Help with Computer Recording setup

[stolly3]

Well, I have been toying around with recording on my computer for a few months now. I have decided that I want to get a condenser mic with a preamp and use that for the vocals. I have been recording my guitar through an adapter that goes into the mic input. My main question is, Will the quality of all my recording be much better if I go through a USB device? Also, is there any good condensor mics and preamps that are fairly cheap?

[bigbuda]

Going through a USB device would give you better quality than the mic input on your PC. I bought a soundblaster 24bit soundcard at wal-mart for 30 dollars so I wouldn't have to use my mic input. It has a direct line in and it is a cheap upgrade. What type of USB device are you looking to record with?

[stolly3]

I was planning on getting the m-audio mobilepre interface. I can get one for around 100 and it serves as a preamp and a usb interface in one.

[bigbuda]

that's a pretty good buy. I'd do it. do it.

[stolly3]

will i still need to buy a better sound card?

[bigbuda]

You shouldn't need a better sound card since it is a USB reocrding device. All your audio should run through the USB device.

[stolly3]

Thanks for your help, I have one more question tho. Will my vocals sound good using a condensor and that preamp? I was thinking about getting a berginger tube preamp thing but I would still need the interface to run into the computer.

[bigbuda]

You can record it through the M-Audio and then add soundFX with your software. Test it out and if you think you still need the preamp and you got da cash to get it, then do.
It would probably sound better with the Berhinger though. If the preamp has real tubes then it would surely sound better. TUBES ROCK!!!!!!!

[stolly3]

I really would like to get this, if I did, would i need to run this into the mobile pre interface, or would i just buy a 30 dollar soundcard to avoid using the mic input? I really am trying to get the best possible sound without paying any more than I have to.

Here's the link: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=live/search/detail/base_pid/182491/

[bigbuda]

should be able to run it into your mobile interface. Right along with your guitar. I believe the M-Audio has more than one input that allows for this kind of setup. Exactly which M-Audio device is it? Do you have a link for it?

[stolly3]

I know, but I was going to run the guitar into the tube preamp also, and I was just wondering if i need to drop the 100 on the m audio interface when all i want is to not have to plug into the mic input.

[bigbuda]

The M-Audio would solve your problem of not having to plug into the mic input becasue it gives you USB capability. The preamp is not usb so you would have to plug it into your mic input unless you bought the M-Audio then you would just plug into it for straight usb recording to your pc. Preamp looks nice though. might have to check one of those out. Do you have a link for the M-Audio so I can check it out?

[stolly3]

Yea here it is:http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/701368/

[bigbuda]

that will work since it has two inputs. One for your guitar and an xlr input for your mic. Looks good.

[stolly3]

What kind of output does the beringer have? Does it output to a guitar cable or what? So, if I got the berginer tube preamp and I run the mic into it, what kind of cable comes out of it and into the mobile pre?

[bigbuda]

sorry it took so long to reply back on this. The MIC200 has a XLR out and a 1/4 out so you would run the XLR cable from your mic into the MIC200 XLR input then you could run either a XLR out to your USB interface or the 1/4 adapter. Download the user manual in PDF format. It's right under the product description on musicians friend. It shows you all the inputs and outputs and will tell you everything you need to know about this product.

[stolly3]

You mentioned the 30 dollar soundcard you bought from wal-mart. How do you run your mic and guitar into that? I have an adapter that lets me run a 1/4 guitar cable into my mic input, would i need to use that? Also, was it hard to install that soundcard and how do you get it to run that soundcard instead of the integrated one?

[bigbuda]

I use a Behringer Eurorack 802 mixer to connect all my equipment to the direct input of the soundcard on my pc. It was 50.00 on musicians friend and it is a very nice little mixer. The EU 502 is nice too. The only thing they don't have on them is a power switch. I just turn off my power strip when i'm done anyway so it's no big deal to me. Anyway, you would still need the 1/4 to 1/8 adapter to hook the mixer to your pc. The soundcard is simple to install and it comes with easy to follow instructions. Once done with the install of the soundcard your pc should already run that soundcard all the time. If it doesn't you just go to your control panel and go under your sound options and there is a tab there where you select the soundcard as a default. Then you are good to go.

[stolly3]

Do I need a mixer like that? What would be the benefit of that versus just running the mic and guitar throught the tube preamp and into the computer?

[Kevin Taylor]

A small mixer like a Behringer MX802A would give you the benefit of being able to put 8 inputs into it and leave them hooked up that way.
For instance, you could hook your guitar up to a multieffects unit with a stereo output for channels 1 and 2, put a keyboard into #3, an external MIDI sound card into 4 & 5 and a turntable for doing samples into 6 and 7.

Then you take the 1/4" outputs and adapt them down to 1/8" to plug into the sound card on the computer. The mixer would provide phantom power for your mic and you'd have full control over the volume and EQ of all your instruments.

To monitor the sound, just put the stereo outputs into your stereo system RCA inputs. You use headphones for monitoring and then switch the speakers on for mixing.

[bigbuda]

Couldn't have said it better, thanks Schmange. You could go with the M-Audio interface and the MIC200 preamp and the soundcard if you choose. The M-audio has more than one input on it I believe. This would work if you don't want to use a mixer and only want to run the one guitar and one mic into your PC. I personally like the mixer..........

[stolly3]

Can't I just save a bunch of money by unplugging the guitar and plugging in the mic or vice versa from the tube preamp when i want to record one or the other?

[bigbuda]

Sure! Don't see why not. That's what I did before I bought my mixer.

[stolly3]

Would it be a good idea to get this instead of a new soundcard? That way I could avoid using the adapter to go from 1/4 to the size that fits into that 30 dollar soundcard. I would assume this would help the sound quality. I was thinking that I would run my condensor mic into the tube preamp with an XLR cable, then run a 1/4 guitar cable out the back and into this device, would I get good sounding vocals from this?

[bigbuda]

If you are talking about connecting the MIC200 and your guitar to the M-Audio device, the answer is Yes it will give you the best sound quality since you are recording USB and not into the soundcard. And you won't need the 1/4 adapter for your soundcard 'cause your not using it.

[RiddiM]

For a mic Reccomendation I 'highly' reccomend you check out the SE Electronics 2200 (http://www.seelectronics.com/sE2200a.html)
for the price (approx 100 quid) there's simply no better contender in my opinion
its very versatile, sounds great on acoustic guitars, vocals, pianos. check it out.


another option could be Joe Meek (http://www.joemeek.com/promo.html) as they
are doing a promotion at the moment, if you buy a channel/pre amp from them, they throw in one of there mics for $50 so you can have a matching signal chain

[bigbuda]

You can get an NT1 for about the same money and it's one bad mutha!

[RiddiM]

Yeah the NT1 is a very good mic, and well worth investing in, but read this review (http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:FNH97yHJCUoJ:www.sonic-distribution.com/2/pages/reviews/SE%2520Paul%2520Barrett%2520review.pdf+U2+se+electronics+piano+2200+u87&hl=en&client=firefox-a) cos funnily enough the rode mics get mentioned for comparison it ends up with Paul barret favoring the 2200 over his neumann u87 in a session
i know its all personal preference but it's just to give you an idea of what a cracking little mic it is.

The mic he's reviewing is the old version which I have,
they have brought out a newer better/revised model of the same mic now with an (a) prefix = 2200a

[Kevin Taylor]

Yeah, I just bought one of those off ebay for less than $100 including the shockmount. First time I tried it I couldn't believe how good it sounded.
Especially on vocals and acoustic guitar.
For loud stuff like drums or overdrive I'd stick with a dynamic mic though, like the standard SM58 etc.

[stolly3]

I'm sorry buda, I didn't include the link to what I was talking about.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/241104/

If I ran my mic cable into the preamp then ran a guitar cable into that thing, would the sound be good? Would this be a better option then doing the soundcard thing?