What kind of music are you recording? What will you be using the mic for?

I am doind alot of Urban stuff

Thanx man, i am doing a lot of rap, rnb, mostly those 2 right about now. I need a stronger front end setup for the millions of plug ins i have.

For the monitors, check out the KRK V8's, the Dynaudio BM6a's, the Blue Sky System, and some Genelecs. KRK's and Dynaudio's might require a sub if you really want the bass, but they sound great even without it.

That price range for a mic gives you a pretty good selection. Some that come to mind are the Gefell m930 (I think), the AT4050, 4060, and 4047, Shure KSM 44, Soundelux U195, AKG 414's, and I'm sure I'm leaving some out. Those are all really good mics for the money. Some will be better for rap/rnb, but that's going to be kind of subjective. The at4050 might be right up your alley. You could get a Neumann in that range but you'll probably get more for your money with something else.

Preamp....if you're looking for one channel, you might want to check out the sytek, the fmr rnp (really nice preamp), Groove Tubes Brick (nice tube sound), and maybe the Sebatron stuff. The sytek and the rnp are going to give you a little "cleaner hifi" sound, with the brick and the sebatron providing more of a thick tube sound.

The Sebatron Thorax would be perfect.

Stay away from the Focusrite Platinum range if you are after quality.

Word?

Thankx for the heads up on the Voicemaster, was a sucker for it. i just looked at a Joe Meek Twin Q, perrty lil unit, anybody use it? I was looking at the KRK V8's...whats a good sub to use with it, cuz i really dont want to be in the state im in now..no Sub, cant really hear whats going on with the bass.

Those preamps u mentioned sound nice, Im looking for which is best of em.

Anybody kno anything about getting a nice clean signal from a preamp? or a D/A converter built in to a good 1? Should i buy a external D/A converter if i want to sound real smooth and analog?
holla back. thankx.

You mean A/D converter?

Buy an external one. You have to pay huge $$$ to get a quality preamp with quality AD. Usually both suffer to get them down to a price point.
Plus with external AD you can run any pre you want through it.

I suggest the Mytek Stereo96 units.

nah dawg

I looked up that pre amp, thats way too expensive. I see a good looking 1 from Lucid DA9624. I wanna kno...The audio runs from mic to Pre Amp, to D/A converter (At 96khz) to my digi 002 console...wouldnt the Analog signal be tunred ba digital when it hits my Digi 002? If im running my digi 002 at 96khz...the 96khz signal from the D/A converter wouldnt have to be converted? orrrr...would that 96 to 96 be perfect for a 44.1 bounce for cd?

KRK makes a good sub to go with the V8's. You could also go with the V6's and the sub...which would be better than the V8's alone.

The mytek stereo converters are good units to go with.

Note the difference between A/D and D/A

A/D (which is what you should be saying) is analog to digital conversion..... ie. converting the analog signal from a preamp to a digtal signal that the DAW can understand.

D/A or digital to analog conversion (which is what you are mistakenly saying) is what you put between your DAW and you monitors. They convert the digital signal from the DAW to an analog signal that your monitors can reproduce as audio.

Sorry to be pedantic, but if you go into a store asking for D/A and you really want A/D, then you'll end up with the wrong thing.

.... but all that said, the Digi002 converters are very servicable so there is really no need for you to be buying external at this stage.
Put ALL your funds into the best mic and preamp you can afford. Really, untill you have top notch mic and pre, pristine conversion is a waste of money!

i would sujest the sebatron 4000e you can get verry creative linking the chanels together, getting it to sound cryal clear or donw right dirty. they work well with rap from what ive heard, and really well with RnB.

The PMC range is quite fat - if a little pricey. The IB1's are amongst my faves.

I would highly recommend the Dynaudio monitors is you want accurate translation of your mixes across a broad range of playback systems (which you should! we all do :)

Ditto on the PMC's too. Fantastic mon's. ADAM's that you've mentioned are well repsected. I've heard only good things from my colleagues.

KRK I wouldn't recommend anywhere near as much as the others above. Why? For me a harsher less accurate sound with more translation issues...just not as nice to work with and quicker fatigue. I owned some V's and K roks...also have Dyne's BM15a's and Genelec 1029's, PMC TB2's and JBL's to work with.

For rap, you can do with a really nice front end, but you can get away with less. I've heard some great rap recorded thru very basic preamps like Mackie & Presonus. Your 002 could be ok... but you obviously want more :)

Sebatron would be lovely, if you have the budget. They are very affordable for what they provide...just don't get talked into something better unless you do need it, and are unhappy with your current sound...

You would really only need two channels of Sebatron. 4 might be overkill. the 2000e could be ideal, or as mentioned the more pricey Thorax.

There are plenty of preamps aroud tho! Check more out...

Tru That...

I was shooting for the KRK, but 1. I really dont need any fatigue as i am quickly annoyed with extreme highs and mids. 2. I really need to get a mix that sounds good everywhere. from the control room ...to the car....to that boom box in the living room....to the radio station.

I think im gonna run with the Dynaudio monitors. Whats the best 1's...from sumbody that mixed more than 1 long session with them.

The preamp....hmmmm...i looked up 1 that was recommended but...im a fancy smancy guy, there were no meters on that thing.
I like customers to come in and see meters bouncing and say "what...dis setup look big man". It may be abad habit, but thats me...Was checking out tha Joe Meek Twin Q pre amp...beutigul green, goes with my studio foam :D But just because its pretty dont mean im gonna buy just like that.
Anybody used it?

Right now im thinkin...
1. Mic...(not decided yet...wanted Neuman...but peeps said its not recommended. so im thinkin....dont really know right now.)
2. Pre amp...Joe Meek Twin Q :D or Thorax
3. Monitors...Dynaudio (not sure exactly which one yet)

Will I need a subwoofer with those Dynaudios? Being in this rap/hiphop/rnb i like to hear some thump and be able to accuratly put in how much bass i want in the tracks.

Gimme some more imput please.
Thankx in advance

Don't discount the KRK's...just like most of our comments regarding monitors, it's all subjective. There are some pretty solid facts, regarding quality, etc, that you can basically call non debatable. But I mix on a pair of V8's and don't find them fatiguing at all. I've been through many sets of monitors, and I chose the KRK's. They translate well for me, and are within my studio budget.

I do agree that the Dynaudio's (specifically the BM6a's) are better, but they are more expensive also. I think that the KRK's are definitely a good product, but as always...Your Mileage May Vary.

thanks man

The KRK's are tight then? I mean rite now its definatly between tha KRK and Dynaudio's.

1 thing...how do you make sure yah dont ruin your monitors?
I mean i rap/mix rap/hip hop n rnb....i like to hear sum bump.
So sumtimes I turn up a lil (big) bit..nah mean?
My Sampson 65a left one is chipping out (Sounds like the highs are gone...going to die)

from when i hooked them up for the first time there was static and a load of hissing...coudnt figure out tha problem. Took out the ground pin in the plug in...it all went away.

I dont want to buy sum new badass mon's and have em blow or give me trouble like that, i expect superb quality, first day to 5 to 10 years after.

Sum input please.

Well, you definitely have to listen to your monitors and know when you're pushing them to the limit. Cheap monitors like the Samsons' are going to screw up a lot easier than something like KRK's or Dynaudio's. For rap, you going to want a sub since the monitors we are talking about are 6"-8" at the largest. You will have a hard time hearing the bottom for that kind of music without a sub. You could probably go with a 6" speaker and add a sub and be fine. The KRK's get loud, and when you have a sub going with them, you don't have to turn them up as loud b/c you're getting the added energy of the sub. Same thing with the dynaudio's. Also, a lot of people think that he krk v6's sound a little better than the v8's, although I've not directly compared them enough to decide for myself.

JB Sound, what you say is 100% fair enough.

Checkmate, it's important to listen and try out different sets before a purchase.

I still stand by the dynaudio's. If you want to avoid the need for a sub, then the BM15a's might be ideal. I have a less than ideal mixing environment at least 3/4 of the time, and the BM15a's really work anyway...regardless of acoustics. That may be partly as I've gotten to know them so well though.

They are considerably more pricey I believe, so definately take this into account. It is a major factor for many people, I don't know about your budget...but it may mean waiting some time to be able to get the pre and other stuff if your shell out on the Dynes. If you do, you wont be sorry, you just might be a bit poor for a while :) They truly are worth being poor for if that's your scenario.

re: the preamp choice... The Joe could be just what you are after. Just be aware the inside workings are what make a pre...as is constantly hammered into people here at Rec. The Joe and something like the Seb are two different beasts. The main thing is please don't be fooled or sold on pretty metres! Seriously!

Your couch is more important than your flashy lights! If flashy shit is really that important, get a coupla behringer units and pass some split signal that goes doesn't go to tape thru them...so it LOOKS like there are flashy lights pumping along in your studio (and please realise I'm joking lol!)

Good advice Antho.

Ditto mayt!

I think you might like those Event Studio Precision 8 monitors (http://www.event1.com/). They have a bit of bling factor and they are pretty big. I have no idea if they sound good, but they have had some good reviews. Still, you will probably need to replace the front face with a gold one.

KRK, Dyn, or these will surely destroy your Samsons. If you are not planning on listening to them before you buy, it all comes down to which one fits your budget better and which one looks better to you.

Oh word?

Theres so much good monitors you guys mentoned i dunno what to get. Still slapping the top of a Samson to get the highs to kick in.

Im leaning towards KRK V6 as they say they sound better than tha V8. Also the KRK 12 Inch SUb. javascript:emoticon(':D')
Very Happy big bass