VTB-1 or RNC or Meek?

  • Thread starter Thread starter SteveMcB
  • Start date Start date
S

SteveMcB

Just some guy from NZ
I am just embarking on a project recording an album with friends, and have a small amount of cash to dispose of (around $200US) for one last piece of gear before jumping into this...

I think I have the basics covered - I have a recording unit (roland), monitors (Yorkville), pre's in mixer (Mackie VLZ), comp (Behringer Composer) mics (small and large-diaphragm condensors and dynamics), and cans (BeyerDynamic).

So, what would you buy with the money?
- Studio Projects VTB gives me a nice dedicated pre with some tubey sound variation (which I'd like)

- RNC gives me better compressor, could be used for mix bus compression among many other things

- Joe Meek MQ3 gives me a unique-sounding pre/comp combination

-Joe Meek MC2 I haven't heard much about, but from the Meek rep I would assume gives me a character stereo comp

Preferences or other ideas welcome. (I could get a pair of ECM8000's and some cables and stands too, but I'm not that thrilled about that)

Steve
 
the VTB1 is supposed to have a price reduction in the next few weeks, hopefully around $130...id start with that and save the rest until you can get the RNC......
 
buy a decent preamp for tracking your vocals, and use VLZ's for the other instruments....the compressor you have may do the job....
oops....I haven't read Gidge's post until now...that was basically it..
 
You are right. You do have all the basics covered. However, $200 won't get you much better than the preamps in the Mackie VLZ, regardless of the hype. I think you'll be wasting your money to buy another preamp. Perhaps go for the RNC? I've never used this thing, but from what I've heard you can't get much better in that price range.

Personally I think your $200 might be better spent on drugs and alcohol - this will definitely make your recordings sound better...for a while :)
 
agreed with above

also, i would say that the meek could improve the OVERALL sound, even though the mic pre on it is pretty crappy sounding (in a sort of fun way).

if you want fidelity, you should start looking at the used market.
 
I use a Joe Meek preamp (VC3Q) and its hardly crappy.....it is a tad noisier than some preamps, but it has a unique sound to it......
 
i meant that it is crappy good.

it is slow and rolls off the top end a bit.

when i was testing out my old vc1q, and comparing it against my console pres my girlfriends reaction was, "the console sounds like the snare drum, the joemeek sounds like a recording of a snare drum".

but anyway, being slow and having very little top end is good for vocals and bass and some other applications.

actually great for vocals if you using something like a rode NT that is sort of bright and harsh to begin with.
 
Buy the RNC, it can give you many years of pleasure.....

Amund
 
Steve, I've basically owned and used all the items in your initial post. (VC3Q instead of MQ3) Generally the upgrade priority is;
1) mic pre
2) compressor

The pre's in the VTB-1 are far superior to the Mackie.

After all what do you expect less than $10 worth of parts to sound like? :) It's amazing they sound as decent as they do, to Mackie's credit. Be aware they're planning to beef up the Meek line pretty soon, although the existing Meeks are good boxes. The Meek compression helps particulary with a limited microphone "cabinet" as it expands the tonal range you can get by making a mike sound thicker and allowing transients to go through better than a VCA based compressor-yes even the RNC!
(I've got a Joe Meek VC6 on e-bay right now BTW)

FWIW, I'd sell the Behringer then use the $$ towards the RNC
and/or a Meek. The priority of RNC vs. Meek would depend on the nature of your application. If it's in the budget get both!

Chris

P.S. www.mercenary.com doubles the warranty of the RNC,
and the pin-ups are cool too.
I like www.bpmmusic.com for the Studio Projects and Meek
stuff.
 
Thanks for all the replies.
I am kind of leaning towards the RNC - the VTB-1 price drop will take a while to filter thru to little 'ol New Zealand.

Many of the online retailers you mention are reluctant to ship to New Zealand, and don't have the european power supplies... I'll probably buy direct through FMR if I do get an RNC.

The other thing that leans me towards the RNC is that this album is to raise funds for a church building project (restoring and updating an incredible old building), so I don't have the ability to get it mastered, so at least it would be nice to put some mix bus compression in supernice mode on it.

The meek strikes me as something that I'd like to have, but maybe after the other 2 items...

Food for thought tho,
Thanks

Steve
 
Stop quoting prices, I'm getting depressed!

I'm sure you all have no idea how much it shits me when you quote these miniscule prices for decent bits of gear, OK, I know it's US dollars and last I check the good old Aussie Dollar was only $0.61US, but even after converting things are outrageously expensive over here! That's if you can find the gear in the first place! Our choices are somewhat limited it seems. I can only imagine what it's like in New Zulund Steve!

And best not to mention the cricket, I guess....

Cheers from down under :-)
 
Jeppo said:
Personally I think your $200 might be better spent on drugs and alcohol - this will definitely make your recordings sound better...for a while :)
Click to expand...

Truer words have never been spoken.
 
Down, down under!!

Armistice,
You are certainly right about the prices down under, but don't despair! There are ways around some of these things.

First, there's ebay... Not buying off some dodgy punter, but buying off ebay stores with decent feedback profiles. I recently got a pair of mxl 603 small diaphragm condensor mics for approx $290 Aus from an ebay store in Florida, with cables and shipping included in the price - Buying direct from the Australian distributors (the nearest ones to me here in NZ) they are $269 Aus a piece, without said shipping and cables.

Second, there are a few brands that we get cheaper than you Aussies, 'cause one of our distributors sells direct, whereas yours don't, so it might be worth looking at getting them shipped from over here - These brands include Studio Projects, Joe Meek and Oktava. The company's website is www.oceania-audio.co.nz - look under used gear (their specials are listed at the bottom of that page). Email them for other prices - I think it's Nigel I've dealt with usually, and he's really helpful.

Third, for the RNC, you can buy direct from fmr audio via their web site with the appropriate power supplies, or, they are blowing them out for $380 Aus at one of the aussie music websites www.musiclab.net.au/special.htm

Most of the online megastores seem reluctant to ship here, (and won't have the right power supplies) but it's worth a try for mics and stuff.

So it's bad, but not as bad as it looks in some cases (and definitely not as bad as the cricket :rolleyes:

Steve

P.S. Who ate all the diuretics?:D
 
Thanks for the links Steve - I'll have to check them out next time I need something.

hadn't heard of musiclab - must be a Melbourne concern - Sydney's actually quite bad for this sort of stuff, despite being the largest city and all..

I'm sure 99.99% of the rest of this board has no idea what we're talking about with cricket and diuretics and stuff.. :0

Cheers

David
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top