Microphone preamp combination

[yonkolai]

Is this the minefield it appears to be? I am looking for combination I can take with me to any session for vocals. Versatility is important, due to the potential variety of voices I may come across (not having the money for many different mics and preamps). When warmth is an issue, is it better to come from the preamp, or the microphone? I am looking at mid-priced to high-end products. Oh, also what are some of the known mic/preamp combinations that do the business. Any help would be much appreciated. Ta!

[terminal3]

Originally Posted by yonkolai

Is this the minefield it appears to be? I am looking for combination I can take with me to any session for vocals. Versatility is important, due to the potential variety of voices I may come across (not having the money for many different mics and preamps). When warmth is an issue, is it better to come from the preamp, or the microphone? I am looking at mid-priced to high-end products. Ta!

As far as the signal chain goes, both are important, I will argue that the mic is more important than the pre however.

For warmth, well, this is a minefield too - I'd say get the warmth from the mic. You could try a tube pre but I find they add too much noise to voice to be as useful as a quality solid state design. That's just one opinion, of course, and if it were electric guitars or bass or other things you were recording my song would change.

You can also dial-in the warmth in post, either through outboard eq/compression or even gentle & clever use of high-quality plug-ins.

If money is no object, you should probably have your eye on a Neumann U87, and on the pre side, possible something by Neve or Rupert Neve Designs.

If you want mid-range compromises, though, well, I'm an expert on those, because I have neither of the above recommended mics.

I think if I wanted to do a single-channel "budget" compromise I'd look at an AKG 414 and either a Neve Portico pre (or pre+EQ, if you want that channelstrip flexibility), or maybe a Great River pre, or others... SSL, DAV Electronics, Sytek, Universal Audio and many others all make mic amps which are damn good for the money.

And although I haven't heard it yet, the Focusrite ISA One might indeed be a great portable solution, too - the Focusrite mic amps are noted actually not for their warmth, but for their honesty - they're a bit 'bland' compared to other pres but this is not to their detriment at all, it means you can shape the sound with the mic and with the channel processing instead. So if nothing else, they're 'accurate.'

The U87 and the 414 are probably the two most versatile LDC mics on the market, they both work on an incredible variety of sources and provide quality results.

[Dave Boulden]

Maybe it's lower budget than you are aiming for, but I get excellent results from my Focusrite VoiceMaster Platinum Pro:

Focusrite Voicemaster Pro + ADC Board at DV247.COM

I have the ADC card option for digital hookup to my DM3200 and then straight into the DAW. It also takes Wordclock (I use it to sync it from the WC gen in my DM3200 alongside a Focusrite OcroPre, and Behringer Bass V-Amp and ADA8000 ADAT preamps).

It has a really good selection of intuitive controls covering dynamics, EQ, harmonics, tube warmth and a de-esser. It is definitely aimed squarely at recording vocals, though I also get very good results using it to DI bass and guitar. I have found that since getting it, the vocal takes just seem to "sit" in the mix much more natrurally and with less effort at the mixing stage.

[terminal3]

To be fair Dave, that's a good idea for a project studio but if he's looking at mid-to-high end the Platinum stuff just doesn't cut it. The preamps have a reasonable overall (inoffensive!) sound but they're a bit brittle and have almost no headroom. With the exception of maybe the Compounder, you'll see very little if any Platinum stuff gracing the racks of any high-end studio. And the big problem is, the better the mic, the more audible the deficiencies in the preamp. I hate to sound elitist (moreso! ) but the moment he walked into a pro studio with a Platinum box under his arm he'd lose a lot of cred with the engineers there, justifiably or not.

I'm not knocking it for it's price, of course, you can do far worse at the low end of the market, it's just for the OP's application I would strongly disagree with that as a possibility. YMMV of course.

(and if anyone's keeping score, the "midrange" with Focusrite is the ISA stuff, the "high-end" is the Red stuff, from a market segment perspective, but the ISA stuff can compete with the best!!)

[Dave Boulden]

Originally Posted by terminal3

To be fair Dave, that's a good idea for a project studio but if he's looking at mid-to-high end the Platinum stuff just doesn't cut it.

No worries, I tend to agree with you, hence the "lower budget" caveat. My experince is using it in conjuction with Rode NT2a and Golden Age R1ActiveMkII microphones.. both of which, whilst being great mics, are firmly in the project studio price range... I can't quite stretch to a U87 just yet

Also, Yonkolai is a little bit vague about his reference point for what is "mid" and "high-end" for his application.

[terminal3]

Originally Posted by Dave Boulden

Also, Yonkolai is a little bit vague about his reference point for what is "mid" and "high-end" for his application.

Indeed true - I remember when I started with this stuff - people snickered at what (at the time) I thought was "high-end."

Experience is the best teacher, though, and eventually you realise that in fact you can spend almost -any- amount of money on gear and still need more.

[Dave Boulden]

Oh... it never takes more than a few moments of drooling over spec sheets to "justify" the next purchase

[Mansa]

For the pre check out the Universal Audio Twin-finity - Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity Mic/Line Preamp & at DV247.COM

Allows you to blend between solid state and tube! Nice!

Or check out the Summit Audio 2BA-221 - Summit Audio 2BA-221 Variable Impedence Microphone at DV247.COM

It's got two seperate outs - one for the solid state path and one for the tube'd. Also nice!

[yonkolai]

Thanks Terminal 3, Dave and Mansa. The Neumann U87 is one I have been interested in. It must have classic status for good reason. The versatility aspect of it together with the quality sways me. However, I hear good things about it's little sister the Neumann TLM103. I know it hasn't got the polar patterns of the AKG 414, but a Neumann at that price. Can it sonically compare to the U87?

Preamp wise I am still unsure. It seems the Focusrite Liquid can be an ultimate solution. Can convolution replace the real thing? Universal Audio, Neve, SSL, Focusrite, etc., where does it end? I guess auditioning is the way forward. Maybe buy the mic (as my choice seems easier and it is first in the signal chain) then see what preamp sonically fits.

Yes I intend to be taken seriously. Not that I want to rely on the wow factor of my gear, but that I know I can use that gear to ultimately wow with its results. I do see what's in a name has a certain gravity to it. I just hope this doesn't blinker me to neglecting other candidates I may consider.

To answer the question of mid and high priced gear. £1500 up to £2500 combined. So I am not talking statospheric priced products. So the high prices I am talking about would be more accurately described as mid/high prices.

[terminal3]

The TLM103 isn't worth consideration IMO. Go big or go home - the U87 works on everything, every time!

Ahhh, the Liquid Channel. Suggest you do a few more general internet searches, it has its share of fans, but also its share of detractors. And I think it would be very important to hear one in person. Certainly it will be a bit of a swiss-army-knife when it comes to the preamp department, but whether said knife is sharp enough for you remains to be seen.

Here's a wacky suggestion. What about an SSL Mynx?

You buy the chassis:

SSL Mynx Mini Desktop Box at DV247.COM

And then you can mix n' match modules:

Search for ssl xrack at DV247.COM

This is similar to the 500-series ("Lunchbox") arrangement but specific to SSL. Maybe a Lunchbox isn't out of the question either, it's nicely portable and you can fill it with API goodies if you want some seriou colour.

I'm a fan of getting as clean a front-end signal as possible and then colouring in the mix, so that's why the SSL solution came to mind first. I'd get this for a pre: SSL XLogic XRack Mic Amp Module / Mic Pre at DV247.COM and then you can get either EQ, dynamics or another pre channel to fill the other slot. Or buy a bunch and use 'em as needed.

Hope all that rambling helps somewhat!

[gzweb]

Originally Posted by Mansa

For the pre check out the Universal Audio Twin-finity - Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity Mic/Line Preamp & at DV247.COM

Allows you to blend between solid state and tube! Nice!

Or check out the Summit Audio 2BA-221 - Summit Audio 2BA-221 Variable Impedence Microphone at DV247.COM

It's got two seperate outs - one for the solid state path and one for the tube'd. Also nice!

That Summit Audio thingy is quite interesting, with the two outs! (Have replaced the web image with a better one just now...)