Don't even bother with an outboard preamp until you get some better microphones. That B1 is the bottom of the bottom, and any upgrades you make in front of it will be wasted until you replace it with a better mic. A Rode NT2 would be a dramatic improvement right off the bat. Then you can start looking at upgrading other components in your chain.

it was givin to me a few x-mas's ago, I did plan on replacing it, if it matter im doing hiphop/rnb if you dont mind letting me kno what are the good products for this genre of music, please let me kno, im willing to wait and save up big bucks to build this studio. Also whats a good prebuilt pc for recording. Thanks for the info Scott:)

1) Again, I'd get your feet wet with something like a Rode NT2. You'll find, as you go along, that different voices respond better to different mics, and you'll expand your mic locker appropriately.

2) I wouldn't know about good prebuilt PCs, I build my own. ;)

I was actually looking at the mic the other day at a local music shop it looks promising, I was told that different mics go with differnt types of music, would that mic be good for rapping? and how much would it cost me to build a decent comp for music? thanks again Scott !

I disagree with the idea of mics being genre-specific. You have different needs based on the timbre, power, and frequency range of the vocalist, and what specific coloration (or lack thereof) necessary for the vocal performance to fit into the specific mix you have built. A song (regardless of genre) may have a dark, minimalist sound to it, and thus require a different mic and preamp combo than one that is big and bombastic. Lots of different factors go into choosing a mic for a given recording, but genre isn't one of them.

ok thanksfor the info, if i do get the NT2 what would be a good mixer/preamp to go along with it ?

Go with what you have. Baby steps, bro. Get used to a new piece of equipment, then move forward. If you're not recording anything other than vocals (i.e. you're sequencing everything in the box) then you don't need a mixer, and you're best served to start off learning how to work with different mics on the relatively clean preamp built into that Presonus.

Gotta learn to walk before you run in this business.

true say, I was told that a mixer beefs up your vocal sound? or is that farce

my motherboard, ram, and video card fried so i need to buy a new computer, what would you recommend ?

amac89, post: 346134 wrote: true say, I was told that a mixer beefs up your vocal sound? or is that farce

You've been hearing a lot of strange things from people who don't know as much as they think they do. "A mixer" doesn't do anything to your vocal sound - it just looks a lot cooler than a half-rack-space interface card.

The only reason I use a mixer as a front-end is because I regularly record 16-24 tracks at once, because I do on-location and live recording of full band performances.

amac89, post: 346135 wrote: my motherboard, ram, and video card fried so i need to buy a new computer, what would you recommend ?

I would recommend taking a look at sweetwater.com and see what they have in your price range. They make solid computers. It's going to cost more than building one yourself, but unless you've been building your own computers for as long as I have (or know someone who has) and know exactly what parts you're looking for, that cost is worth not having to hassle with figuring things out the hard way (i.e. trial-and-error).

Just had to add to the convo about the NT2-A... It's a great mic that I have been using, brand new it's $399 typically. A lower priced mic I was using>>> AT3035 which is a really nice mic for vocals and what not. The NT2-A is nice since you have way more options w/ the pad 0db, -5db, -10db. And the Omni or unidirectional switches, etc... The best way to get a computer is to research motherboards online in respect to the ability to have a fast Front Side Bus. You want to find RAM that allows that FSB speed and you want to research how software and latency issues effect recording. Overclocking is not a good thing to me, but many people do it... Video cards are another issue to me entirely, but Sound cards might have been what you meant? What's most important is to cut many many "windows" services and strip down the system to run sound. With a mac, not sure about those issues.

For middle-sized audio recording projects any well-build, middle-prized PC with good components will do. If you plan on adding things like UAD or PoCo, see to it that the MoBo has enough and the right slots for cards. No special harddrives required then those you get in a good shop. Videocards, .. some work better with certain DAWs, but it should be able to run 2 monitors. You'll need that screen realestate. My personal hints: don't connect to internet, don't install anything you don't need like games, avoid demos or gadgets unless tested on another PC, set PC to background services, run a good defraggler to keep up the speed of the HDs, get a decent and reliable sound card with excellent drivers like those of RME, reserve some budget for room acoustic treatment and try to rather safe up money to buy decent gear then cheapos that you want to replaced when you start hearing their shortcommings.
As to Mac or PC, I am a bit biased there. I never wanted to spend more money on an Apple when I can have the same performance on a PC.
My latest PC is still in testing mode, but it shows that an i7 together with Win7 makes a rock solid setup with incredible performance for my DAW which is Nuendo 4.x. It laughs in the face of the most demanding VSTi and is lightning fast...
With mikes it is a strange thing. Sometimes a SM57 is better for certain type of singing then a Brauner or Neumann U87. But, for starters, you might want to have a small, yet, effective range in your arsenal. Also look at the large diafrags of AKG. Those sound good for the price and are well build like the c 214...
I think, this is going to be a long and expensive shopping list....
;-)