Aggressive male rock vocals under 2k?

[Kevorkian]

Hi everyone,

I've been searching the site for a few days now and I'm starting to lose it! So it's time to ask for advice.

Primarily I'm looking for a high quality preamp to record male rock vocals. They are mainly going to be aggressive (lots of guttural screaming) however singing is also important (I'm a huge King's X fan and that's how I found this forum).

I would also like to be able to get some nice acoustic guitar sounds with this unit.

Lower priority would be to use it for a DI and also eventually as pre for recording the reamped signal of heavy guitars.

Now... Because this is going into a Motu interface and due to the nature of the material, I'm concerned about peaks so I figured that having a nice compressor/limiter in the chain would be wise. However because I need to keep an eve on cost, I'm not certain what comp would be best.

Here is where I'm getting stuck... From what I have determined (please disagree with me here if you like) it seems like my main focus should be the quality of the preamp and since I would like the option to drive it hard that the compressor would mainly be a peak limiter in my application, however some color would also be welcome. In fact I'm not sure if I even need the compressor and/or if I should use my RNC as a limiter however the RNC seems to make things sound smaller to me.

Here is what I have been looking at and liking:
Great River ME-1NV
UA SOLO/610
UA LA-610
Distressor

Here is what I have:
Shure SM7
Shure SM81
FMR RNC


Please help me with some suggestions!

[1/2 Normal]

You cant really go wrong with the GR and the The Distressor IMHO
I have both pieces and could not be happier with them.
GR seems to be one of the most versatile Pres I have.

I also have a solo-610 as well but use the GR more often for vocals.

GL with your search.

Rob

[PKatis]

check this out:

products

Sounds great clean and you can really drive it. I'm lovin' it.

[spunkadellic]

api, neve and GR are very good for what you want

for your styles, id stay away from the UA stuff

PKATIS - what is this No Toasters thing - never heard of it - explain more , do you own one?

[pedrodash]

My "go to" Male Rock Vocals are SM7 + API 312.
You already have a SM7, so buy an API A2D and use it with SPDIF into your MOTU. 2 channels of nice converters and great preamps.
For compressors, stick with your plug-ins for now and save for a distressor in the future.

my 2 cents.

[Ari-M.]

Originally Posted by pedrodash

My "go to" Male Rock Vocals are SM7 + API 312.
You already have a SM7, so buy an API A2D and use it with SPDIF into your MOTU. 2 channels of nice converters and great preamps.
For compressors, stick with your plug-ins for now and save for a distressor in the future.

my 2 cents.

brilliant....

[PKatis]

PKATIS - what is this No Toasters thing - never heard of it - explain more , do you own one?[/quote]

I've had one as a demo for last month, and I'm definitely buying one. I think it's under $1500. Like I said before, it sounds good clean, but you can also really drive the input. In fact, the final click in the input gain is an insane distortion setting. Really great for vocals. Actually, a little too insane for many applications, but they can add a trim to get more control over the overdrive mode. I've used it on drum room mics, vocals, acoustic guitar and piano. Sounds great so far. And I find so few preamps that overdrive in an obvious and musical way. And fairly cheap.

products

[NathanEldred]

SM-7 into Great River into Distressor is great. If it doesn't sound over the top with that chain something else is wrong.

[packagebear]

+1 on the distressor... IF you're going to need more channels of preamp in the future check out the SCA pres. An A12 or an N72 would prolly work pretty well,but you get no DI. One channel would run ya about $650 for the 1st channel and everything to make it work plus $1300 or $1500 for the distressor .

Just another idea to throw into the fray....

kris

[BLUElightCory]

You need to find a used Universal Audio 2108. You'll never look back.

[Kevorkian]

Originally Posted by pedrodash

My "go to" Male Rock Vocals are SM7 + API 312.
You already have a SM7, so buy an API A2D and use it with SPDIF into your MOTU. 2 channels of nice converters and great preamps.
For compressors, stick with your plug-ins for now and save for a distressor in the future.

my 2 cents.

This is a very interesting idea... I was looking at the A2D last night actually and I assumed that it didn't have inserts however you caused me to take a closer look and now I see that it does in fact have them... very cool unit!

I'm certain that either the API or the Great River will do an excellent job, however I don't have an immediate need for the second channel in the API. That said, the A/D converters are likely to be far superior to my Motu's.

ME-1NV + Distressor = $2400

A2D + Distressor = $3000

If this is where I need to be then I'll get there but is there a compressor/limiter option that costs less than the distressor that would work here and wouldn't be an insult to the pre?

[pedrodash]

remember that using your second channel with another mic will be a good thing when tracking acoustic guitar, for example.
improving your AD and preamps will be a big step from what you have.. and you have a RNC too, use it, use it with other plug-in compressor and you should achive great and interesting results.

[pedrodash]

or you could buy yourself a lunchbox with api, purple, great river, etc preamps and compressors, too..
the alternatives are endless...

[Kevorkian]

I'm leaning towards the API A2D... however I just read through and noticed that it requires Superclock and I don't have an external master clock, nor do the Motu units that I have (Traveler and MTP AV) appear to behave as Superclock Masters.

So I have emailed API to determine if the A2D can be the master unit. This is unclear from their documentation however I can't imagine that it can only sync.

[Kevorkian]

***Update Bump***

I ordered the API A2D. It can function as the Clock Master to my Traveler and I love the sound of the Pres...

Thanks to pedrodash specifically for throwing this suggestion out there.

Now I need to choose a compressor for tracking...

[pedrodash]

yes, my friend uses an A2D with a lightbridge, so your good with the Motu.
hey, good to know that my suggestions were helpful!
and good luck with the endless search for gear that everyone here is on, too.

[strewnshank]

I use the No Toaster all the time. Its my go to for kick and snare...I often use it on vocals, and I always use it on guitars in some manner. IIt breaks up REALLY well, you can even use the breakup as a tonal chartaristic. Great for screamers. I've heard people call it transparent, but I don't think it is at all. I also use the pres in the API3124, some Sytek jobs with the bur browns, neve 33421's, and a slue of others. I use the APIs the second most...most of what I record is through either of those units.

[Kevorkian]

Originally Posted by strewnshank

I use the No Toaster all the time. Its my go to for kick and snare...I often use it on vocals, and I always use it on guitars in some manner. IIt breaks up REALLY well, you can even use the breakup as a tonal chartaristic. Great for screamers. I've heard people call it transparent, but I don't think it is at all. I also use the pres in the API3124, some Sytek jobs with the bur browns, neve 33421's, and a slue of others. I use the APIs the second most...most of what I record is through either of those units.

What compressor do you track with after the pres if any?

[duvalle]

Originally Posted by Kevorkian

I ordered the API A2D. It can function as the Clock Master to my Traveler and I love the sound of the Pres...

Now I need to choose a compressor for tracking...

so do i! the a2d improved my setup very much!
the a2d clock thing is only a problem when the a2d is NOT master clock.
to my ears sm7b and the api pres work together great.

for compressor i got a mc77 and i am happy with it.

[Myriad_Rocker]

Another vote for the SM7 --> Great River --> Distressor

Just a classic male rock vocal chain.

[strewnshank]

Originally Posted by Kevorkian

What compressor do you track with after the pres if any?

An LA4 or Distressor, if at all.

[Kevorkian]

Originally Posted by duvalle

so do i! the a2d improved my setup very much!
the a2d clock thing is only a problem when the a2d is NOT master clock.
to my ears sm7b and the api pres work together great.

for compressor i got a mc77 and i am happy with it.

Do you still have the 2500 I saw you mention on another thread? If so, do you prefer the mc77 to it?

I have been looking at the Distressor, Portico, and 2500

[duvalle]

Originally Posted by Kevorkian

Do you still have the 2500 I saw you mention on another thread? If so, do you prefer the mc77 to it?

yes i still have the 2500 and love it!
i mainly use it for 2bus or drumbus.
not too much for tracking ...

the mc77 is great for tracking vocals imho.
it's super fast and got much tone and color.
i use the mc77 often in the mix too.
i just love it on all kinds of sounds ...
it allways gives something i can't get from plug ins like the uad's.

but the distressor is very nice too!
i would love to have stereo pair of them in my room ...

[Audio Hombre]

Originally Posted by NathanEldred

SM-7 into Great River into Distressor is great. If it doesn't sound over the top with that chain something else is wrong.

+1 - a look no further chain for rock vocals. <--- auctioneers gavel.