What equipment should i buy to have great vocal sound ($1700 to spend)

[TYPHY]

Experience on mixing vocals: $0

[butterfan1]

Originally Posted by TYPHY

Experience on mixing vocals: $0

experience on helping people on this forum.... none at all

[TYPHY]

Well I can't really just suggest a mic with no experience of working with your vocals. The is no one mic that fits all voices. Which mic is best depends on what type of voice you have. But if you really want a suggestion, I can go google the most expensive mic you can buy for $1700.

[butterfan1]

Originally Posted by TYPHY

Well I can't really just suggest a mic with no experience of working with your vocals. The is no one mic that fits all voices. Which mic is best depends on what type of voice you have. But if you really want a suggestion, I can go google the most expensive mic you can buy for $1700.

im not looking for people to find a mic for my vocals, all i want to know is equipment that they know would make great vocals, im open for anything,

[TYPHY]

Tbh, I think room treatment would be the most important upgrade for your needs.

Do you have a recent song of yours that we can listen to?

[butterfan1]

Originally Posted by TYPHY

Tbh, I think room treatment would be the most important upgrade for your needs.

Do you have a recent song of yours that we can listen to?

you are very right about that. i have had some gears here and thier and room treatment was a big issue, always picking up sound, people recommended me to get sm7b, whats your email so i can send you the last verse a recorded,

[Camera]

Summit 2BA-221 would leave you with a good pre, you could get a nice Summit comp like the TLA-50 and be under your budget. You need lots of good, clean gain for the SM-7.

[teamalkos]

you might want to invest in great conversion, because that is going to determine how faithful the recording is to the source. Also, room treatment helps a great deal. I never used to a sm7b, but heard great things. 2 things I would do either conversion or a dedicated great preamp to get a clean, line level amplified signal. just my opinion. I have a u87 and a pearlman going into a a designs p-1 with a rosetta doing the conversion and my signal couldn't be better with clearity.

[butterfan1]

Originally Posted by teamalkos

you might want to invest in great conversion, because that is going to determine how faithful the recording is to the source. Also, room treatment helps a great deal. I never used to a sm7b, but heard great things. 2 things I would do either conversion or a dedicated great preamp to get a clean, line level amplified signal. just my opinion. I have a u87 and a pearlman going into a a designs p-1 with a rosetta doing the conversion and my signal couldn't be better with clearity.

can you find me the equipment on the internet, having trouble finding ''rosetta''

[DirtyMan]

Sort out your vocal recording space. That is the single biggest improvement you can make

[butterfan1]

Originally Posted by DirtyMan

Sort out your vocal recording space. That is the single biggest improvement you can make

that is not what i ask tho,

[teamalkos]

Originally Posted by butterfan1

can you find me the equipment on the internet, having trouble finding ''rosetta''

go to ebay and type in apogee rosetta 200 or 800. if all you need is 2 channels the 200 would be fine.

Apogee Rosetta 200 A/D D/A 192KHz Converter! NICE! | eBay theres a 2 channel

APOGEE ROSETTA 800 8 CHANNEL 24 BIT 96 & 192 kHZ AD/DA CONVERTER!!!! | eBay theres a 8 channel one

[butterfan1]

Originally Posted by teamalkos

go to ebay and type in apogee rosetta 200 or 800. if all you need is 2 channels the 200 would be fine.

Apogee Rosetta 200 A/D D/A 192KHz Converter! NICE! | eBay theres a 2 channel

APOGEE ROSETTA 800 8 CHANNEL 24 BIT 96 & 192 kHZ AD/DA CONVERTER!!!! | eBay theres a 8 channel one

i blacked out when i seen the price, i dont even know what to say

[teamalkos]

the rosetta is going to give the signal a bit of flava. you have some converters that are real clean and transparent, but the apogee rosetta is going to add that extra little bit of meat you are going to want in the signal. it really is a great converter for the money. I have used plenty of converters but the rosetta is probably my favorite. also you might want to check out the lucid converter. the older models can be had for about 500 bucks on ebay and are pretty good converters. really tho, you want a faithful good conversion to what your mic is picking up. good conversion is like comparing analog television to high def.

[teamalkos]

check out the lucid converter then they can be had 400-500 bucks and are going to be better then whats in your interface. Now, remember you get what you pay for. you spend money on cheap equipment and fight to make it sound good or spend money on good equipment and never have to worry about upgrading. i am perfectlying content in my music quality and don't need to upgrade for a long time. so spending more now cost me less in the long run

[butterfan1]

Originally Posted by teamalkos

check out the lucid converter then they can be had 400-500 bucks and are going to be better then whats in your interface. Now, remember you get what you pay for. you spend money on cheap equipment and fight to make it sound good or spend money on good equipment and never have to worry about upgrading. i am perfectlying content in my music quality and don't need to upgrade for a long time. so spending more now cost me less in the long run

what do you think of the mbox 3?

[Camera]

Mbox is less than mediocre as a converter. Kind if the MP3 of converters IMO.

Even an Apogee Duet will do a better job.

[Led Music]

Just a thought. If you're not into buying quality monitors, you'll find it harder to hear what is actually making the biggest difference in your vocal chain. It'll save u time and frustration in the long run if you can actually hear what you're doing. On a second note,
You could pick up a nice used Neumann TLM49 for around 1000, maybe less. Also pick up an apogee Duet and use a nice software 1176 plugin till u can get the real thing. I'd suggest the softube fet or the waves 1176. Down the line, I'd suggest a nice Channel strip with some character (API, Tube-tech, Universal Audio 6176). For now you'd be surprised what the upgrade I suggested would do to your sound.
As far as your room. There's ways to treat it quite cheap, carpet on the walls, DIY acoustic panels, blankets, reflection filter, etc.
All the best, hope this helps.

[butterfan1]

Originally Posted by Camera

Mbox is less than mediocre as a converter. Kind if the MP3 of converters IMO.

Even an Apogee Duet will do a better job.

isnt the Apogee Duet for mac computers only, i have a windows, but i can get a imac if you recommended highly

[Camera]

I wouldn't recommend to get a Mac just because I said so, even though I'm all Mac.

Getting the Lucid converter would be a good idea. Run it SPDIF into your mbox.

[DirtyMan]

Originally Posted by butterfan1

that is not what i ask tho,

The single greatest thing you can do for your vocals is A BOOTH .. if you want those in your face up front crisp vocals that make you feel like your there your not going to get that in a untreated room no matter what gear you have. If you buy all the half hazard recommendations being thrown at you anybody with a bit of skill and a booth will cut a better set of vox. Acoustic treatment isnt sexy isnt fun and doesn't wow people but there is a reason real studios are built acoustics first. I don't know what kind of voices your recording or the quality your getting now so I like anybody else can't really recommend gear to buy as there's as many well working combos as there are people using them. The only constant is the vocals you hear and love more often than not are recorded in a good sounding booth/space.

[teamalkos]

[QUOTE=DirtyMan;8348174]The single greatest thing you can do for your vocals is A BOOTH .. if you want those in your face up front crisp vocals that make you feel like your there your not going to get that in a untreated room no matter what gear you have. If you buy all the half hazard recommendations being thrown at you anybody with a bit of skill and a booth will cut a better set of vox. Acoustic treatment isnt sexy isnt fun and doesn't wow people but there is a reason real studios are built acoustics first. I don't know what kind of voices your recording or the quality your getting now so I like anybody else can't really recommend gear to buy as there's as many well working combos as there are people using them. The only constant is the vocals you hear and love more often than not are recorded in a good sounding booth/space.[/QUOTE

A booth is good no doubt, BUT I have a booth at my bigger studio and I don't always record there I record at my home which has no booth just some DIY treatment and my vocals are crisp and sound professional. What's the point of recording in a booth with a cheap mic, and crappy converters that is not showing a true representation of the source? I mean you can be in a booth and record when behringer and its not going to sound better then recording with a u47, a api pre in your living room with some DIY acoustic treatments. He needs to get his recording chain correct and treat his room within his budget even if it means DIY treatment like blackets, foam whatever.

The mbox 3 I wouldn't bother with I had one and sent it back the next day wasn't worth the money. your best bet is a nice pre and a good converters to get your music clear because without clarity you won't be happy and it would sound muddy, but you do need to do some type of treatment to your room

[DirtyMan]

I say booth just so to make the point .. since I originally said treatment and the op was said against that .. Some gobos or moving blankets there's lots of options that work well.. agree about the mbox. It's a sidegrade not an upgrade I'd recommend a rme babyface maybe used if the op can find one

[jrhager84]

A booth that isn't expensive and purpose-built is a terrible idea IMO. Might as well record in a shoebox...

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[tdbcarshowking]

Since you already have a decent mic, I would kill 2 birds with one stone and get the API A2D. You get a great Mic Pre and great conversion in one box for about $1500 - $1600 used. You can get a new one for $2000.

With the left over cash, get a used DBX 160x or 160xt for $200 - $300. In my opinion, you need to a decent hardware compressor while tracking to get the most out of your vocals. Some will disagree, but that's what I've experienced.

If you buy used you should be able to get both the pre/converter plus the compressor for about $1700 - $1800. That would be a great setup for the money and can yeild pro results. Room treatment would be the only thing that may hinder your performance after that point

Only problem I see is that your focusrite interface doens't have spdif in, so you would have to ditch that for another interface that has spdif. I would sell it, and look for an interface with spdif and that has relatively low latency. Doesn't matter the quality of the mic pre's or converters here since you will be bypassing them with the API A2D.

[teamalkos]

so how good is the a2d conversion i'm interested in that. but conversion and a preamp for 2000 hmm idk I think tho the a2d will be better then his focusrite and you need to ditch focusrite that does not have spdif or a optical in to bypass their cloudy, muddy conversion.

[tdbcarshowking]

API make top teir gear and there conversion is no exception. The conversion is up there with other pro level converters (ie apogee, lynx, digi hd boxes, etc). The pres are among the best as well. There are plenty of reviews on the unit.

Only downfall is that you only get A/D conversion and not D/A conversion. For the price, it's hard to beat though. It's like buying a great pre and getting a free AD converter that is actually worth something.

I think great conversion is essentional for getting "that sound". For years I skimped on conversion while running top end pre's and mics (1073 dpa, U87) into a digi 002r at the time. I couldn't never get the sound I was hearing on commercial albums. Then I finally picked up a Rosetta 200 and realized it was what I was missing.

Point being, I think you need a good pre and good conversion to get high quality vocals and for $1700 I can't think of another way to get a quality pre and conversion other than the A2D. I also think and good hardware compressor is very helpful if not necessary. Mic's are importand too of course, but there are many inexpensive mics out there that sounds really good.

[teamalkos]

why you ditch the rosetta I love my rosetta it will never leave. I also have aurora, prism, hedd but the rosetta just has a sound to it I cant live without. a underdog converter I used sometimes behringer 24/96 ultramatch. really BANG FOR BUCK