nobrainer440

Depending on your budget, the Samson C02's are a great buy.

.....outerspace... -LIMiT ... if it had air.

out in a big open field with nothing to reflect off of for miles......right???? Nope. On a pedestal, high in the air, so you don't get those nasty ground reflections. Oh, and only your ears should be allowed near the mixing area. Your body will totally ruin the acoustics.

Native Instruments Battery. $200. Or $100 if you're a student or teacher.

Originally posted by gsHarmony The cheapest I can find is $300. I know someone interested in the firebox, so if you know of a place selling it for $250, please let me know. If you live near a guitar center, you can haggle them down to about $250.

A firebox for $150 would be a steal, but $250 is easy to find, and still an outstanding value.

Originally posted by where02190 You either have very {censored}ty monitors or terrible hearing then. MP3 at any bitrate is very obviously inferior to CD audio to me. I'll admit my ears are not the best, but I would bet less than 1 in 20 people could tell the difference between a well-encoded VBR 192 kbps MP3 and a CD.

I like 192 kbps for MP3's. At that rate, I can't really tell the difference between MP3 and CD.

Originally posted by heisleyamor So what are some good vocal condensors you recommend? Around 100 - 300 (including ebay) Studio Projects B1 Audio-Technica AT2020 Rode NT-1

My studio is in my bedroom, and my DAW is my computer, where all my music is so... erm... YES! Several hours every day. And while I notice most other systems don't sound as good, I can usually still enjoy music on them. edit: Wow, that looks really snobby when I read it. Sorry.

Depends on your defenition of "really really loud." Most condenser mics can handle up to 120dB or so, which is pretty darn loud. Many amps however, can be louder than this at 1 inch. So, unless you know the SPL at the distance you intend to place the mic and the maximum SPL your particular mic will handle, there really is no definite answer. If it's too loud, turn it down or back the mic off, or turn the mic off axis. As far as a pop filter goes, I would not think you'd need one, but try it with and without, and see which you like better. With miking guitar cabs, it's all about experimentation.

Originally posted by gsHarmony Also, how loud is the signal you are compressing? If it is very soft, then even a threshold of -30db may not trigger the compressor. Unlikely, but it is a possibility. The signal is not super hot, probably peaks around -6db or so, but I can see the gain reduction lights come on on the compressor, so it is triggering. Originally posted by mindcycle Can you give us a rundown of what's in your signal chain? What kind of compressor are you using? Hardware, software? What are you recording? I have tried it on vocals and on bass, and I can hear it a little better on bass. Vocals through a large diaphragm condenser into the pre's on my presonus firebox, bass direct in. I am using VST software compressors in Cubase: Kjaerhus Classic Compressor, and Blockfish. I find blockfish harder to detect. edit: Been playing with it some more, and I am getting to the point where I can tell the difference on bass pretty well. Vocals, I'm still worthless.

Originally posted by Picker Compression (unless used in the extreme) should not be very noticible. Well, that's good to hear. I guess I'm just wondering how to set the compressor if I can't hear what it's doing. Anything less than extreme settings I can't tell the difference.

I can't hear compression for the life of me. The only way I can tell if something is compressed is when it is totally squashed. If the threshold is at -30dB and the ratio is at infinity, I can hear it. In fact, even then I dont really hear it so much as feel it in my head. It's disorienting, like my head is being squashed. But if you back off a teeny bit on the ratio and raise the threshold to -15 or -12, I couldn't tell you if it was on or bypassed to save my life. Even watching the gain reduction lights, I cant hear it. Drums, bass, vocals, no matter what the source. Anyone else have this problem?