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jaz49 · 5th June 2008

@Keithmoonwannabe:

Thanks for the feedback, but I think you misread a lot of what I wrote.
I'm not talking about a crummy singer(and I'm not trying to imply I'm the next Frank Sinatra)...I'm talking REAL harsh sibilance and nasty consonants(t's, c's, and K's). The sssss's and the t's really jump out at you...it's shrill!!! Dylan is a crummy singer, but if you listen to a Dylan CD you're not going to hear the kind of harshness I'm talking about. It's coming from the equipment...not the vocalist. The mics I own are adding to the harshness that's already in my singing...and doing it big time. I tend to think it's the mics and not the pres, since I am getting it with both pres on the emu 0404.
As far as what you write about the gain setting on the 0404, it's contrary to what many other folks have written, and to what I've read from pretty reliable sources. Dynamics need a LOT of gain and most budget pres will struggle to provide enough...at least that's what I've been told from many sources. Setting the gain at near 60 dB with a dynamic mic is not uncommon. But perhaps all those folks are wrong and you are right. I can't say, since this is my first interface/preamp and I have nothing else to compare it with. At the moment I've been corresponding with the folks at emu, but so far they have not offered any helpful suggestions...only telling me to try things that I already tried. The support person at Audio Technica was no help at all. He seemed to know less about recording than me...and I'm pretty new at it!

Here's a link to my songs on MySpace. On the second song ("The Bigger They Are...") you can hear the sibilance a lot in the chorus...more so than in the verses. I tried to edit out a lot of it in the DAW, but couldn't get rid of all of it. I used the e835 on that tune.

MySpace.com - Le Jaz - LONG BRANCH, New Jersey - Folk Rock / Country / Alternative - www.myspace.com/lejaz

5th June 2008	#28
jaz49 Gear addict Joined: May 2008 Location: by the beach Posts: 393 Thread Starter	@Keithmoonwannabe: Thanks for the feedback, but I think you misread a lot of what I wrote. I'm not talking about a crummy singer(and I'm not trying to imply I'm the next Frank Sinatra)...I'm talking REAL harsh sibilance and nasty consonants(t's, c's, and K's). The sssss's and the t's really jump out at you...it's shrill!!! Dylan is a crummy singer, but if you listen to a Dylan CD you're not going to hear the kind of harshness I'm talking about. It's coming from the equipment...not the vocalist. The mics I own are adding to the harshness that's already in my singing...and doing it big time. I tend to think it's the mics and not the pres, since I am getting it with both pres on the emu 0404. As far as what you write about the gain setting on the 0404, it's contrary to what many other folks have written, and to what I've read from pretty reliable sources. Dynamics need a LOT of gain and most budget pres will struggle to provide enough...at least that's what I've been told from many sources. Setting the gain at near 60 dB with a dynamic mic is not uncommon. But perhaps all those folks are wrong and you are right. I can't say, since this is my first interface/preamp and I have nothing else to compare it with. At the moment I've been corresponding with the folks at emu, but so far they have not offered any helpful suggestions...only telling me to try things that I already tried. The support person at Audio Technica was no help at all. He seemed to know less about recording than me...and I'm pretty new at it! Here's a link to my songs on MySpace. On the second song ("The Bigger They Are...") you can hear the sibilance a lot in the chorus...more so than in the verses. I tried to edit out a lot of it in the DAW, but couldn't get rid of all of it. I used the e835 on that tune. MySpace.com - Le Jaz - LONG BRANCH, New Jersey - Folk Rock / Country / Alternative - www.myspace.com/lejaz