version 3.0

as high as you can go. 128 is standard. i prefer at least 192kbps for all my music because i can barely notice 192 from 320, and the files are way smaller.

Originally posted by Ronan Murphy The devil is not in the details. Its quite blunt. you need a real amp. Good amp, decent mic and pre. That's pretty much it. not really. i mean it helps a bunch. but with guitars, placement is a major issue.

lot of useful information. thanks a lot of extra crap in it too though.

i would definately check out the MXL V69. i have a MXL V69me. its a VERY nice mic for the price. for $300 you get the mic, the psu, a shockmount, and 2 mogami cables. for the frequency response, just do a search if its important to you. as far as sound quality. it is very good for quiet to medium level sounds, picks up loud sounds pretty well but doesnt excel at it (ive done everything from whispering into it to screaming to recording piano to recording overheads to micing guitar amps!). the tube does a good job of warming up the sound, but i recommend changing the tube with a matched triode JJ ECC81 (Euro-Tubes), for smoother mids and less microphonics. like i said before this is a very good mic for the price, a lot of engineers have a/b 'ed this mic with much more expensive mics and preferred this one overall. as far as ruggedness. lets just say this is a tube mic and it has accidently dropped before when i used it as an overhead and stupidly forgot how heavy it was and it hit the hard wood floor. only a small dent in the grill. no mic damage, no tube damage. i have had it over a year so far, NO PROBLEMS!!! i would defiantely recommend this mic for ANY home studio owner with a smaller budget who still demands quality. one thing to note however, this mic is very good at warming up female vocals, and higher (not neccesarrily thinner) male voices like mine, but might be a little aggressive with a bassy male voice. nothing a little eq cant help though around 125-250hz.