and what your plans are. If it were me, I'd be getting a Yamaha MG10/2 anyway!!

EDIT - From that poll thread it would appear the DMP-3 is cheaper in the States. That's not the case over here.

 

[Wireneck]

Technique point - do not 'cup' the mic in your hands. You should not be touching the ball section at all ... it will make you sound very muffled.

Put the thing in a stand and call it a day. You don't want the handling noise in your recordings and your distance from the mic may vary if your moving around with it in your hand.

Btw....Ive got the emu card your asking about and I had no problem with the drivers/install. Im using 2 year old gateway with windows xp if that helps.

 

[noisedude]

Every time I see a video of U2 in the studio Bono is holding the mic. Dunno if those are his final takes or not, but I guess every so often someone's gonna want not to use a stand.

I would put it on a stand every time, but I'm not a rapper!

 

[ritz crackerton]

definantly appreciating all the responses. if i can get away with it imma keep my shure sm58 (and i recently got a stand, like 2 days ago, so much better) i called a local music store and they only carry the behringer ultra voice for $130 or ultragain pro for $179, alot of mixed reviews on behringer though. would the dmp3 be good going with a shure sm58? seems like most recomend that, good price at mf to..

now looking im thinkin of going with the dmp3 pre, the M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 soundcard and keepin my mic, sm58, is this wise?

 

[ritz crackerton]

still planning on the shure sm58/dmp3.. but with soundcards i been doin some searching... came up with...

audiophile 2496 / emu 0404 / m-410 delta (all $99)
or if its worth the price increase a....
audiophile 192-PCI / emu 1212m ($179-$199)

what ta do, what ta do...

 

[ozraves]

One thing about cheap preamps is that dynamic mics don't go so great with them. The DMP3 might be an exception but I've never had the opportunity to use a dynamic mic with one. I did note when I tried out a Studio Projects VTB1 that it did a fairly decent job with an SM58. You might consider it as well as the DMP3.

Maybe someone with experience with the DMP3 (as well as much more expensive preamps) could chime in and give their impressions of the DMP3 with an SM58.

 

[ritz crackerton]

for quality purposes using a preamp, would i be better off going condensor?

 

[ozraves]

Not necessarily. If you like the SM58 then keep using it.

 

[Innovations]

my opinion:

If you are going directly from the mic to the sound card then I presume that you are going to the mic-in of the soundcard (or are getting ridiculously low levels going into the line in).

If so my opinion is that before you think of getting ANY other upgrade get a preamp. When you use the mic-in of the soundcard you are in fact using the built-in preamp on the sound card and those are crap. Your original post indicated that you thought you only needed the preamp if you got the condenser. You need phantom power if you get a condenser. Phantom power is a side-feature of a preamp. The real purpose is to provide you with clean high quality boost from the mic level signal to the line level signal.