What would I need?

  • Thread starter Thread starter morejaylesswar
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moresound said:
:laughings: Well you know there is absolutely nothing wrong with purchasing used gear.
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I just recently got into that. I've been looking on sites like eBay. Other than that, I don't know where to buy ANY gear other than from Sweetwater.com and Guitarcenter.com
 
Those annoying vague answers are almost always true, but i always feel that there's plenty of general info you can spread to get someone started.

I hate it when people just say "try it yourself, your voice will be different to mine"
but i equally hate it when people weigh straight in with "give a 1db boost at 12k and a cut at 150" without hearing anything.


Everything i own came off ebay :)

Ebay = good. Import tax = bad.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Those annoying vague answers are almost always true, but i always feel that there's plenty of general info you can spread to get someone started.

I hate it when people just say "try it yourself, your voice will be different to mine"
but i equally hate it when people weigh straight in with "give a 1db boost at 12k and a cut at 150" without hearing anything.


Everything i own came off ebay :)

Ebay = good. Import tax = bad.
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Yea, I've recently been looking at some stores on eBay. I'm in a buy, buy, buy mood. I just don't know what's right for me yet, lol. This is what I know: I need better monitors. Besides, mine are shot to all hell right now. On top of that, I need monitor stands... or a DIY guide to make my own. The ones I have are wack and they're a part of the reason my current monitors are finished. I also want to build a desk. Atmosphere is key........ AND I don't know the benefits of a preamp and what it actually does for me. From my understanding my Mbox is a preamp?
 
Yes...try to figure out how deep you want to get into recording...and then buy for the longterm whenever you can...though sometimes you get what you can to hold you over.

Top three items to invest in -
1. monitors
2. mics
3. preamps

That's your bread-n-butter. You can't record without those things (unless it's all DI and synth stuff)...and you can't mix without proper playback. Speaking of which...a good room/acoustics are also key.
A good preamp will allow a good mic to blossom. A crappy preamp can kill a good mic, and a crappy mic and crappy preamp is just crappy. :D

After that...fill in as you go.
Good quality mics and preamps never go out of style, and the really top-shelf stuff never depreciates dramatically, and some actually appreciates.
 
yeh, your mbox is a 'multi tool'.

You'd have
A mic
A preamp that takes a mic level and turns it into line level.
A analogue to digital converter that takes analogue line level audio and turns it into a digital audio signal.
An interface that turns digital audio into a signal that the computer accepts over usb/firewire
A PC

Your mbox has interface, converter and preamp(x2) all built into it.

You can buy super fancy versions of what you have, or interfaces with built in converters (line in only) so you can buy your own outboard preamps,
or you can buy everything separate like the list above.
 
Steenamaroo said:
yeh, your mbox is a 'multi tool'.

You'd have
A mic
A preamp that takes a mic level and turns it into line level.
A analogue to digital converter that takes analogue line level audio and turns it into a digital audio signal.
An interface that turns digital audio into a signal that the computer accepts over usb/firewire
A PC

Your mbox has interface, converter and preamp(x2) all built into it.

You can buy super fancy versions of what you have, or interfaces with built in converters (line in only) so you can buy your own outboard preamps,
or you can buy everything separate like the list above.
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Learn something new everyday... I would have never known all of that or the definitions of each thing that it does. Thanks.

So, if I buy a different preamp, like the PreSonus, would I bypass the Mbox or plug it into the Mbox? Being that it is a preamp in itself, why would it need another preamp plugged into it?
 
miroslav said:
Yes...try to figure out how deep you want to get into recording...and then buy for the longterm whenever you can...though sometimes you get what you can to hold you over.

Top three items to invest in -
1. monitors
2. mics
3. preamps

That's your bread-n-butter. You can't record without those things (unless it's all DI and synth stuff)...and you can't mix without proper playback. Speaking of which...a good room/acoustics are also key.
A good preamp will allow a good mic to blossom. A crappy preamp can kill a good mic, and a crappy mic and crappy preamp is just crappy. :D

After that...fill in as you go.
Good quality mics and preamps never go out of style, and the really top-shelf stuff never depreciates dramatically, and some actually appreciates.
Click to expand...

I kind of like my MXL better than my Rode... I think that's because I'm just comfortable with that mic, being that I've been using it since I was 15. (I'm 22 now.) I know what to expect out of it. I know what I need to do to bring the clarity out of the mic, no matter who I am recording. I'm having a hard time with this Rode NT1A. It's clear, sure, but it sounds really frail. No thickness to it. I'm thinking about investing in one of those Blue mics, but I just want to give the Rode a fair shot. Hell, I've only had it for a week. It's just not as good in my room as I've heard on the videos on their website and youtube channel.

I WILL DEFINITELY BE GETTING NEW MONITORS ASAP. I hate these things right now.

A preamp is on the way this week. I'm excited for that. Just gotta figure out which one is right for me.
 
morejaylesswar said:
if I buy a different preamp, like the PreSonus, would I bypass the Mbox or plug it into the Mbox? Being that it is a preamp in itself, why would it need another preamp plugged into it?
Click to expand...

I am also wondering about this. If I buy a decent preamp, would my H4n recorders mic preamps (which are inferior) "steal" the quality from the decent new and better preamp? The thing is I'm using the H4n to record and I like having the recorder at my pedal board. I don't like DAWs too much..
 
If you get a standalone preamp...you DON'T then also use the preamps of the H4n...you instead plug the Line outputs of the standalone pre into the Line inputs of the H4n. The line I/O will simply pass the audio, unlike the preamp circuit.

Also...if you are going to get upgrade preamps...if you just go up a notch or two, it's most likely not going to make much difference. IMO...to get into really decent preamp territory, you need to drop a few hundred $$$ per preamp channel.
EBay is a good place to hunt for upper-end preamps at reasonable prices...just know what you are getting.
Don't rush, do some research.
 
OP. slav is right.

THere's one thing to be aware of though.


If you have an interface with a built in preamp and you buy a new standalone preamp, then yes you'd plug the new pre into the line input of your interface.
(trs to trs cable)

In some interfaces the line input completely bypasses the built in pre (which is what you want), but on others it's just accepts line level and still goes through the preamp circuitry, which is not good. (A pad before the preamp i guess)

The simplest way to know is to plug any trs cable into a line input, then turn the gain up and see if it gets louder.
If it does, you're still going through the built in pre and getting all the lovely noise that comes with it! ;)

Sadly, I believe the mbox doesn't completely bypass it's internal preamps.
That's not to say an outboard pre wouldn't sound better with your mbox. It just won't sound its best.
 
Steenamaroo said:
OP. slav is right.

THere's one thing to be aware of though.


If you have an interface with a built in preamp and you buy a new standalone preamp, then yes you'd plug the new pre into the line input of your interface.
(trs to trs cable)

In some interfaces the line input completely bypasses the built in pre (which is what you want), but on others it's just accepts line level and still goes through the preamp circuitry, which is not good. (A pad before the preamp i guess)

The simplest way to know is to plug any trs cable into a line input, then turn the gain up and see if it gets louder.
If it does, you're still going through the built in pre and getting all the lovely noise that comes with it! ;)

Sadly, I believe the mbox doesn't completely bypass it's internal preamps.
That's not to say an outboard pre wouldn't sound better with your mbox. It just won't sound its best.
Click to expand...

Okay, so with that... Should I just upgrade to PT9 and buy another interface before I buy a preamp? Then I could use something that wouldn't mess with my (potential) preamp's quality, right?
 
If you want to stick with Pro tools, I would upgrade to 9, purely because there's no digidesign/avid interface that i would want.
I had a 003 conole and miss the control features of it, but i wouldn't want it back as an interface.

It all depends on what you'll want in the long run.

Do you want a load of preamp channels or just two,
and do you want a stack of different 'flavours' or not.

Depending what you want, you might not need outboard preamps. A lot of interfaces have great pres built in (apogee rme etc)
 
miroslav said:
If you get a standalone preamp...you DON'T then also use the preamps of the H4n...you instead plug the Line outputs of the standalone pre into the Line inputs of the H4n. The line I/O will simply pass the audio, unlike the preamp circuit..
Click to expand...

Steenamaroo said:
OP. slav is right.


In some interfaces the line input completely bypasses the built in pre (which is what you want), but on others it's just accepts line level and still goes through the preamp circuitry, which is not good. (A pad before the preamp i guess)

The simplest way to know is to plug any trs cable into a line input, then turn the gain up and see if it gets louder.
If it does, you're still going through the built in pre and getting all the lovely noise that comes with it! ;)
Click to expand...

Guys, thank you so much! I've been looking all over the net for this info and it's been driving me crazy for about a week or so. Seems on the H4n that as long as the input level is set at 1/100 (which is 0 gain) it bypasses the preamps and the noise disappears. Maybe it's the same on your M-Box?
 
I duno about the h4n; That may be the case, but the point i'm making about the mbox is that it doesn't bypass the pre.
Turning the gain down isn't a bypass. It's just not amplifying the signal.

If you run a preamp with really low noise through a built in pre with high noise, then you're degrading the output of your new pre.


Sounds picky but if you ran 100 mboxs linout to line in, you'd soon notice the noise and hiss building up.

You may not notice it when you plug in a mic, but you'd probably notice it if you recorded say twenty tracks into your daw.

Rule = if gain knob has effect, preamp isn't bypassed, AFAIK.
 
Oh, well then it doesn't bypass on the H4n either. But do you think I would hear a substantial difference if I monitored from say a Focusrite ISA One instead of the H4n? I'm all about the monitoring as I play with headphones with selfmade drumtracks and bass loops fed into a loop station.

I'm sorry about hi-jacking the thread but I believe it is relevant to the subject.

EDIT: Thing is I'm already using a pre-amp guitar pedal and I'm uncertain if monitoring from another preamp would clarify the sound even more.
 
It doesn't matter where you monitor from. The recorded sound will be the same whether you monitor from the pc or at the preamp.

Generally speaking, adding something to the chain will not clean up or clarify the signal.
It's a cliche but the path is as strong as the weakest link.

What exactly is your signal chain from start to finish?
 
For electric guitar: Gibson LP Studio -> Dunlop Crybaby Wah -> T-Rex Spindoctor guitar pre-amp -> EH Memory Man -> EH Holy Grail Reverb -> RC-30 Loop Station -> H4n recorder.

For acoustic guitar and vocals: se2200a condenser mic -> H4n recorder.

In other words not much to write home about. I really don't like doing recording stuff at the computer, not sure why but I like having knobs and stuff physically in front of me. The monitoring preferences are not just for recording but also for listening to the guitar (even the acoustic) and vocals through headphones while playing and composing.
 
Ah i understand, You're not using a pc at all.

Is multitracking something that interests you? Maybe you'd look at a portastudio or something!
 
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