A Couple Gs to Upgrade--Where?? A/D, Pre, Mic?

[ALL*MYTEE]

Hi Guys and Gals. This is my first post so go easy on me. I aspire to the High End but am fighting my way out of the Lo to Mid-fi world. I've got good taste tho.

I'm looking to do a little reshuffling before some recording I am doing. I've got a Tascam FW 1884 and a Rode NTK and an FMR RNC. I record mostly two channels at a time. Acoustic and electric guitar and a Motif ES keyboard also figure prominantly in my music.

I'd like to get the most bang and clarity for my buck, of course. My main question is where will money well spent deliver the most return?

My current thoughts are: swap the Tascam for an Apogee Mini-Me and use that to go straight into a MacBook Pro (currently on a G5 using Live and Logic). Ditch the RNC and NTK and maybe put a $1-1.5K mic on a credit card while I do the recording. This mic will be used mostly for clear and warm acoustic guitars and male vocals (with most of the juicy stuff happening around 1K).

Questions:

1) Would I be better off with more mic ($2,000) and the Mini-me pres or would one of the flatteringly described DAV BG1s be a good investment.

2) How do the DAVs compare to Pres like the Avalon 737?

3) Are the older Rosetta upgraded to 96 as good as the Mini-me? (I'll be getting most of this stuff used). Would I be better off with one of these and a DAV?

4) Any angles that I haven't considered?

I know a lot of this is subjective and I expect to demo a number of mics. My main question is where to put the upgrades? I don't have a sense of how a good A/D affects the sound quality vs. a good pre. Or how the quality of the pres in the Mini-me stand up against the DAV. Thanks in advance for your wisdom.


Also, if you are feeling generous to ignorance, I read someone mention that a compressor shouldn't be needed to protect the signal when tracking to digital. Anyone care to explain or refute? Thanks!

[kats]

I've made a few bad choices due to "not great" conversion. Problem with great conversion, you get to hear how shitty your gear is. Catch 22. But I would go the way your going simply because you'll make better mic/pre purchase decisions with proper conversion.

Regarding your comp question. These days comps are used more for effect than any practical matter. You don't need one from a fundamentally engineering standpoint - but from a mixing, creative standpoint...most here will take their comps with them to the other side

[TonyBelmont]

Do you own any mic pre's right now? If not, that's the first place I would look at.

[ALL*MYTEE]

No Pres except what's in my Tascam. So maybe start with the DAV BG1--or would you recommend the Rode NTK with a higher end pre like an Avalon?

[TonyBelmont]

Originally Posted by ALL*MYTEE

No Pres except what's in my Tascam. So maybe start with the DAV BG1--or would you recommend the Rode NTK with a higher end pre like an Avalon?

What's your total budget to upgrade your setup?

[ALL*MYTEE]

A better converter I'd expect to be covered from selling the Tascam, so I won't count that.

On mic and pre, if I could get away with under $2K (and I can usually find pretty good deals on gear), that would be ideal. $2500 if it would make a big difference. It doesn't have to be perfect, but this isn't a demo, I'd like to start as close to pro as possible.

Thanks again for your time and expertise. Really a blessing.

[No4PCs]

Hi friend, im researching about mic/pre thing too.
The friends here is amazing ppl, will help you.
My opinion is, each guy will tell you about many many differents mic/pres
Because have thousands mic/pres on market.Each pre will sound different...
Each mic/pre combination too. I think ,more important than brand, will be the good match of mic and mic pre for your taste of sound combination. Like Rode with UA, or Rode with Manley, or Avalon or other mic in combination with other pre, transistor one or tube one or or or or or etc...
My opinion, try get some good combination of mic/pre and go to work, if you only researching about brands ( see our CNN on page top !)you will waste 1000 years here and making no music.
Please, its my own opinion, but wait our friends here speak.
Best of luck

[TonyBelmont]

Originally Posted by ALL*MYTEE

A better converter I'd expect to be covered from selling the Tascam, so I won't count that.

On mic and pre, if I could get away with under $2K (and I can usually find pretty good deals on gear), that would be ideal. $2500 if it would make a big difference. It doesn't have to be perfect, but this isn't a demo, I'd like to start as close to pro as possible.

Thanks again for your time and expertise. Really a blessing.

For well under $2500, the Peluso 22 47 and an API lunchbox with a 512c would be a huge upgrade.

[ALL*MYTEE]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm off to drop a bundle so I can get back to playing.