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Good, cheapish preamp (sorry if this is wrong section)


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Hi there

 

I'm still new to all this and need advice on a preamp.

 

All I need is a reliable, decent sounding preamp for recording one electro-acoustic guitar, and vocals. I already have my vocal mic, and can DI or mic up the guitar, just need a reliable, and preferably fairly cheap preamp to hook up to Logic.

 

Help please? Thanks

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Hi there

 

I'm still new to all this and need advice on a preamp.

 

All I need is a reliable, decent sounding preamp for recording one electro-acoustic guitar, and vocals. I already have my vocal mic, and can DI or mic up the guitar, just need a reliable, and preferably fairly cheap preamp to hook up to Logic.

 

Help please? Thanks

 

http://www.ninesixthreeproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/IMG_13922-300x225.jpg

 

Here is a 'cheap' one. Online for like $30 and it has a tube too! :shock:

 

You are better off getting a floor mat for your front door, it will serve a better purpose than a 'cheap' pre-amp.

 

What guitar? What Vocal mc? What sound are you going for?

 

One way is :

 

 

 

Another way is:

 

>

 

 

If you or I could play like that, it wouldn't matter what we recorded with, now would it?

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dont waste your money!!! when it comes to preamps you need at least a grand for a decent one, on the mean time the pres on an apogee duet or the new rme baby face are great, and you use logics pluggings with those the resolts are really good!! thats what i think!!
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Thanks for the replies guys.. I'll try and answer as best I can.

 

The reason I say cheap, is that being 20 and only just graduating from uni, $500 is A LOT of money that I don't really have :/ if that's really the cheapest way to get a half decent sound then I'll have to go for it... Although I'd eventually love to be producing professional sounding stuff, all I want a decent pre-amp for at the moment is to record a vocal track, and several acoustic guitar tracks. I've been writing some songs with a singer and just want them recorded so they sound good enough. Not necessarily sounding like they've been done in a £5,000 a minute studio, but just good enough. I have an SM-58 (again, cheap!) mic, and a yamaha APX500 electro-acoustic, and want a way of recording into logic so it doesn't sound horrible like it does now.

 

Thanks again.

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Thanks for the replies guys.. I'll try and answer as best I can.

 

The reason I say cheap, is that being 20 and only just graduating from uni, ...blah, blah, blah...

 

Thanks again.

 

In your predicament, you can try a 'cheap' mixer:

 

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/1202.aspx

 

This should give you the oomph you need to beef up the guitar and/or vocals. Don't over do the the EQ because you will be destructively recording and it won't be so easy to remove.

 

 

Next, experiment with Logic's very own vocal/guitar presets. Leave the one you choose as is and add an extra compressor insert as the last insert of that vocal/guitar channel strip.

 

Experiment ...

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Been researching a little bit more and found an apogee duet for £250 (which is just about ok budget wise :/)

 

Suitable for giving guitar/vocal tracks a volume boost, so I can then EQ in logic and end up with a half decent track?

 

Thanks

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For entry-level interfaces, the Duet is probably the best you can get, but yeah, you'll be paying for it as well.

 

It's not just about boosting the sound. There are a few other stops the audio needs to make on its way into your DAW if you want it to sound "clean," and audio interfaces are basically one-stop shops for most if not all those steps. DI-ing (and I wouldn't be surprised if I'm the only one that says that) your audio into Logic may help reduce noise, but you'll still be using poor A/D conversion.

 

If you really want a "half decent" sound, invest in an audio interface (this all again on the assumption you don't yet have one). Then go from there. triplets can give recommendations on less-costly but still good-quality interfaces.

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For entry-level interfaces, the Duet is probably the best you can get, but yeah, you'll be paying for it as well.

 

It's not just about boosting the sound. There are a few other stops the audio needs to make on its way into your DAW if you want it to sound "clean," and audio interfaces are basically one-stop shops for most if not all those steps. DI-ing (and I wouldn't be surprised if I'm the only one that says that) your audio into Logic may help reduce noise, but you'll still be using poor A/D conversion.

 

If you really want a "half decent" sound, invest in an audio interface (this all again on the assumption you don't yet have one). Then go from there. triplets can give recommendations on less-costly but still good-quality interfaces.

 

So forgive me for sounding really stupid here, but what would something like apogee ensemble (which is the interface I looked at on their site when I looked at the duet) do that the duet wouldnt? Just say I didn't DI the guitar with the duet, and instead used the vocal mic I'll be using to record guitar, then touched everything up using the EQ in logic? I appreciate one of the interfaces you're referring to are a couple of thousand more than the duet, but is the difference in quality from recording into an SM-58 using the duet and from using a more expensive interface really that great? Especially as the guy in that video said that he records artists using just an SM-7 into the duet...

 

sorry for all the questions, just a newbie making sure I don't part with money I don't need to!

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If you wanna start recording, the Ensemble is overkill in my opinion. Duet is plenty.

An SM-58 is not the best option for recording a guitar, it's a vocal mic for the stage. Get an SM-57 for the guitar.

For recording vocals in the studio, a condenser mic is a better option, like a Shure KSM27.

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If you wanna start recording, the Ensemble is overkill in my opinion. Duet is plenty.

An SM-58 is not the best option for recording a guitar, it's a vocal mic for the stage. Get an SM-57 for the guitar.

For recording vocals in the studio, a condenser mic is a better option, like a Shure KSM27.

 

I find the 57 and 58 to be extremely similar sounding. For recording purposes, I can't think of any major drawbacks to using a 58 in a situation where one would normally use a 57, except for looking a little funny because it has the round windscreen on it. Have you run into issues using SM58s on instruments?

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58 for vocals and 57 for instruments was always my understanding as well.. but having recorded my acoustic into both in the past I didnt see enough of a difference to get both.

Thanks for the advice triplets, I'll order the duet for my imac tonight. A condenser mic shouldn't be a problem either.. got a rode kicking about somewhere I think

 

Thanks a lot

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58 is a 57 with a piece of foam and a grill in front. Take your 58, unscrew the ball and you have a 57.

 

FWIW many famous singers have used a 57 to record vocals on some major albums. Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Madonna, Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) and Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones) come to mind.

 

A 57 (or 58 without the ball) allows you to get a bit closer to the diaphragm, which changes the sound a lot. I've often unscrewed the ball on my 58 to record vocals.

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