need clear vocals

Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 9:14 pm

im using an AT-2020 mic for vocals, and a Behringer AUTOCOM PRO MDX 1400, should i be using the behringer or is there somthin else i can use to get the vocals clear and remove the hissing sounds from the microphone. someone recommended the ART tube preamp, but i dont want to buy the wrong piece.....

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:31 pm

The hissing sound is most likely from the Behringer. Self noise from mics is generally pretty low, 20dB SPL in the 2020's case.....not world class, but very decent. I own a pair of them, run them through an ART Pro MPA when doing vocals or acoustic instruments, hissing is never an issue. Hope this helps.

Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 7:48 am

sounds like a good deal thanks alot man

Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:18 am

Personally I'd recommend against a tube preamp in that price range, but either way it should solve your hissing problem. Unless your mic is broken...

Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:14 pm

The hissing you hear is the reaction of the entire recording community finding out you use B**&^%$#GER stuff.

I had an Autocom that did the same thing. I was lucky to get the $50 I sold it for.

The ART MPA is a very good unit that you'll likely keep even after you 'graduate' to much higher end pieces should you continue the process of becoming a recordist.

Do NOT confuse this with any of the 'lower end' ART pieces. It is NOT the same animal.

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:59 pm

sounds like the art mpa is indeed the way to go for budget quality, long as the hissing is gone, i can work wit teh rest of it,

Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:10 am

just to restate Davedog opinion, avoid the lower lines of ART, like the tubepac. I have never seen such a terrible tube design as the the tubpac. No thought went into the heat issues in this design. Infact it tooks 4 month of concentrated tweaking to make work and sound decent.

You might also want to look at other pre-amps like Aphex,Grace, FMR...

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:27 pm

Davedog wrote:

The hissing you hear is the reaction of the entire recording community finding out you use B**&^%$#GER stuff.

I had an Autocom that did the same thing. I was lucky to get the $50 I sold it for.

The ART MPA is a very good unit that you'll likely keep even after you 'graduate' to much higher end pieces should you continue the process of becoming a recordist.

Do NOT confuse this with any of the 'lower end' ART pieces. It is NOT the same animal.

I've been looking at picking up an ART MPA recently, hoping to get it on Saturday. Is there a large difference in sound/quality between the $300 MPA Gold and the $400 Digital MPA? If not, I really want to spend the least amount of money possible, since I can barely BARELY justify the $300 in the first place. Also, will the MPA Gold cooperate with my M-Audio Firewire Interface? (I'm running into protools).

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:43 pm

If the M-audio card has a line input, I say yes - go with the MPA Gold.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:47 pm

bent wrote:

If the M-audio card has a line input, I say yes - go with the MPA Gold.

It does, yes. Is it a problem if it only has stereo inputs?

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:49 pm

Not if you know how to wire everything up,
nor if in your DAW you can select the input to be one side at a time...
(Input 1 = Stereo In Left...)

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:52 pm

bent wrote:

Not if you know how to wire everything up, nor if your DAW can input from one side at a time... (Input 1 = Stereo In Left...)

I'm still at the novice stage, so would you mind telling me how to wire things up? Or how to get protools to cooperate with the setup you described?

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 9:05 pm

Well, I know Protools can do it.
No problem there.

As far as wiring - Which M-Audio box are we talking about?
The Solo has separate line inputs, as does the FW410...

Connect a female XLR cable to the output of the MPA.
Connect a female XLR to male TRS turnaround to the other (male) end of the cable and plug it into the M-Audio box, hit the mic/line switch to line if applicable..

If the input is 1/8" stereo (I have no idea which M-Audio product that would be), then you'll need a dual (stereo) female XLR to male (stereo) 1/8" plug.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 9:15 pm

bent wrote:

Well, I know Protools can do it.
No problem there.

As far as wiring - Which M-Audio box are we talking about?
The Solo has separate line inputs, as does the FW410...

Connect a female XLR cable to the output of the MPA.
Connect a female XLR to male TRS turnaround to the other (male) end of the cable and plug it into the M-Audio box, hit the mic/line switch to line if applicable..

If the input is 1/8" stereo (I have no idea which M-Audio product that would be), then you'll need a dual (stereo) female XLR to male (stereo) 1/8" plug.

It's the firewire solo, yeah. I don't think I'll be able to do it with XLR cables, but I can't remember exactly. Either way, I think I'll be able to pull it off. Thanks a lot for the help!

This topic sponsored by: