Good Mic- so so pre amp or vice versa

[dotsandloops]

I haven't heard many spectacular recordings from any studio around here except for Paul's.

There is no cheap way to get a label quality recording. I don't care who is doing the job for you.

Hey Sin, I never say label quality. What I am saying is I know two people who, doing a similar genre of music, have gotten recordings that are equal to anything I have heard from a studio around here. With the exception of Oui 73's Sex, Bullets and Fire Engines.

With the rec. that Grady gave of the Super Nice I am seeing that $500 seems to be the floor unless I go ebay. What I need to do is get my hands on a low price pre-amp (I mean cheap) and see if, for my purposes) I hear the difference between my low cost one.

As you can see, I am dreading spending the cash on this. I am happy with all the equipment that I have.

Here are the pecs on what I have now-
http://aes.harmony-central.com/115AES/C ... Brick.html

[Creamy Algorithms]

the brick is nice I have the Ditto which is their tube d.i. box..good stuff. I think guitar center was having a special on the brick, it came with a GT55 condensor mic which is an okay lower model condensor for like 499 total..

Really there isn't too much new good stuff at that price point. It really isn't worth buying some cheap IC chip fake toob crap, in the long run it will just be a waste of money.

Another idea would be to find a small 4-6 channel used mixer like a soundcraft or old Altec..

[Paul23]

I haven't heard many spectacular recordings from any studio around here except for Paul's.

There is no cheap way to get a label quality recording. I don't care who is doing the job for you.

Thanks Sin.

Wait till you hear the horns we recorded on Thursday, going in tonight and Tues to mix em.

[dotsandloops]

Another idea would be to find a small 4-6 channel used mixer like a soundcraft or old Altec..

It looks like the Brick D/I box will be the way to go. I really just want to boost the mic signal a bit.

[Rick Johnston]

Wait till you hear the horns we recorded on Thursday, going in tonight and Tues to mix em.

Oh fine. And I'm stuck in Chicago for the week on business! (Well, not really stuck ... I'm checking out the blues clubs while I'm here.)

Dots, IMO you have your priorities mixed up. Buy the mic first. Good mics will make the biggest difference in applying your budget toward the future.

In other words: Buy once, buy right.

The electronic components that are used in a $400 preamp are very similar to those used in a $2,000 preamp. You may hear a difference in sound quality if you know what to listen for, but most people will say that both are good.

Either one will sound like crap with a cheap microphone. It all starts with the mic.

Weigh that expenditure range against the dramatic difference between your $20 B'er mic and a $400 mic and you'll appreciate what a good mic can do.

Have you listened to a Sennheiser 441 microphone?

And please, stop going to Guitar Center for advice. Buy from them on price if you must, but keep in mind that their prime directive is to take whatever money you have. They don't care if what they sell you is right for your application.

[Paul23]

Wait till you hear the horns we recorded on Thursday, going in tonight and Tues to mix em.

Oh fine. And I'm stuck in Chicago for the week on business! (Well, not really stuck ... I'm checking out the blues clubs while I'm here.)

I listened to the raw stuff today, we got some great sounds down. Of course it was some great playing too in a well tuned room in front of some great mic's, (2 Neumann U87's a UM57 and a Shure KSM32 through some Neve, Avalon and DBX 576's) mic pre-amps. Gotta love it!

[99devils]

MHO, but I would sink most of that budget into a microphone. Look into the Studio Projects line, they sound really good for the money. Take what's left over and buy a used Mackie VLZ or VLZ-Pro mixer and use that for your pres. You're going to spend as much money on a mic pre you may as well get a few of them with a mixer attached.

In my opinion, you don't get much bang for your buck in mic pres. I think you'll likely not hear much difference between the Mackies (which have really good preamps for the price) and the low-mid range stuff around the $500 price point. It isn't until you get to the Avalons and the higher end Presonus and Focusrite stuff that you start to get your money's worth.

Microphones, on the other hand.. There's a lot of really nice lower buck mics out there. The Rode NT1000 sounds nice, as does the Studio Projects mic I mentioned earlier. The Oktava MC012s are awesome as drum overheads for like $99 a pair.

I don't mean to pick on you guys (especially Paul) but when people come asking for recommendations for home studio stuff a lot of you guys jump in with $2000 mics and $1000 sound cards. That's not really helping.

[dotsandloops]

I am getting ready to return the pre-amp as my muffler just fell out of my car. lol.
I am going for the mic.
Yeah, I know GC is going to sell me whatever they have in stock.
Once again, mic recs?

[Creamy Algorithms]

199 at zzounds.com

[dotsandloops]

In fairness to Sin and Grady I think they thought I had the cash to blow.
99, I have been thinking that an inexpensive mixing board with better mics would be a good idea. I really just need to boost the signal. I recorded vocals with and without the Groove Tube Brick and soundwise there wasn't any difference the equalizer couldn't compensate for, however, the pre-amp juiced up the signal so that I didn't have to turn the input all the way up to mic on the recorder.

[99devils]

That's the one I was thinkning of Mexican Grady, thanks

[Creamy Algorithms]

you're welcome 99, I had forgotten about those Studio Project mics till you mentioned them. They're the best bang for the buck condensors that are out there..

[dotsandloops]

So all I needed was a cheap pre mic and a limiter between that and the recorder. Sounds great.
All for under $100.

[dcgzr]

I think i'm gonna do an experiment. Make a recording with a set of 57's through my presonus digimax and also double mic everything with Class A pre's(U-A, NEVE, API) and nice mics (87's, senn 441's, 414's ect..). I'm starting some new cd projects next week and I'll do the experiment.

I will post mixes with no eq or processing of any kind. Raw tracks balanced