Upgrade input needed

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omtayslick

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I have a friend who runs a small in-home studio, that caters primarily to singer/songwriters. He records mostly acoustic instruments and vocals, but occaisional drums too. As I am on the forums frequently, he has asked me to do some research for him.


Here is what he currently has:

Focusrite Octopre into Digi 002
Blue Baby Bottle
Ksm 27
Ksm109
Pair of AT pro37r's
A couple of 57's


He is looking to upgrade his vocal chain. Primarily for male vocals. He likes the Baby Bottle on female vocals. So, we are upgrading from the Octopre/Ksm27 chain. The stated goal is "warmth". (yeah, I know that means different things to different people)


His usual gear supplier has recommended the Manley Voxbox, and a Neumann U87. A nice chain to be sure. But very pricey. So the purpose of the research is to see if a big jump can be made for a little less. I never get near that kind of stuff, so I would appreciate comments on the Voxbox, U87, and where his current gear sits in relation to them.

What I am thinking about reccomending to him is this:
Great River ME-1NV. The impedance switching and loading switch for the transformer should give him a few sound options. And I am guessing that the pre should be head and shoulders above the Octopre pres.


Soundeluxe U195. By all accounts a solid mic, and with the fat switch, again, sonic options. (or if he really want a Neumann, a TLM103?)

Am I on the right track here?
 
ive never used the great river but my favorite warmth pre amp right now is a UA 610. seems like he has cash so this wont be out of his budget. ive also been hearing great things about the hamptone kits i plan on getting one of those soon and can give personal feedback.

also look into tube mics for added warmth. theres a slew of budget ones going around lately and one might offer a good contrast to his baby bottle. i borrowed a mxl v69m from a freind and was very surprised by the quality of this "budget" mic. i didnt use it on vox though but it was a nice overhead and off axis cabinet mic.

the soundeluxe looks nice but for just a tiny bit more he could have that u87 off ebay. so for around 2k$ id buy a 2 channel hamptone tube kit and a u87 or mabye one of those wierd red switchable capsule mics (havnt used it but damn it looks neat, and can hold a slew of old capsules)

ooh now that i think about it a nice ribbon could be cool too
 
Tom, you can do a lot better without forking out for a VoxBox and an 87. if he mainly does acoustic instruments I would recommend the John Hardy M-1 Personal Mic Preamp. Absolutely top-quality high-end preamp. Should run you less than $1K.

http://www.johnhardyco.com/M-1PersonalDetails.html

On mics, there's some excellent "warm" mics for under $1K. For "warm" you don't want a Neumann TLM 103. And if you did, the Gefell [ real Neumann ] 930 is a better mic. And the U195 is a good mic, but you won't really get "warm" from it. The owner already has some good clean, neutral mics with the KSM and Baby Bottle.

For "warm" one of the better tube mics under $1K would be the way to go: The Peluso 22 251, Peluso 2247 shortbody, ADK TT and ADK CE are all excellent high-quality multi-pattern tube mics.

Out of those I'd say the Peluso 22 251 would give the most versatility. Not only great on vocals, but also acoustic instruments, and even amps, and – if he ever got a pair – drum OH's. Warm, full with a nice airy top-end.

Any one of those mics going through an M-1 mic pre will give him an absolute killer chain, and give a huge upgrade over all the other gear. And he'll get seriously better performance from all his other mics with the M-1.
 
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CAD VSM is a good one to look at. I like that mic on male vocals a lot, and particularly like it when worked close for an intimate sound.

The TT is indeed a great go to mic, ADK's got a winner there.

War
 
Thanks for the replies gentlemen. The Hardy definitely sounds like our winner. Sorry to say I overlooked tube mics entirely. Very good suggestion.
 
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