heil pr40 or shure 7b and firewire or usb2.0 pre? help plz!

[drumsynth]

Hello everyone, i am new here. i am a cofounder and beat maker of a hip hop group based in florida, but i just moved to cali. I am using a shure ksm-27 and a behringer vlz1402 into my macbook.

but my bros back home in florida need to get up to a higher quality level of vocal recording. since all they need to do is record one mic i was looking at some set ups for them.

microphones: re20, shure 7b, heil pr40

right now the mc is leaning towards the heil because his range is more in the mids and highs.

Now im not sure if they should be getting a separate mic pre and a interface as i dont want them to encounter noise. so i was looking at interfaces with built in mic preamps

interface choices are: Presonus firebox, presonus audiobox usb, presonus inspire, tascam122/144.

of these my main concern is having enough gain to push the shure 7b or heil pr40 ive read that they need up to 60db to get a line level. if so im wondering if anyone owns a heil pr40 and a cheap firewire or usb interface or a cheap preamp such as a presonus and how they connect it to their laptop.

any feedback is appreciated by i really need help getting a clean recording from the heil pr40 with enough gain and no noise for under $200. thank you

[drumsynth]

i mean budget is like $200 after the mic

[KeithMoonwannabe]

try the EMU 0404 USB interface the preamps are much nicer sounding and have ample juice (60dB of gain).

just my two cents

search for florida music co and the EMU 0404 usb they offer free shipping and the interface itself was $20 less than anywhere else I'd seen it for sale.

BTW the Heil is an excellent choice!

[drumsynth]

yeah i was looking at that model today, i didnt realize the gain turned up so high.

[KeithMoonwannabe]

For the money the XTC preamps on the nicer EMU interfaces are hard to beat. They aren't color fest so don't be looking for Neve or something here. But you get an excellent clean and transparent pre paired with great AD/DA conversion.

They also have built in soft clip limiters which imo is an awesome feature.

BTW I've never seen one for sale under $179 shipped from an authorized dealer brand new in box. If you have I'd say jump on it. The white model costs $20 more than the charcoal and black model.

[Lifted]

Go with SM7B dude, you won't regret it.

Vocals are very smooth and round/full.

I looked at Heil40 mic and it looks like it is cleaner, but it's going to have really bad Sibilance (sharp "S").

If we are looking @ 3 mic choices for rap here, SM7B is best, it's natural.

[drumsynth]

okay, so you recommend the shure, because u think it sounds more natural, like more true to what the voice sounds like for rap, considering quick vocals?

but heres the kicker, someone recommended the bluebird blue mic, now, i dont know how this will sound out of a $200 preamp in a bedroom/closet type environment. so thats why i was looking at the dynamic.

considering the lack of a proper booth, would the proximity effect and cut off of the heil (or 7b) be the selling point over a bluebird?

thanks for your input!

[Lifted]

Originally Posted by drumsynth

okay, so you recommend the shure, because u think it sounds more natural, like more true to what the voice sounds like for rap, considering quick vocals?

but heres the kicker, someone recommended the bluebird blue mic, now, i dont know how this will sound out of a $200 preamp in a bedroom/closet type environment. so thats why i was looking at the dynamic.

considering the lack of a proper booth, would the proximity effect and cut off of the heil (or 7b) be the selling point over a bluebird?

thanks for your input!

I have a BlueBird mic, it sounds very clean.

Let me put it like this man: Blue Bird is a very sensitive mic, meaning it's going to be great for a quick rap vocals, but it's going to pick up everything else (reflections, any nuances good or bad, sounds you usually don't even hear). This mic is great, but if you are going to record in a closet, especially with untreated drywall, that sounds like a disaster situation, in a bedroom it can work though. Blue Bird is a very clean mic in high frequencies, it enhances the vocal, whether it's for the good or for the bad.

SM7B will not be as good in picking up quick rap vocals, but it works GREAT for people who scream and have really annoying Sibilant voices (hahah). The sound is going to full, round, and preety clean, but way less bright than Blue Bird. The sound will be natural. This mic is great for keeping the signal isolated from the room sounds (you moving shit around, people going in and out of the room (if you are in the closet).

In my opinion they are both VERY good choices, not just for the first mic to have, but mics to HAVE period!

Let me know if you want to know something else about these mics.

[KeithMoonwannabe]

In this case I think the PR-40 might be better suited to your situation as it will reject any unwanted environmental sound (whether it be bad reflections, noisy neighbors, etc). It sounds more like a condenser mic (ie brighter) than the SM7b. So I think for quick fire vocals it will give you a bit more to work with from the start.

To my ear the SM7b really smoothes out the highs which can be great on a very sibilant source, but sometimes I dislike that because it's got so much mojo you lose clarity. Of course you can usually remedy that with EQ and such.

My theory is why bother when you can get the right sound in the first place?

Honestly it's hard to say though. All three mics are very good, all three mics have their lovers and haters. I like all three and it's very subjective at this point which one is the winner, in all honesty I think all three could be made to work well in the right hands and recording the right talent. Lately I've just really been digging all the Heil PR series mics. Especially on drums.

If possible (I'm not sure if I said this here or not) I'd really try to audition the mics prior to buying, typically blind purchases are the ones people (myself included in that generalization) are most disappointed with. Even if you are in a GC or some mega store with a crappy audition area. In all honesty that might help you since you are probably recording in a less than stellar environment anyway. Might give you a better idea of how revealed the room and extraneous noise will be and it will still pass on the general vibe of each mic to you on your voice.

[drumsynth]

well i tried to audition the mics in guitar center, they have every mic i could want to try except the SHURE 7b can u believe that? but they dont let u test mics its against health code in cali, u cant return them once you buy either.

So my concern becomes wether or not the emu will be compatible with computers im using. but the Emu and the heil pr40 seem like the best choice.
thank you for clarifying the fast vocals for me, since the mc is usually on the faster quiter side i think the pr 40 will be a unique fit, esp since he is in a tool shed.

[Lifted]

Originally Posted by drumsynth

well i tried to audition the mics in guitar center, they have every mic i could want to try except the SHURE 7b can u believe that? but they dont let u test mics its against health code in cali, u cant return them once you buy either.

So my concern becomes wether or not the emu will be compatible with computers im using. but the Emu and the heil pr40 seem like the best choice.
thank you for clarifying the fast vocals for me, since the mc is usually on the faster quiter side i think the pr 40 will be a unique fit, esp since he is in a tool shed.

LMFAO! "Health code". That state of Cali is a health code, when I was driving to LA my first time, I was like "WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFF....WHERE ARE THE MOUNTAINS?????.....I'm driving through a layer of SMOKE?!"

HAHAHAHA, testing mics is a health code, maaaaaan that shit cracked me up

It's like that myth that if you keep jacking off you gonna go blind

[KeithMoonwannabe]

Originally Posted by Lifted

LMFAO! "Health code". That state of Cali is a health code, when I was driving to LA my first time, I was like "WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFF....WHERE ARE THE MOUNTAINS?????.....I'm driving through a layer of SMOKE?!"

HAHAHAHA, testing mics is a health code, maaaaaan that shit cracked me up

It's like that myth that if you keep jacking off you gonna go blind

oh no I'm gonna go blind

hmm that seems interesting but hey I guess if they won't let you they won't let you

May I suggest trying to order from someone on here I'm sure Warren at ZenProAudio would let you buy the mic and exchange it for something else should it not be to your liking.