Mic/pre---need flattery not accuracy!

I need to close mic to reduce room and hard drive noise. I have a sm57 going into my akai dps16 and that is not a good match for the built in preamps. only need male vocals as everything else goes direct. Singer(me) needs all the help he can get. Should I:
Get a meek vcq1 for the 57-- is this a good combo for vocals?
Get one of the affordable condenors,if so ,which have a good proximity effect rather than a boomy effect?
any other suggerstions? Not a lot of cash just laying around. If I go with the Meek. I'm tapped out---could do a $300 mic and an audio buddy or something but remember I want enhancement----not accuracy. Thanks.
Bill E

 

As long as you can get a good return policy, I would try the VC1Q to see if it's what your looking for. It's a very nice unit and a great bang-for-the-buck in it's price range.
Personally, I run an AudioBuddy/RNC combo for my location work. It's a very nice pairing. I rely on mic choice and mic technique more when using it.

 

If I was in your situation, I would drag the Akai and your 57 over to a music store (must be just a few of those in Nashville), preferably one used to dealing with pro-level audio. See if you can find a quiet spot, and try recording a vocal on a few inexpensive large diaphragm mics (BLUE baby bottle, Shure KSM27, Studio Projects, etc.) with your Akai, then try the SM57 with a few different preamps in your price range (Radius, Meek, etc.) Take the results home and carefully listen and see whether the new mic or the new preamp gets you closer to the sound you are looking for.

I'm sure almost any decent store would cooperate, so it is more a matter of finding a place that carries the brands you want to audition. But since you are recording the results, you could actually go from store to store. Just remember that the different room acoustics will still affect the recorded sound, even when close mic'ing.