What preamp for country-blues/folk music?

Thanks for all the advice! Wow, there's a lot going on for sure... I was hoping in something more like: "buy this, is gonna change your life" but it would have been too easy :)
Here's something i just recorded, if someone feels like give it a listen and share some thoughts on how to make it sound better i would appreciate that.
 

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  • one dime blues (TEAC).mp3
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MIC83 said:
if someone feels like give it a listen and share some thoughts on how to make it sound better i would appreciate that.
Click to expand...
I really like the piece. My son was listening to it and he was pretty impressed and said it sounded quite complicated {he's currently learning guitar}.
I like its movement and perkiness. The only thing I'd say on first listen is that it sounds a little bassy and lacks a certain brightness, sonically. It's the sort of thing I'd get used to after 2 or 3 listens though, and may not be a bad thing. I like the blend of the guitar and the vocal; were they recorded separately ?
 
Thanks, i'm glad you liked it, it's a great tune to practice finger-style guitar.
That's true it sounds really bassy, someone suggested the use of bass traps in the room, maybe that could help.
I only used one mic, the "Louise" by Ear Trumpet Labs, they're pretty popular right now for acoustic single-mic situations.
 
Very cool sound. If that thing had some "vinyl clicks and pops" people might think it came from back in the 40s!

I would really be interested in the difference in sound between your TEAC version, and one that ran the exact same signal into a DAW.
 
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Yes, I like that a lot as well. The playing reminds me of my son's. He should be home in a few weeks I shall ask him to record the piece.

I have taken the temerity of 'tweaking' the original and making it a bit brighter. Added a splash of reverb as well...

Now! I am NO mixer person! I am also clinically deaf and did this on AKG K92 cans but I shall have a listen on my Tannoy 5As now that most of the holiday madness is over. I did it mostly to get used to my new, week old Lenovo T510 W10 and downloaded a free go of Samplitude Pro X 4.

Dave.
 

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  • one dime blues (TEAC)_FX.mp3
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Nice track. There's an obvious lack of brightness. Not sure how intentional that is, or how it compares to the source. It gives the track a sort of dated vibe for sure. Given the track, it actually sounds kind of cool. What tape speed were you running?

I'm also curious about what a similar track without the Teac might sound like. I'm guessing more bandwidth and less vibe. The Teac is probably going to limit the bandwidth somewhat under any circumstance, but I would expect a 15 IPS recording to have more high end. It could be that those preamps just aren't at their happiest place taking a signal from a condenser mic. I wonder if there's a way to adapt a monitored line out signal from the Zoom so you could run it as a mic preamp into the Teac. Could be interesting.
 
snow lizard said:
Nice track. There's an obvious lack of brightness. Not sure how intentional that is, or how it compares to the source. It gives the track a sort of dated vibe for sure. Given the track, it actually sounds kind of cool. What tape speed were you running?

I'm also curious about what a similar track without the Teac might sound like. I'm guessing more bandwidth and less vibe. The Teac is probably going to limit the bandwidth somewhat under any circumstance, but I would expect a 15 IPS recording to have more high end. It could be that those preamps just aren't at their happiest place taking a signal from a condenser mic. I wonder if there's a way to adapt a monitored line out signal from the Zoom so you could run it as a mic preamp into the Teac. Could be interesting.
Click to expand...

Yo! Definitely dim. On Sam's RTAnny there is next to buggerall going on past about 5kHz but, much as I think tape is a PITA in TD&A I don't think the Teac is necessarily to blame. At 15ips and the right tape the response should sail past 20kHz and 15kHz + easily obtainable at 7.5ips.

So, why the loss of HF? Could be a worn tape or one wrongly biased (I shall not nsult the OP by suggesting mucky heads!) But my suggestion is the mic/pre amp interface. The mic is a balanced capacitor type but feeding an unbalanced input via a phantom power supply. There is it seems to me, some possiblity that an 'impedance' has been inserted in the hot side and cable and other capacitances have sucked out the top end.

Whatever is going on, almost any pre ap in anything is going to be better than that!

I would say my suggestion of a stepup transformer would be worth investing for the £20 or so it would cost?

Dave.
 
Hey, the lack of brightness is not intentional, i think the old tape i'm using is to blame. I recorded at 15 IPS.
Yes, using the Zoom as a preamp sounds interesting, thanks!
 
MIC83 said:
Hey, the lack of brightness is not intentional, i think the old tape i'm using is to blame. I recorded at 15 IPS.
Yes, using the Zoom as a preamp sounds interesting, thanks!
Click to expand...

Never thought you did MIC old chap! That old tape could be of a 'soft' type, totally unsuited to the bias setting of the Teac.
I have just thought, you could do a trawl of the charity and pawn shops and look for a small mixer? We used a Behringer X802 for a while to drive the 3440, moving on to an A&H ZED 10. Both were way better than tape for dynamic range and of course gave a balanced input with spook juice.

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
Yo! Definitely dim. On Sam's RTAnny there is next to buggerall going on past about 5kHz but, much as I think tape is a PITA in TD&A I don't think the Teac is necessarily to blame. At 15ips and the right tape the response should sail past 20kHz and 15kHz + easily obtainable at 7.5ips.

So, why the loss of HF? Could be a worn tape or one wrongly biased (I shall not nsult the OP by suggesting mucky heads!) But my suggestion is the mic/pre amp interface. The mic is a balanced capacitor type but feeding an unbalanced input via a phantom power supply. There is it seems to me, some possiblity that an 'impedance' has been inserted in the hot side and cable and other capacitances have sucked out the top end.

Whatever is going on, almost any pre ap in anything is going to be better than that!

I would say my suggestion of a stepup transformer would be worth investing for the £20 or so it would cost?

Dave.
Click to expand...

Definitely worn tape! I bought some SM900 but they didn't arrive yet. Also the BIAS switch was set on one, but i don't know much about it, i'm actually studying that right now.
Also the step-up transformer is an interesting suggestion...
 
ecc83 said:
Never thought you did MIC old chap! That old tape could be of a 'soft' type, totally unsuited to the bias setting of the Teac.
I have just thought, you could do a trawl of the charity and pawn shops and look for a small mixer? We used a Behringer X802 for a while to drive the 3440, moving on to an A&H ZED 10. Both were way better than tape for dynamic range and of course gave a balanced input with spook juice.

Dave.
Click to expand...

Yes, i have to admit that tape was a mess... There's some new one on his way.
And i'm definitely going to buy a small mixer, one with a decent reverb fx would be nice!
 
MIC83 said:
Yes, i have to admit that tape was a mess... There's some new one on his way.
And i'm definitely going to buy a small mixer, one with a decent reverb fx would be nice!
Click to expand...

Ok so, IF you are in the market for a mixer be sure to get one with 'inserts' on at least 4 channels then you can record all four tracks at once. 'Direct Outs' would be even better but only found as a rule on expernsive stuff.

If you can read a schematic and are up to a bit of soldering and metal bashing I could rough you out a switch box so the mixer can be used in a 'loop' and you can bounce tracks around and add FX.
Have to say though that a PC setup makes good sense as well because you can track bounce with no noise build up.

You could be very, very busy in 2020!

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
I have just thought, you could do a trawl of the charity and pawn shops and look for a small mixer? We used a Behringer X802 for a while to drive the 3440, moving on to an A&H ZED 10. Both were way better than tape for dynamic range and of course gave a balanced input with spook juice.
Click to expand...

The Zoom H6 has at least 4 XLR mic inputs with phantom power available at 12, 24 or 48 volts, and a monitor mixer feature. Might be possible to arm a track in the Zoom to record, set levels for the mic and monitor the signal. You'd need a cable or suitable adapters to get from the mini jack output of the Zoom to a pair of 1/4" phone plugs. That should help to correct an input impedance issue if there is one. I'm usually not all too excited to use mini plugs for anything, but it's a mic preamp that's already there. Using a mixer or some other external mic pre might be more stalistica, but whatever works...

It'd be easy to test. No soldering!
 
snow lizard said:
The Zoom H6 has at least 4 XLR mic inputs with phantom power available at 12, 24 or 48 volts, and a monitor mixer feature. Might be possible to arm a track in the Zoom to record, set levels for the mic and monitor the signal. You'd need a cable or suitable adapters to get from the mini jack output of the Zoom to a pair of 1/4" phone plugs. That should help to correct an input impedance issue if there is one. I'm usually not all too excited to use mini plugs for anything, but it's a mic preamp that's already there. Using a mixer or some other external mic pre might be more stalistica, but whatever works...

It'd be easy to test. No soldering!
Click to expand...

Agreed, I was not aware of the Zoom's capabilities. If the line outs are on 3.5mm stereo jack then jack to RCA cables will feed the rear line ins of the Teac which is, IIRC, -10dBV op level and so should be about right.

Dave.
 
Mic,

Sometimes we have more time on our hands than we should so we do stuff for no reason.
I hereby present the vinyl reissue of One Dime Blues.

(apologies to the original artist! Its all in good fun. :guitar: )
 

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  • One Dime Blues (Vinyl reissue).mp3
    4.3 MB · Views: 125
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ecc83 said:
If you can read a schematic and are up to a bit of soldering and metal bashing I could rough you out a switch box so the mixer can be used in a 'loop' and you can bounce tracks around and add FX.
Have to say though that a PC setup makes good sense as well because you can track bounce with no noise build up.

You could be very, very busy in 2020!

Dave.
Click to expand...

I know someone who could help me with that, it would be nice.
Thank you again Dave,
it's going to be busy indeed!
 
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