wich mic preamps ?

[docjunction]

i'm hoping for some legitimate info, so thanks to anyone who can help.......
my set-up is my pc with cubase sx with an m-audio mobile pre usb interface.
i'm using an art tube mic preamp with a shure sm58 mic. i have tons of plug-ins. i can't seem to get the studio sound i want from my vocals. is there anyone that knows how to do this ?

 

[scrubs]

i'm hoping for some legitimate info, so thanks to anyone who can help.......
my set-up is my pc with cubase sx with an m-audio mobile pre usb interface.
i'm using an art tube mic preamp with a shure sm58 mic. i have tons of plug-ins. i can't seem to get the studio sound i want from my vocals. is there anyone that knows how to do this ?

Well, your problem could be anywhere in the chain, but the reality is that none of your equipment is commonly used for recording vocals in a professional studio. I would invest in a better mic before buying additional preamps, as you may not notice much difference with a preamp upgrade.

 

[IronFlippy]

UPGRADE THAT 58! Large diaphram condensers usually work well for vocals. There's a quarter of a million threads on this in the mic forum, so you can go read up on it.

 

[leddy]

You may wish to go with a small diaphragm condenser. If your room is not treated properly, a large diaphragm mic will reveal more room flaws than a small diaphragm mic.

 

[scrubs]

You may wish to go with a small diaphragm condenser. If your room is not treated properly, a large diaphragm mic will reveal more room flaws than a small diaphragm mic.

Could you explain that logic to me?

 

[brendandwyer]

A LDC Mic is a very "honest mic" or at least they try to be. It will express a relatively wide frequency range. So if you're room has a lot of 90 inside corners for bass to collect in, or concrete walls for the hi freq shiite to bounce off of, your LDC mic will reproduce that. We sometimes use a combination of a LDC mic and sn SM57 right next to it and mic the main vocals between the two. The sm57 is a very clean, clear and punchy mic to record vocals with and you may want to consider it. Run a 57 through the best tube preamp you can buy, give it enough gain to warm it up, but not to distort and you may enjoy the result.

 

[Dr Biscuits]

I second the 'upgrade the mic first' opinion... I've even had shockingly good results with a cheap-o APEX 430 condenser mic - as far as "bang for your buck" I think you'll notice a much bigger difference in sound by switching mics before you would with preamps... just make sure your room is nice and quiet!
Of course, if you can afford BOTH...

 

[XLR]

Man, a couple of the posts in this thread send the BS meter off the scale re mic diaphragm size/sound.

Tim

 

[Dr Biscuits]

A good quick read to clear up any large/small questions...
www.dpamicrophones.com/Images/DM00670.pdf

 

[XLR]

A good quick read to clear up any large/small questions...
www.dpamicrophones.com/Images/DM00670.pdf

Problem is that the kind of BS statements about mic's that are so common in forums are more along the lines of catalog sales copy (you know, the typical "warm up your sound by.... blah, blah, blah...). A person with that approach is unlikely to read or understand something like DPA's rather physics-oriented pdf here. More likely they'll quote statements out of context - like self noise differences or sensitivity differences - and just further the BS.

Fact is that other mic characteristics determine sound quality much more than diaphragm size.

It must drive quality-oriented mic designers crazy.

Tim

 

[metalhead28]

Tim is right. And there is no need to trudge through too much bullshit to get to a decent answer.

An SM58 is not going to deliver the top end detail or crispness of a condenser mic. Those are often the very factors that make someone think they are hearing a high quality mic. Of course sometimes a dynamic mic works better for some things so there is no need to throw out the 58. However, a large diaphram condensor is pretty much the studio standard for recording all types of vocals and is worth the investment if you want to do it seriously. Using a small diaphram condensor for vocals is definitely a rarity.
If you have problems with the room becoming a factor in your sound, then do something about it. Set up an environment that will counter that. It's pretty easy to do but that is another issue entirely.

 

[XLR]

And the whole thing about how much room sound a mic will hear has nothing to do with diaphragm size. A large diaphragm multipattern mic set to hypercardiod will pick up much less room than a small diaphragm omni.

IMO the real differences in diaphragm size have more to do with off-axis response than anything else - how much it colors the mic's sound as it's turned away from the source. My favorite mic for what I do, the Schoeps mk41, has the same basic sound regardless of which direction it's pointed in relation to the source. It's a relatively small diaphragm mic. A large diaphragm mic like a U87 won't be that way, and that can be both a good and bad trait, depending on how you use it.

However many cheap mic's have other quality problems unrelated to any of this. Given the wide variety of mic quality and characteristics, generalizations saying that a LDC will have certain characteristics, and a SDC will have others are, IMO, grossly inaccurate.

Tim

 

[chessrock]

You know ... if you put a little bit of Green Marker on the front of your CD's after you rip them, then the sound quality will go up tremendously.

That would be the first thing I would do before investing in expensive mic pres and all that hoop-lah.

.

 

[XLR]

You know ... if you put a little bit of Green Marker on the front of your CD's after you rip them, then the sound quality will go up tremendously.

That would be the first thing I would do before investing in expensive mic pres and all that hoop-lah.

.

Man, you don't know what' you're talking about.

Red marker is much warmer than green. Especially if you use a large diaphragm red marker.

Warm up your recording with RED marker on your CDRs.

Tim