I have no experience but if you looking for a ´voicemaster´ have a look on joemeek or Toft. Focusrite is in my eyes a little bit overpriced.

http://www.joemeek.com/twinq.html
http://www.toftaudiodesigns.com/

Clemens

word up thinkbox... more feedbak please

I think it's a pretty handy box. I was a little skeptical when I saw all of the bells and whistles it has but they are all good...I don't think you'd use every feature on a single track, but it does have a lot of useful tone-shaping features. And the de-esser is great.

-Duardo

Been using one for over a year now. It's very versatile and can produce some top notch tracks. Every once in awhile, it falls flat on its face with some mics. Some of the good matches I have found,

NTK
AT4033
Marshall V67

Some average results

Oktava MC012
SM57

Terrible results

SP C1
Marshall 603

Hope that helps. There are some others you should look at in that price range such as the Chamelion, just coming out. Envoice .

Voicemaster Pro Starting Settings???

Hey...I just received my Voicemaster Pro along with my Rode NTK...which was mentioned in the above...BONUS!!!

From experience...any recommendations on a "starting point" on the settings???
I know each voice is different, but I am interested in knowing the settings used as a starting point!!!
I am a new user, and your response is deeply appreciated!
J

Nothing against the VM Pro 'cause I've never heard it, but if I had the money for a VM Pro I'd instead save another $100 or so and get a single channel of bonafide high-end preamp like Speck or Sebatron.

i use the focusrite octopre and like it! has a good transparent sound! i presume the pre is the same with much more features! so it may be a cool thing! but for a little more you can have a much better product... i presume...

Start with the VMPro by turning everything off and just using the preamp. By itself you get a very nice sound. Also kick in the high pass shelf around 100. You'll probably not use anything below 150-200 on the vocal but I like to have a little something there just in case I want the vocal to sound fuller.

Next you could start with the opto compressor and get it set where it just rounds off the transients.

Stay away from vintage harmonics and EQ with the NTK. Things go weird fast there. Other more sterile sounding mics can get this treatment, SM57 comes to mind and low end Chinese mics. Usually not needed on vocals unless you're going for a vibe thing

You will never use the the Optical Expander unless your computer or other things in your room are excessively noisey. The gate is slow on this and I find it useless.

The Desser is great set to drop level about -6 at 10k, not always needed.

Tube sound works on bass and guitars, especially if they are coming our of an amp modeler.

The DI is great. The latency free monitoring is great. You can tap in a reverb for tracking but only send the dry signal to tape which is a nice feature.

Get the AD card if you can afford it later. Hope that helps.

Perfect...Thank you so much for the info!!!
I was recording a bit last night...using all of the features, and I kept thinking....I need to "not use" all of this b/c it was beginning to sound rather processed....so tonight, I'll check it out with your recommendations!
I absolutely love the Rode NTK so far by the way....I can't wait to track some more tonight!!!

The AD card...I'm not familiar with this.....Did you get it, and what enhancements does it give you?...Thanks.

One last thing...I'm using Sonar 4 PE and am currently monitoring everything coming back out of that through my EchoAudio Layla 3G.
What type of setup are you using to get the most out of the above set up? i.e...VM Pro, NTK, through Layla 3G, into Sonar (Dell PC).
It seems like I have to constantly turn all of my track levels down to get the vocals to stand out while recording....but they fit in just great on playback.
Thanks in advance, as I am new to getting all of this set up, maximizing the capabilities!!!

OK...almost finished..ha!
What type of "plug-ins" do you use the most...the ones that came with Sonar are alright (the Pantheon reverb is great), but I'm willing to look further as I don't want to sacrifice quality for a few bucks!!

The AD card - Basically it does the conversion outside of the computer and gives you a cleaner signal than the analog source. This gets you the most pristine sound.

track levels - When I use the NTK my chain is this: NTK, VMPro, DBX 160x for limiting, Lynx IIA soundcard. I try to keep the incoming level bouncing at -6 on the meters in Sonar. Sometimes I drop the DBX and just watch my levels.

plug-ins - UAD1 card is the best overall value in the market. They emulate all the top external hardware units most large studios track and mix with. A better reverb which I use for modeling the mix is the Sonitus reverb. It's smoother then the Lexicon. When I go for the final mix I usually use the Plate 140 on the UAD1.

Autotune of course and a good external voice processor. I also use external delays or reverbs in conjunction with the plug ins.

There you go, hope that helps.

MistaG....thank you so much for the info!!!
One MORE question!
I may have a level wrong or something, but I've checked everything...I think???
I'm not using the headphone out of the VM Pro currently...just running...NTK---VM Pro---Layla3G Sound Interface---Sonar4 PE
I'm not getting much volume in my headphones (direct out of Layla)
from the vocals while recording, and the out meter on the VM Pro is hardly registering...if I turn the Out up any more it peaks the meter on the Layla, and I'm afraid I'd get an extreme distortion...........but the recorded vocal is bouncing around -6 in Sonar and sounds pretty darn good via playback and exporting to .wav and on a CD!!!!
....should I be running a separate line out of the headphone out (VM Pro) into some sort of a headphone amp??? I know I've asked a bit, but I'm new to the "computer DAW" world, and you have been nothing but a huge springboard....and your assistance on how YOU would set this up is appreciated more than you know!!!!

On the UAD-1....there's a Project Pak ("cheaper") and a Studio Pak ("not quite as 'cheaper'..ha")......Recommendations???
I'm using a Dell PC with Windows XP...if it matters???

[quote=jlube]One MORE question!
I'm not getting much volume in my headphones (direct out of Layla)
from the vocals while recording, ....should I be running a separate line out of the headphone out (VM Pro) into some sort of a headphone amp??? Iquote]

I do use a headphone amp but prior to that I was taking a line out on the soundcard, in your case Layla. Then I would feed it back into the monitoring section of the VMPro. This is a a headphone amp by the way, single channel that the VMPro has.

Then you can monitor prior recorded tracks and hear your vocal at the same time. There is also a headphone volume control on the VMPro to adjust the music to the right play back volume. You will get more volume this way.

Regarding the UAD1, if your low on cash then go with the cheaper version. It's the same card but with less plug ins. You can add the plug ins a little at a time, $200 approx.

If you have the cash, go for the full tuna. Almost all of their plug ins are top notch.

the focusrite platinum stuff is really good, but not genius..
Most condensers sound wonderful through them, it's nearly impossible to get a great dynamic mic sound..
I think..

yo peoples good looks on the feedback.. much appreciated.. Mista G... im usin a Studio Project C1 mic... do u think the focusrite will give me a better sound than the chameleon 7602??? any feedback is much appriciated... muchas gracias my amigos

L_Romp wrote: yo peoples good looks on the feedback.. much appreciated.. Mista G... im usin a Studio Project C1 mic... do u think the focusrite will give me a better sound than the chameleon 7602??? any feedback is much appriciated... muchas gracias my amigos

I prefer the Chameleon overall as a preamp, it is a knock off of, some say a Chandler, some say a Neve 1073 and it is around the same price as the VMPro. However, the VMPro has a built in opto compressor which is very nice, not intuitive, but nice.

I would have to opt for the Chameleon based on preamp sound alone, it is very Neve sounding.

The C1 however, I have an issue with. I owned one for a long time and finally sold it. First because the metal begain to tarnish and its the only mic I've ever had do this. Can you say no resale value. Second, I thought it was cold, lifeless and crispy sounding. Better a Marshall V67, V69, AT 4033 or 4040. These are all better overall mics I have found than the C1.

word word... the c1 has saved me a couple of pennies but it is a good mic for its price range.. you do get what you paid for though...

one more quick question Mr.G.... i was doin a session a month or two back and i set up the AKG 414 with the gold face in the booth.. the engeneer i was working with had brought an ADK mic that had recently came out so we sent them both to the same chandler preamp... the ADK mic actually sounded more colorful than the AKG mic and the engineer told me it also ran for less... the only thing is he never told me which ADK mic it was and i aint never seen him again.. would you by any chance know which mic it could be.... it really impressed me and am looking foward to purchasing it... anything you know would be greatly appreciated brohams.. good looks.. 1

Not a clue.

Focusrite platinum

huub wrote: the focusrite platinum stuff is really good, but not genius..
Most condensers sound wonderful through them, it's nearly impossible to get a great dynamic mic sound..
I think..

Huub,
Do you have experience with this series, like the octopre? I get great sound on some channels, but other channels in my unit create files with obvious distortion/artifacts only audible when the wave decays. I've been troubleshooting this for a while? Any recommendations? Or do you think I just got stuck with a unit with a few bum channels?

Brad

I have one and love it. Great for vocals or DI bass.
Lovely with an AKG C414 or a Shure KSM44 plugged into it.

I only have a voicemaster (the earlier one) haven't used an octo..
I did have distortion on my unit, turned out to be the hipass filter that had no headroom or something, anyway, with the filter taken out of circuit, no problem..