Hi everyone. Some may remember me as a guy who wanted to record, and then eventually gave up as the money and work may have been too much for me at the time. Well it's not anymore. I have the drive to do this now. Now I have a question for some serious preamps.
Here is what I want to record: Heavy Metal guitars, bass, and vocals. I mean brutal distortion, slap/pop bass, and screaming vocals.
Here is my setup: electric guitar, amplifier, SM57 Microphone, PC with Adobe Audition.
What I believe I need: Preamps! I am looking for some damn good preamps that will record the heavy distortion guitars onto my PC sounding EXACTLY the way they sound out of my amplifier!
I only desire to record one instrument at a time so I am looking for one input with an AWESOME preamp. Could you all please give me your best recomendations based on these plans?
As for price range, well it always helps to spend less, so if you could give your BEST and then your cheaper but still very good version, that would also help. BUT I will save up and borrow if it means perfection or at least darn near it! I await your responses! Thank you!
You're going to want an audio interface to get the sound from the mic to audition on your pc. Most interfaces come with mediocre preamps, but you can't just go from a nice pre straight to your computer. So you can get an interface with okay pres or you can get an interface and also a high quality pre.
Thank you for replying. Alright, then are you suggesting to get a good preamp and audio interface seperately? If so, could you please help me with some suggestions of models and links as I have never gone shopping for this before. I am looking to spend somewhere between $200-$500 if possible.
So If we could go with buying 2 things instead of 1, would the microphone go into the pre amp first, and then the pre amp to the audio interface? Or vice-versa?
So is the $200 - $500 your total budget and if so what do you already have? (mics, headphones, monitors Etc.) If you're starting from scratch I'd say start with something like a presonus Firebox or M-Audio 410. Both are $299 and from casual discussions about what people use they seem to be reliable and overall good performers. They also have two usable pre amps and also have two line inputs for adding external pres later. Then maybe a couple 57s and a set of headphones and you're in the game for about $500. If you already have some mics and monitors and such, the dmp3 seems to be pretty well received around here on the low end. As hard as it was for me to believe when I first started, $500 is but a drop in the bucket of what some great high end gear can cost you. But at this point in the game learning the finer points of mic placement and other solid engineering skills are going to get you alot further than a preamp or any other piece of gear. And alot of that can be found for little to no cost. Hope this helps
My buddy records brutal metal and has yet to have bought the type of pre one "should" have for this genre but still gets good results and their fans don't seem to mind.
ART DPSII.
This one would also be worth consideration.
You may want to save up a few dollars more for a SM7b, which excels on rock vocals and guitars.
Posts: 1825 | Location: North Vancouver, Canada | Registered:: 03-01-04
I think for your budget this is where you should look at http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Konnekt24D/
Yeah I almost bought that one myself and it was my first thought for a recomendation here but than I thought I remembered a thread or two about driver issues. But it looks pretty sweet especially with the effects and being able to chain them together.
Good luck getting it to sound EXACTLY like it does coming out of your amp with an SM57. You will get it to sound good, but not exactly like your amp sound (which is true to some degree with any mic).
Well yeah, and I'm happy with what I have at the moment, but I just wasn't comfortable recomending since the driver thing was all I remembered hearing about it. BTW is your bat wood or metal?
Originally posted by craigmorris74: Good luck getting it to sound EXACTLY like it does coming out of your amp with an SM57. You will get it to sound good, but not exactly like your amp sound (which is true to some degree with any mic).
Hate to be Buzz Killington but I agree here. Also must say $200-500 is well short of what it takes to get an AWESOME preamp. Wish it could as I'd be a richer person, but it doesn't. You may also find very quickly that recording brutal distortion is trickier than it would seem and nigh impossible to get it to sound recorded exactly as it does in the room. These cats are also right that you'll need some sort of analog-to-digital interface between your pre and computer. Some boxes have a pre and AD interface built in together but they don't start getting awesome until several times your budget. Don't mean to curb your enthusiasm or anything and I don't have any preamp suggestions in your budget but wanted to give you a heads up on some obstacles you may face. Best of luck in your recording! It can be stressful but it's pretty fun too!
__________________________________ Because I felt like it, you stupid machine.
Originally posted by LanceP: BTW is your bat wood or metal?
Metal.
+1 to dirtyragamuffin's comment. If your brutal distortion is what I think it is I'd think of having a ribbon & some more open dynamic microphone than 57. After all this all adds up to thousands of dollars unfortunately.
BTW just a few minutes ago I was tracking Ubershall with crazy amount of distorion - SM7b with Joly modified ribbon made me very happy.
Just a suggestion, but if you want great guitar sounds, especially heavy distortion think about trying a DamageControl pedal and record direct and forget about miking an amp. I know this isn't the norm but if you try one you will probably be blown away. I love mine for direct recording.
Thanks for the heads up guys. I understand I won't get perfection and am really just looking for a "good" sound. I will even settle for a demo type of recording, but would like it to be considered at least decent to listeners. Ok, I have some more specific questions now.
Is it possible to connect a pre amp to an audio interface to a PC? How do I do this? Here is what I am considering as a setup. A better pre amp to connect with a cheaper audio interface. Please tell me what you think!
Yes, but I'm going to share some of my experience. When I first started out I bought a bunch of crap. I didn't know any better and I didn't there were forums where I could ask my stupid questions and people would actually answer them without calling me an idiot. The problems was that the crap I bought has to be completely replaced meaning it wasn't crap that I could grow with. So I would say try to get something you can grow with. The interfaces Nbarts and I recomended all come with two preamps plus two line input so you can use external preamps if and when you get them. They also have digital inputs so later, if you decide to get a higher quality external a/d/a converter you can still use the same interface. In other words it can grow with you without needing to be replaced the first time you want to upgrade. Which you probably will. They are also about the same cost as the combo you're looking at. I don't know how the preamps in them compare with the DMP3 But at where you seem to be starting from I don't think they will be your barrier yet. I just want to help you avoid some of the WTF was I thinking moments I've had so there's my two cents.
Thank you, LanceP, but I will not mind buying new equipment at a time that I wish to upgrade. I definately hear you on the "WTF was I thinking" moments, but in this case, what I am looking for right now is something decent, cheap, and easy - sort of like an intro-demonstration of a basic way a recording can be done. The Konnekt24D sounds interesting, but I have read far too many negative reviews regarding its ease of use, or lack there of. Since this will be my first recording, I am not looking to try out something with greater risks of hassle. I am looking for a surefire workable recording. Doesn't have to be great, just doable.
So this setup can work for a PC? Could you tell me how exactly? As in what plugs into what? I am new to this, but can follow directions well.
Just follow the instructions that come with the interface for installing drivers and hooking up the usb cable. Once the interface is installed just hook up the outputs from the DMP3 to the line inputs of your interface.
quote:
Thank you, LanceP, but I will not mind buying new equipment at a time that I wish to upgrade.
The idea is to get the most milage out of every purchase. A firebox or 410 will stay useful for a long time. If you save up and buy a really nice pre you can just plug it into the extra line inputs and double your availlable channels. Decide you want better a/d/a conversion? Grab external two channel converter and plug it into the digital inputs. What about recording with someone else or recording a project for a friend? The 410 has two headphone outputs or you can get a cheap headphone amp and use the multiple outputs. What I'm saying is that none of those things are possible with the interface you're looking at. So, to do any of it you'll first need to make a duplicate purchase and buy another interface. With the combo you're looking at you'll save $10.02 but but you will limit your options considerably down the road. As far as hassle I'd say that with the 410 or firebox you'll no more and possibly less hassle that the usb box. But then I'm a little biased because I've never heard anything good about usb. Not trying to work you over or anything it's just that it's been four years and I'm still kicking myself for some of the crap that I bought.
Like I said, wanting to change further down the road will not bother me. I know that I'm not going to be recording with this my whole life. I just want to know if this is good for me right now. A musician who just wants to record a CD to give to fans.
Please tell me what you think about these setups and which do you think is best for just recording a miced distortion guitar amp???
A. M-Audio DMP3 >>> E-MU 0202 >>> PC
B. The Brick >>> E-MU 0202 >>> PC
C. E-MU 0404 >>> PC
I'm going to make a purchase very soon, so please tell me your thoughts.
Well, I don't record brutal distortion but just starting out I'd say that mic selection and more importantly mic placement will have more impact on the sound you get. So I would go with the 0404 since you can add a better preamp later.
Thank you LanceP. I think I will do this. I have one final question though, if you don't mind. If I added an external preamp from A or B to the 0404, would this be a good thing? or would the external pre amp overpower the one in the 0404 and butcher the sound?
have for this genre but still gets good results and their fans don't seem to mind.
Metal.
