28th July 2012
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#1 | | Gear nut
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 137
Thread Starter  | $1500 to upgrade my gear: what?
I record as a hobby, on my own and for some friends bands, nothing major.
I record mainly rock, acoustic drum kits, electric guitars, loud vocals, etc
Currently my rig consists of:
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40
BLA B12a preamp
Shure SM7b
Audio Technica AT4047
Audio Technica AT2035
M-Audio Pulsar II pair
Audix i5
Electro/Voice n/d868
Rat Shack Tom mics
Dynaudio BM5a monitors
Lots of headphones (akg k701, sony 7506, extreme isolation, etc)
I have a few spot room treatments as I can't treat my own place (renting, whatcanyoudo?)
Right now I think my weak spot is in my interface and pres, but I also think mics can help out a lot. Things I've been kicking around:
Universal Audio 4-710d - I can keep my focussing but get 4 good pres and 8 channels of conversion
RME fireface ufx - 4 better pres and better conversion than the focusrite but nothing groundbreaking
1 great pre - great river or similar, but would still have to go through a pre and conversion in the focusrite
Mics - a pair of good sdc's, or LDCs or one great mic
Suggestions??
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28th July 2012
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#2 | | Gear nut
Joined: Nov 2011 Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 96
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Involved in the long process of home studio building myself, I would go for one great tube LDC. The Miktek CV4 is that--I love it. Folks seem to like Beezknees (?) too. If you're looking for a noticeable upgrade a good LDC will do that. The other mic I would shudder to have to live without is the ribbon Beyer m160. I have a pair and use them on all sorts of things, and they would give you a completely different color than anything you currently own.
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29th July 2012
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#3 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 2,866
| Quote:
Originally Posted by lpedrum  Involved in the long process of home studio building myself, I would go for one great tube LDC. The Miktek CV4 is that--I love it. Folks seem to like Beezknees (?) too. If you're looking for a noticeable upgrade a good LDC will do that. The other mic I would shudder to have to live without is the ribbon Beyer m160. I have a pair and use them on all sorts of things, and they would give you a completely different color than anything you currently own. | +1 on all of this, but with the style of music you are doing, may not need the condenser. The beyers are great for what you are doing, 160 or 260.
However, you should also follow your instincts, and upgrade your pre's and conversion if you feel they are lacking.
Personally, I think good conversion is priority number 1 always, with monitoring 1A and pre's 1B, mics 1C. IMHO, YMMV.
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31st July 2012
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#4 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Apr 2007 Location: N.Y.
Posts: 282
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pres are good. I'd save up and get yourself some api. they're great on drums.
also a ribbon mic or two would be great for your set up. royer, aea, coles...
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31st July 2012
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#5 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Oct 2010 Location: UK
Posts: 3,358
| Quote:
Originally Posted by South Brokelyn pres are good. I'd save up and get yourself some api. they're great on drums.
also a ribbon mic or two would be great for your set up. royer, aea, coles... | Unless you get something like a Mojave Fet (David Royer), the mic runs so hot it kind of makes your pre's near irrelevant. It sounds fantastic though  | |
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31st July 2012
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#6 | | Gear nut
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 95
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just to chime in with my opinion looking at your setup:
id say get a nice ribbon mic (royer, beyerdynamic, blue)
or maybe get a nice pre (great river, daking, vintech)
...i have a humble setup similar to yours that ive been improving and i would suggest, when upgrading, to go ahead and spend the money for quality instead of "bang for buck". you'll just end up upgrading the 'upgrade' later on...
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1st August 2012
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#7 | | Gear nut
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 137
Thread Starter |
Thanks guys!
I decided to kind of... Split the difference. I picked up a Daking Mic Pre One, and a Neumann TLM102. I felt I needed something a little "shinier" sounding among my mics. Next stop will probably be a nice ribbon and/or interface.
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1st August 2012
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#8 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Aug 2010 Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 699
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Enzo Polotso Thanks guys!
I decided to kind of... Split the difference. I picked up a Daking Mic Pre One, and a Neumann TLM102. I felt I needed something a little "shinier" sounding among my mics. Next stop will probably be a nice ribbon and/or interface. | Congrats! I'm a very big DAKING fan, that MicPre One is underpriced, worth every penny.
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1st August 2012
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#9 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 580
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Great purchases. Well done. Both are excellent choices.
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2nd August 2012
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#10 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 192
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Next step is a clean interface, a channel of 1073 (Vintech x73i) and an 1176
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Vancouver, BC
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9th August 2012
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#11 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 531
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Since you have loud vocals... I'd throw in a good outboard compressor to your setup.
Perhaps an FMR RNC? Not expensive at all... but fits well into the budget in addition to the mic upgrade.
Also... I'd think about a good sub to pair w/ you 5" speakers... since there's probably a lot of bass you're missing w/ your mixes (if you mix your music of course).
Lastly... if you get an RME.... it should be for the superior audio drivers and better converters moreso than anything else. Can't wait to get my UFX w/ BLA mod.
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