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anonymous 29 November 2009

hello all! thank you for entering this thread. .i record hip hop vocals, and i have a relatively simple home recording set up, consisting of:

a Sterling ST55 Mic($150)
a M-Audio Firewire Solo interface(not a preamp, $200)
i use adobe audition to mix my vocals, on my PC
and of course a mic stand shockmount an pop filter

(i showed prices so u can get a quality estimate)

Christmas is coming!. .over the years ive asked family to donate dough to equipment funds for me, instead of buying me christmas socks and yuletide sausage that makes me vomit blood and stomach acid. .seems a lil selfish, but its always worked out well, and theyre happy that I'm happy :D

anyways, I'm not really sure what direction to go this year. ive had the same mic and interface for a while, and I'm pretty uneducated with hardware. .should i get a preamp/rack thingie that'll clear my vocals up more before going to my PC? or a better mic? or a mbox with mpowered Pro Tools?

i'm thinking i'll have around 400 to spend. .ideas?

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Guitarfreak Fri, 12/04/2009 - 22:07

First level of importance/urgency, I vote for a nice pair of studio monitors or mixing headphones, the former more than the latter. Second, better conversion, because a good mic interface will make any mic you put through it function and sound better, just a jack-of-all trades kind of upgrade. Third, I'd say maybe a new mic? Or one to compliment the one you have? I have used the mic you have and I like it, it's got good clarity and good presence, very sensitive to dynamics, but sometimes it can be a bit bright or harsh sounding. Fourth, I am assuming that you have the Adobe Audition 3 software package, which seems good enough, but if you have a 'lite' version of the software then I'd say that it would need an upgrade.

For $400, a good pair of monitors that you can get:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Rubicon6a/

These are (supposedly, and I stress supposedly) good in an untreated environment http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MR5/

I use these, and my mixes translate very well: link removed

anonymous Sat, 12/05/2009 - 04:12

i do have a pair of bx5a monitors and a decent pair of Sennheiser headphones. the general consensus im hearing is i should upgrade my preamp, just like you said. im thinking about going with the Profire 610

http://www.m-audio.com

its at guitar center for 400 bucks, and im told i would hear a significant quality boost, the firewire solo im running has a 24-bit/96kHz sample rate and the 610 has a 24/192 rate. would u recommend this one?

Guitarfreak Sat, 12/05/2009 - 06:47

Well no I can't say that I would recommend m-audio personally, unless of course you were using Pro Tools M-Powered. I'd recommend PreSonus myself because I use their products and they have good tech support/customer service. Mackie Onyx series interfaces are great if you want to pay a little more for them. You don't need to record using 196KHz, I mean you can, but you'll never hear the difference.

Here are some good ones for around $400 to look out for:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Konnekt24D/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DigiMaxD8/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FireStuProj/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Onyx820i/

anonymous Sat, 12/05/2009 - 18:26

thanks alot man, im lookin into those right now

how do u feel about the FMR RNP, and the grace m101??

also, 400 is my limit atm, but if the quality boost was substantial enough, i'd save up a few hundred more for a chameleon or something. i just dont know if the difference would be that big, do you?

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