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Cách trồng và chăm sóc hoa đỗ quyên


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I record on a Tascam 2488neo and have been posting questions on a couple of forums about using compression to reduce vocal spikes. Two questions for you:

 

1. I've gotten a lot of comments, and the advice has been pretty consistent overall. The one area where folks don't quite line up is the question of whether a budget mic preamp/compressor would be a good investment. I've been looking at the ART Tube MP/C. It's within my budget and gets pretty good reviews. But some folks have warned me that units under $100 just don't sound good.

 

So: Can it help my vocal tracks, or is it a waste of money?

 

The ART Tube MP (I haven't tried the MP/C) isn't a preamp I'd personally want to use as my only preamp, or to stack a lot of tracks with... but a lot of people like to use it to add a bit of color and grit to some of the tracks they record; using it as an alternative sound to the usually-cleaner and more neutral sounding preamps found in most budget gear. On a tight budget, I think it is fine for that purpose - just don't expect it to sound as cool as a higher-end mic pre / compressor, such as a UA LA-610.

 

I'm not familiar with the mic preamps in the 2488neo so I can't make any direct comparisons there either, but I have tested a lot of equipment and I have a decent idea of what you'd typically expect to find in similar products. It's just one guy's opinion, but I wouldn't expect the tracks cut with a ART MP/C to necessarily sound "better" than the preamps found in most budget gear being made in the past few years; it's more a matter of "different" than better or worse, although the opto compressor in the Tube MP/C does give you the ability to apply compression, which is something your current recorder seems to not support...

 

2. The compression section of the Tascam just doesn't seem to do anything. The spikes don't change no matter where I set the on-screen dials. How likely is it that the Tascam's compressor simply doesn't work?

 

Thanks!

 

Since I've never used a 2488neo, I went looking for the manual...

 

https://www.tascam.eu/en/docs/2488neo_Manual.pdf

 

And looking at the TOC and then the diagram on page 99, it appears that the compressor isn't part of the input or playback channel for individual tracks, but rather, a mastering / stereo buss compressor that you'd apply to the final mix. It's not something that can be assigned to individual tracks. So no, if I'm reading this right (and I admit that I only gave it a brief look...) the compressor wouldn't do anything for you or reduce peaks while tracking a vocal.

 

Try this: dial up the fastest attack and release times, as well as the highest ratio the compressor allows (10:1, 20:1, infinity:1 or whatever... the higher, the better) then set the threshold to 0dB, hit play on a song that has a mix of tracks recorded on it, and continue to lower the threshold below 0dB (to -5db, -10db, -15db, etc....) while you listen - once the threshold gets low enough, you should hear the whole mix start to be affected by the compressor. If not, then I'd be pretty surprised - that's an extreme compression setting, so the effects on the mix should be pretty easily audible.

 

An outboard compressor with an external mic preamp would be the way to go if you want to apply compression to your tracks, so you're definitely thinking along the right lines by looking at a "channel strip" like the Tube MP/C that has both in it. You could also use a separate mic preamp and compressor too. Either way, you won't be able to "undo" the results or change the compression once the tracks are recorded, but as long as you go easy with the compression and don't overdo it, you should be fine.

 

One more thing - I believe the 2488neo has insert points on its inputs - if that's true, opting for a separate mic preamp and compressor would allow you to use the compressor along with the TASCAM mic preamps in the 2488neo; then you'd have the ability to select between two different preamp "flavors"; I don't think that the mic preamp and compressor in the ART Tube MP/C can be used individually, so you won't be able to use just the compressor side of it along with the TASCAM's preamps.

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Since OP is using a stand-alone device, out-board is the way to go.

 

Unfortunately, I've been using DAW's. I have two fine outboard boxes which are basically unusable - at least at my level of skill.

 

So I learned the hard way that outboard is not for me anymore.

 

I have an FMR RNC & a JoeMeek MC3. Both are nice compressors. I haven't found a way to fit either one into the chain. It's much easier to use the software compressors inside the DAW.

 

I don't even get good results using them w/ pedals & guitar.

 

No - my mixer doesn't have inserts. That was my

first stupid mistake.

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Considering you are using a hardware recorder/mixer, then you have no choice but to use hardware compression if you don't like what the Tascam is giving you. I would not worry so much about "spikes" which sounds like transient stuff. When I mix records, the compression I'm using the vast majority of the time is slow enough to let transient spikes through anyway for the most part. I think that box has a send/return, which you COULD use as a somewhat clunky, but effective, insert point. But I think there's only two or something, and like I said, it would be clunky. So compression on the way in is the way I'd use it.

 

As for the preamp; I've never used the one you are referring to. I do have an ART TubeMP sitting around in a box somewhere in the studio for emergency purposes. I haven't pulled it out in years. Is it likely better than the stock preamps on the Tascam? Probably. Will it be noticeably better? Probably not a ton. If you are seriously cash strapped, then I would probably go for it. But if you can save up a few hundred over the next 6 months, then I would wait and find something better.

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