Members ArrMatey Posted August 31, 2005 Members Share Posted August 31, 2005 I have a budget of about 400 dollars. I can either get an se2200 or an ADK A51S Type V. The next issue I have is to get a good preamp/compressor since I need mostly a good compressor but with a preamp better than a Digi001. I thought about a joe meek vc3q but I heard about the fact that they make the recordings sound a bit too processed. How true is that? And how about these choices of mic? I can get them each for about 100 GBP (eqv to about 190 dollars). Thanks for any constructive input Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Daniel Smart Posted August 31, 2005 Members Share Posted August 31, 2005 Impossible to help without any information. What do you want to do, what sources do you want to record, what do you currently have, what sort of style music are you into, what have you heard that sounds good to you? As far as compressor goes, what recording setup have you got? Are you sure you really need a hardware comp? -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members where02190 Posted August 31, 2005 Members Share Posted August 31, 2005 Do you really NEED any fo these items? More than people in the wake of Katrina need food and water? A donation to disaster relief could do alot more good than a new mic.... Food for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bob Keelan Posted August 31, 2005 Members Share Posted August 31, 2005 Sort of along where's line.... if you don't know what you need, don't go looking for something. What you need will become apparent soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ArrMatey Posted September 1, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2005 what i need is to record these things (sorry about this):Accoustic guitarVocalsElectric Guitars I don't plan on doing ultimate recording quality stuff but something decent so that at least accoustic and vocals can be "covered easily". For the electric guitars, I know the digi 001 will do fine for a good start with an sm57 but I've experimented at school with sm57 + condenser and I like the sound of condensers on guitar cabs (if they can withstand it) so yeah that's what I plan on recording mainly with that stuff. Sorry about the lack of info, I must have been thinking about other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ArrMatey Posted September 1, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2005 And to the person who said about my funding about the hurricane, I was planning on getting more expensive stuff but the rest of the money went to donations so I have that much left for a smaller yet more honorable setup. I only visited that city once and I love its people so I know they are in dire need of help, just because the president can't do his job and once again, it's us people who have to purvey for our friends, even if we're accross the pond! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members where02190 Posted September 1, 2005 Members Share Posted September 1, 2005 Consider a converter/preamp. The 001 pres are OK, but the converters totally suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 1, 2005 Share Posted September 1, 2005 Originally posted by ArrMatey And to the person who said about my funding about the hurricane, I was planning on getting more expensive stuff but the rest of the money went to donations so I have that much left for a smaller yet more honorable setup. I only visited that city once and I love its people so I know they are in dire need of help, just because the president can't do his job and once again, it's us people who have to purvey for our friends, even if we're accross the pond! Bless you for that! As far as what you should get, it's a tough call. If you're generally happy with the preamps and converters in the Digi 001 (and many pros are not that impressed with them, but you CAN do decent recordings with them ), then IMO, you should look around for a used AKG C-414 or a Rode NTK. Both are good quality condenser mics that can withstand the sonic blast from a electric guitar amp and can also serve well as vocal mics and acoustic guitar mics. As far as the SE 2200 or an ADK A51S Type V, I have not tried either one yet. I did try (and reviewed in EQ Magazine) the SE 3300-A, which is the LD condenser model directly above the 2200 in the SE lineup, and was generally pleased with it as a all around / multipurpose LD condenser mic. I'm not sure what they go for in the UK, but in the US, it's probably just a tad above your stated budget cap. The VC3Q isn't a bad preamp - I've got two of them. The pre is a bit noisy, and the EQ isn't the most flexible on the planet, and the compression isn't super easy to get the hang of, but you can get some cool sounds with it on guitars. But IMO, the newer Joemeek ThreeQ is a better unit all around. If you're looking for other options insofar as mic preamps and compressors, you can look into a used Presonus MP20 - especially if you can find one with the Jensen transformers in it, which I personally prefer. The FMR RNP two channel preamp is also an excellent affordable preamp, but a bit over your budget point. Really good converters for your system are probably past your budget point anyway, but down the line, that might be something you might want to look into as a future upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kylen Posted September 1, 2005 Members Share Posted September 1, 2005 Originally posted by where02190 Do you really NEED any fo these items? More than people in the wake of Katrina need food and water? A donation to disaster relief could do alot more good than a new mic.... Food for thought. I just watched the news, I like this idea... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seaneldon Posted September 1, 2005 Members Share Posted September 1, 2005 buy The Brick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eric Dahlberg Posted September 1, 2005 Members Share Posted September 1, 2005 I'm personally not a fan of the ADK or SE mics (save for the SE Titan) but, at $190, you really couldn't go wrong with either one. For a preamp, Rane's MS-1b has the same noise specs as the Grace 101 yet only costs $149 in the US. It's a neutral sounding preamp, you'd want to go for something like a Groove Tubes Brick if you want a little more color. M-Audio's TAMPA will give you a decent preamp, an optical compressor, & a converter all-in-one, & there are some new Joe Meek channel strips coming out that have converters built-in. The new Joe Meek stuff uses Burr Brown op amps, meaning the character will be different than older Joe Meek pre's but there will also be less noise. Phil, FYI, the Burr Brown op amp made a bigger difference in those older MP20's than the Jensen transformers did, at least to my ears. The new MP20's still have transformer balanced inputs, it's just a custom-made transformer now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seaneldon Posted September 2, 2005 Members Share Posted September 2, 2005 people who don't like the ADK mics have probably only heard the really really inexpensive ones. The "Vintage Valve" (A48 I believe...) and the more top-of-the-company's-line Area 51 mics are right up there in build quality and performance with gear that sells for twice as much. For example, I got the Area 51 Commemorative Edition (ADK's flagship and most expensive microphone) and haven't even been able to listen to my Neumann M147 ever since, and that's been like 5 months now. A51CE was about a grand and has 9 polar patterns, M147 was more than $2k and is cardioid only. It doesn't matter what preamp or eq section I use, the ADK is so much more detailed in every frequency and position than the M147, which I now feel is sort of a tube TLM103 without the disgusting mud sound in the mids and lows. The A48 mic I borrowed was quite the colorful little bugger, probably due to the 12AX7s' grittier sound than other mic tubes. I'm a fan of ADK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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