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EricWatkins 24 February 2009

Ok, I'm just going to show my stupidity here. I have an AT-4047, an SM7B, and an LA-610. I have been trying to get a good recording of my buddy that is doing a straightup acoustic guitar and vocal thing. The guitars come out pretty good with two AT-2020s in stereo and a direct line into the console also.

The first time I tried to record him, I used the AT-4047 into the LA-610 and then that goes line out into a mic/line transormer and then into the board (Tascam DM-4800). Everytime he got good and loud on the mic, the signal sounded kind of brittle and a little fuzzy. I just realized today that the LA-610 was set to mic/500 ohms as opposed to mic/2000 ohms. Could this be what was making this happen. The SM7B is rated at 150 ohms and the AT-4047 at 250 ohms. I feel like such a bonehead because I shouldnt be able to miss with these mics but I am shamefully having a hard time getting a good vocal. They all sound a bit overdriven. Opinion? Rotten tomatoes? Remy helped me understand a LOT about the LA but I am pretty thick skulled and I didnt realize I had this set like that at the time. Thanks in advance for any help.

Eric

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TheJackAttack Thu, 02/26/2009 - 17:48

Turn your compressor down. The idea of make up gain is to only "make up" what you've knocked down by compressing, not to drive the hell out of the signal. Start generating your signal chain WITHOUT the compressor engaged. If you have good levels without it then you need to learn how to use the compressor properly. Go back and read Jeremy's posting about his recommended levels.

Jeremy said: It sounds like you're driving the input of the compressor pretty hard then squashing it and then trying to make the gain back up again. For both voice and guitar, gentle compression should be all that's needed.

Try backing the compression off, get rid of the limiter switch (I would very rarely consider using a opto limiter for guitar and only a little more commonly for voice). In fact, try bypassing it all together and then bringing it back in gently. If it works while bypassed but occassionally clips, work the gain until there's no more clipping. Then, and only then, re-engage the compressor at more moderate settings.

With my limited experience with the 610, I've found that vocals work fine with the pre gain at 0 and the level knob in the upper portion of the range (or gain at +5 with the level further down) and compression (Peak reduction) between 2 and 4 and the gain to where the signal sits right in the mix.

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