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Home-studio microphone suggestions?


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Glad it got working for you! I love the recent activity in this forum! I'm total gear nut/guitar lover/recording enthusiast. It's awesome to see everyone's experience and helpfulness being used in our VC community.

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Glad it got working for you! I love the recent activity in this forum! I'm total gear nut/guitar lover/recording enthusiast. It's awesome to see everyone's experience and helpfulness being used in our VC community.

 

I couldn't agree more. I post more in this forum than in any of the others. We've got a great group of helpful folks here with a variety of knowledge. I couldn't have built my custom strat without the help of the people who frequent this board, and it was fun to compare my progress on the guitar with the tele a.miller was building at the same time. Hell, without this forum, I probably wouldn't have decided to go all out with the complete rebuild:

 

 

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Thanks to this board, I've also ended up with some great gear I otherwise might not have considered buying, and I've probably saved a little money along the way (though any savings would be completely negated by the amount of gear I've been inspired to buy).

 

In college, I used to work at a music store selling and working on guitars, but we spent most of the time just talking music/gear. This is like my virtual guitar/music store. Having become a "grown up" and no longer having many musician friends, it's great to know that whenever I run into a problem in the studio or when messing with my equipment, I can almost always find the answer here.

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That guitar looks really cool, especially the pickguard. What is it made from?

 

And btw I agree with you two, very much!

 

Thanks. It's hand-tooled leather. The hardware is all chrome, even though the pickup covers look black in the pictures. The body is swamp ash with a flame maple laminate top and a contoured binding.

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Glad it got working for you! I love the recent activity in this forum! I'm total gear nut/guitar lover/recording enthusiast. It's awesome to see everyone's experience and helpfulness being used in our VC community.

Home sweet home! This part of the site is really the only true example of shared love and knowledge. I don't recall any bickering at any point or low blows at anyone. You guys do it right. I wish some other fine players on VC would drop in more often, and I know there are a shit ton of them with great talents. Keeping things clean doesn't change anything!

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Update to say that I got this working... Uh, kinda. After a lot of experimentation, I've still wound up with a signal that's probably a little too saturated, so it's a matter of continuing to look for that sweet spot.

 

This is where I'm at so far:

 

http://download.yousendit.com/3EDEB7ED6DD951C1

 

Which is to say, not very far. I really was feeling pretty ill though, so I don't think those vocals would've cut great either way. Anyway just wanting to say: plugging away at it continues, status normal.

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Was the guitar track pre amped? It sounds so full of life, great job. The vocals alone are good but loosing the warmth of say your voice live or face to face. A little tweaking and you'll sound like a million bucks. Man I need a good mic pre amp. Good job, and good song!

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Thanks, O-man. The guitar does run through the mic but just as bleedover, meaning you can hear the guitar part going through my monitors on the vocal track. I think what you are hearing that sounds "alive" is probably the drones in this song (strings that ring a certain pitch throughout), but I'm not sure. I intend to try to learn the guitar part a little better too, I should've used a song I know better but I actually needed some scratch parts for this song, I've been letting these song-chunks float around too much.

 

And this is actually a bit better than what I came up with right out of the box. This is a Groove Tubes swapped in for the Russian tube they had in there, definitely think there was a step up in tone. HOWEVER, I would advise that if anyone picks up the presonus, you be VERY gentle if/when you swap out the tubes, I snapped like two screws and I'm not really the Hulk or anything.

 

Overall I still haven't figured this thing out. I suppose I should actually buy the microphone I started this thread for in the first place, but I remain pretty torn, frankly. Too bad Mars Music went out of business or whatever, they used to have a lot of mics set up and a big selection. I kinda think if I actually demo'd these mics I would be able to choose easier.

 

Anyway -- just wanted to say I'm actually taking you folks' advice and will update more as I get a setup that works a little tighter.

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Anyway -- just wanted to say I'm actually taking you folks' advice and will update more as I get a setup that works a little tighter.

Glad all our blabbering got you going in some direction! A nice online retailer to use for recording/studio products is Sweetwater, should you still desire more microphones. Their sales staff is, honestly, the most helpful and informative group I have come across (ie not Guitar Center).

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Glad all our blabbering got you going in some direction!

:lol Cables man.................Cables. Not that I'm one to talk, but I would spend over a hundred bucks on a cable before anything else. I would trade in 3/4 of my mics for one good cable, and maybe a headphone pre amp tree.

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The guitar does run through the mic but just as bleedover, meaning you can hear the guitar part going through my monitors on the vocal track.

Yeah, it was hard to tell if it was in stereo or I was on drugs, both of those could of been an option. :shifty Still, I find my f-ups are the hidden golden jewels.

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Update...

 

I kinda think these vocals are better than the first round. I am having a little trouble hanging with this key (D), it's a little lower than I usually sing.

 

However I still can't tell if I like the color vs. detail tradeoffs, still. What I mean is, I feel like the tubepre smooths out my vocals but also eats up some of the detail (could be the same thing).

 

256k mp3

and streaming at myspace

 

on myspace, it's the one that plays as of today, but I put up new songs alot and i'm still working on this one so who knows a week from now. called "rock n roll messiah" -- and actually, that's kind of a scam. The song is really called "John the Baptist" but I think people will think it's like a christian or religious song or something and not listen if I leave that as the title. :guitar

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Over the years I've acquired quite a few mics:

 

AKG C-451-B (nice for acoustic guitars)

AKG D112 (great for bass drums)

AKG C 414 B-ULS (Great for vocals, guitars and other instruments. This is expensive, but worth it if you can get something like it.)

AKG SE 300 B (I use these as drum overheads and on acoustics occasionally.)

Audio Technica - AT-3060 (Good all purpose mic that isn't too expensive.)

Shure - SM-57s & SM-58s (great for amps and drums and live vocals.)

 

Though I have some nice mics and gear, my actual recording unit is an old school 8-track analog system. Anyone else still recording to analog, or most of you digital?

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It's been a few years, but I really miss the true analog sound. It's a material world and I'm a material girl.......or boy.

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AKG C 414 B-ULS (Great for vocals, guitars and other instruments. This is expensive, but worth it if you can get something like it.)

 

i think its with the uls, but i was told that you can get them pretty flat if you put them in hyper cardioid. i'd have to check which ones we have though, quite possibly only pertains to xls.

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i think its with the uls, but i was told that you can get them pretty flat if you put them in hyper cardioid. i'd have to check which ones we have though, quite possibly only pertains to xls.

My god woman.........where have been?

 

We need some estrogen around these parts.

 

There is much I don't know about you!

 

Please stay :cheekkiss

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i've been in a basement with some audio gear.

:pirate this is becoming all too obvious....isin't it?

 

You know ever since the invention of the Pod Cast, the idea of a pirated radio station is becoming ever so romantic.

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:pirate this is becoming all too obvious....isin't it?

 

You know ever since the invention of the Pod Cast, the idea of a pirated radio station is becoming ever so romantic.

 

 

:stunned i suppose it has, though my gear is radically different. i'm lost in an api 64 channel & neve console's with all sorts of outboard gear, a reverb chamber that was once a bank vault & a spring plate. its only recently that we actually got some mic's to speak of.

 

no one wants to hear me, even through a vocoder, trust me.

 

sorry to hijack the thread!

 

i've heard some ok things about fathead's ribbon mic's that are really cheap but i don't know how they sound.

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  • 2 weeks later...

OK. Overall I'm pretty happy with the color I'm getting out of the PreSonus TubePre. Basically I'm having to use the pad to keep the signal down though, it is HOT coming out of this sucker if I do not do so.

 

With the pad, I'm rolling with 11'oclock "drive" / 9 o'clock "gain" and getting this kinda sound (also on the myspace previously posted):

 

random song I recorded last night

 

So basically it took me awhile to dial it in, and I had to change out the tube to get less of the Russian vibe, but I'm pretty happy with the slight color I can get out of this thing. Keep in mind that I'm not the world's best singer and this is a $30 Samson mic... Not bad tone for that situation I think.

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  • 2 years later...

Apex 460 mic

 

I am thinking of picking up one of these, for home recording. I want to use it mainly for vocals, acoustic guitars and guitar amps. Anyone here have experience using one of these?

 

This mic comes very highly recommended for budget condensor, and gets great reviews.

 

You can change the tube in it as well, to upgrade it, but I am not much of a gear head so I am not sure how this works or where you would buy tubes etc.

 

If anyone has any info, or tips on other great mics (looking to spend up to $300 or so), that would be much appreciated.

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Most budget condensers sound like nails on a chalk board. You can, however, get a dynamic for cheap that can sound good for vocals. I have had great success with both the Shure SM7 (the unofficial Tweedy mic) and the EV RE20. Both can be found in the $300-$400 range. I also love my EV RE10 which doesn't look like much but sounds pretty classy on some voices. I see those for $100 or less all the time.

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Most budget condensers sound like nails on a chalk board. You can, however, get a dynamic for cheap that can sound good for vocals. I have had great success with both the Shure SM7 (the unofficial Tweedy mic) and the EV RE20. Both can be found in the $300-$400 range. I also love my EV RE10 which doesn't look like much but sounds pretty classy on some voices. I see those for $100 or less all the time.

 

I whole-heartedly endorse this post. J

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