What piece of gear made the biggest difference for you on your vocal recordings?

I have about $2500 I can throw down on something to improve my vocal recordings. . but I'm not sure what to get. :?

I currently own a Sterling ST55 but I constantly need to boost up frequencies in post-production to make my vocal recordings sound more full. I want to get rid of it for a new one but I have a few choices and some criteria.

-Under $400
-Large diaphragm
-Built-in -10dB pad

Hey guys, I'm trying to mix a song right now, I'll post it up here once it's all finished.

I haven't gotten the finalized recording of everything, but no matter what I do the vocals always seem to 'stand out' from the rest of the mix.

I am trying to decide what mic I want to purchase solely for vocals. It will be for male vocals, I am looking for something not too dark but not harsh on the high-endeither, here are some of the mics I have researched and considered. Any advice and personal experience with these mics would be greatly appreciated.

Whats up guys, I know this is a recording forum, but there are artists too. This is for them

Hey everyone,

I'm new to this site so i hope i've posted this in the right section, if not please forgive me.

Basically my problem is this;

I've recently bought a Shure SM58 mic for my home studio with the intention of recording rap vocals.

I've been trying to set up for home recording and am loosing my mind trying to get vocals into the computer.

Here's what I have: Studio Projects C1 mic, Studio Projects VTB1 pre-amp, M-Audio Firewire Audiophile, Sonar 4, Sound Blaster Live soundcard. None of these is very intuitive or came with an adequate description of how to link them together, and no setup I've tried works.

I want to start recording my songs, they are basically acostic guitar and vocals, but I'm wondering if anyone knows what a good basic microphone would be and software for my pc, or any other equipment i might need. right now the only equipment I have is my guitar, and computer.
thanks

I realize there are no rules, but what is a standard distance one should be away from the mic or pop filter?

How far should the pop filter be away from the mic?

How far should a singers mouth be away from the pop filter?

Hi. I am mixing in Pro Tools. I have the Waves Platinum bundle and the Digi plugins, that's all. I am using an mbox so I can't send to an outboard box. I'd like to put a light vocal distortion on one song (ie Yeah Yeah Yeahs). Is there a suggestion as to how I can do this using what I've got? Thanks a bunch.-J