What should I upgrade/add?

[Jakob_v]

My recording gear isn't very big, but I'm planning to upgrade some parts of it. It's mainly for guitar amp recording, but I sometimes use it for vocal or acoustic guitar recording.

I have: Shure SM58, Behringer UB1622FX mixer, Soundblaster Audigy soundcard.

I'm considering 2 upgrades, I want to try a LDC mic for some room ambience on my guitar amp/vocal recordings/acoustic guitar recordings, such as the Rode NT-1a. The other upgrade is a soundcard/preamp solution, such as the EMU 1820 (soundcard/preamp in one).

Should I go for a better preamp/souncard or another mic?

 

[Warhead]

Are you satisfied with the sound you get from the 58? If not, I'd go that route. I haven't used the Emu but I talk to folks who have, I believe it would be a step in the right direction for you there.

Depends on your budget, and what your rig won't do for you. What is it you find yourself not being able to do or unhappy with?

War

 

[Robert D]

Hmmm,
The instant gratification answer is probably the condenser mic, but the logical approach might be to start building at the foundation, which is to replace the Audigy. The foundation also includes your monitoring, which you didn't mention. The logic is this; everything you do in mixing and recording, and in deciding what purchases to make to that end, depends on what you're hearing. If you can't hear whats going on, you can't make good decisions. So decent D/A converters and decent monitors are essential. On the recording side, everything goes through the A/D converters, and if they suck it doesn't matter how good your mics or pres are, your recordings will suck. And as you try to evaluate new mics or new pres you wont know if they're the right one for you because you'll have to wonder whether it's just the soundcard that doesn't sound right. So, sometime sooner that later, get the foundation of your setup taken care of.

Cheers,
RD