New Mic Setup- Would love to get your feedback on this recording!

[Nirvana5253]

I finally got my "stereo" rig up and going instead of borrowing gear (thanks to many slutz on here and the classifieds!) The setup:

Presonus Firestudio 26x26 running into MBP 2.5Ghz running Logic 9

Pair of Shure KSM137's (cardioid) usually run ORTF (for this example they are)

Pair of Aman's Little Blondies (although mine are sliver - Omni) spaced about 20cm apart

Backup split (run via SPDIF) into an Alesis Masterlink (just the KSM's)

Setup for the session:

mics up about 12 feet above stage - about 10 feet back from front lip (closest i could get) KSM's in ORTF - omni's spaced about 20cm. Recording is raw audio (although it is an mp3 - can link to aif/wav if wanted)

Anyway the long and short of it - would love to get your thoughts on this recording made w/ this setup - be brutal - I'm a college student and am open to criticism good, bad or otherwise, as long as its in the spirit of learning/ helping me hone my skills. Thanks a billion! And sorry for the weird file names - should be pretty obvious which mic's are which! Again - have 24bit 48K wav's if people want them.

P.S. Feel free to add your two cents in on a 600-1K (yes i know that is the "death" range for prices- not so good, not so bad but hey, im a broke ass college student!) dual or quad channel pre (new or used) that would be a good combo for the above mic's

[Nirvana5253]

Is Sleigh Ride that offensive? I mean... its overplayed but c'mon now!


given the views but lack of responses here are the 24bit 48K wav's

KSM137s
http://files.me.com/tduffield/1djnzz.wav

Little Blondies
http://files.me.com/tduffield/as7fdj.wav

[rumleymusic]

I found the Shure's a little harsh. Though the image was better. I think the spacing of 20cm for the Blondies is rather close for an ensemble of this size.

I did like the punch and smoothness of the Blondies, though it does lack some top end. Have you tried a little eq to compensate?

[Nirvana5253]

I did try a bit of EQ and a touch of reverb and it evened things out quite nicely on the blondies. I dig the 137's and agree they're a bit harsh BUT think it is due mainly in part to my distance (probably 20 or 30 feet) from the center of the ensemble. Also, thinking my firestudio may be attributing to that as well (ie. pre's) - a nice pre might help (just speculation of course but i have to justify new gear somehow! )