Purchasing a new Microphone:Will it help?

Paligulus

Hi folks,
This question is kind of sparked off from FrankieStylee's thread about his home studio but I didnt want to hi-jack it!!!

Basically, I'm thinking of buying a condensor microphone to use to record my vocals. The mic i am using at present is:
http://www.promusicaustralia.com/other/LeemImages/SR-305.JPG

You can see the specs here:
http://www.promusicaustralia.com/other/leemmic.htm


Would getting this condensor make a positive difference:
http://www.thomann.de/ie/studio_projects_c3.htm

Bearing in mind that I will not have the budget to acoustically treat the room (the room is the box room in a 3 bedroom house!!!) and I am using the Toneport UX2 and Gearbox modelling S/W as a preamp?

If you want to hear a song as a point of reference:
http://www.box.net/shared/5s0cza8ayf

Or check the links in my sig.

I know that condensor mic's are more sensitive to room acoustics so maybe this mic won't really help. Is there an other options that might suit better?

I know dynamic mics are better for "noisy" or loud singers. Which I suppose is the category I fall into!! Would getting a "better" dynamic mic be a better idea.

Oh and before anybody says it: Yes I know it won't make me a better singer!!!

any ideas would be greatly appreciated...

Cheers,
Dave

TelePaul

Nothin wrong with a good ol shure sm58.

Paligulus

TelePaul wrote:

Nothin wrong with a good ol shure sm58.

Will it really make much of an improvement since the mic i have is also a dynamic mic? (I know any good recording set up has a range of mic's but I just need the justification to fork out for a condensor mic!!)

TelePaul

Did you mic the guitar with that? Sounds good.

Vocals sound pretty thin. Do you feel that the vocals are what's letting your mix down? You could look for a higher quality dynamic or even a ribbon mic.

Paligulus

No all the instruments are DI'd through Toneport UX2 using Gearbox as modelling software.

Well, I feel the vocals are letting down the vocals on all my mixes!!!
Would a higher quality dynamic make much of a difference from the dynamic I'm using now. I never considered a ribbon because I always thought they were very sensitive to external vibrations etc...

unclebill98

Songs sounds very good...

A decent conderser would not go a miss. Dont worry about room acoustics too much. I've recorded full bands in untreated rooms and got very decent results. Not sure how to post sound clips on the site yet. But some kind of treatment would help. Dovet cover surrounding singer hangin on mic stands is a easy way?

Ribbons are very sensitve, but you can always position yourself far enough from them as not to damage them. I've used ribbons as drum ambient and they were alright.

what sort of budget have you got for the mic?

Would a large conderser not suit or is handheld one what your looking for?

Paligulus

Cheers UncleBill98,
Well I actually have no preference for which mic I get - If it improves my vox recording I'll buy it!!! I was just thinking about the Studio Projects C3 as I saw that it was highly recommended on this forum and on other forums. What would be the best large condensor to get?

Well all the mics i've been looking at are around the 250 mark. So I suppose my budgets around that...

Cheers Dave

TelePaul

Dave I assuming your current mic was cheap enough yeah? If you can borrow an SM58 or even an SM57 form someone and try it out, it'd be good. Otherwise a SP C1 seems like a good bet. I have a C2 and a TB1, both cool mics.

whitelie

It's not so much your mic as the singing and the mixing. I'm far from the best singer but I manage to make it listenable with some layering/double/triple-tracking. You might also look into getting something like Melodyne. Your vocals are also fairly far back in the mix in most of your songs (real good songs by the way, good work on the guitar + mixing there). Maybe it's a personal preference but I usually try to bring the vocals out a lot more, I tend to make my mixes fairly wide whereas yours seem much tighter; don't necessarily go changing your style to suit my view, it's up to how you want to sound at the end of the day.

I think you should try working a bit more on your mixing before splashing out on a new mic just for the heck of it. Like you said, new mic wont make you sing better, some creative thought and mixing could make it sound better though.

TelePaul

whitelie wrote:

Like you said, new mic wont make you sing better

Neither will melodyne! Good advice, a bit of compression and EQ can go along way on vocals.

whitelie

TelePaul wrote:

Neither will melodyne!

nope, and thats why I avoid singing live as much as possible

truth be told im not that bad though, and some songs I've only used some double tracking to get them sounding alright. Experiment a bit

unclebill98

Well if 250 is the budget here's my opinion...

http://www.musicstore.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS6SfaObm0000000000000000pK2Pp4gU?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=orPVqHzmEtcAAAEQ6jlQqhV6&CatalogCategoryID=YRrVqHzmmQEAAAERr50vKPl9&JumpTo=OfferList

can not go wrong with that!!

http://www.musicstore.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/MusicStore-MusicStoreShop-Site/en_EN/-/EUR/ViewProductDetail-Start;pgid=TOZgS6SfaObm0000000000000000pK2Pp4gU?CatalogVideo=&ProductUUID=aO_VqHzmHhgAAAEQpBFQqhV5&CatalogCategoryID=uOTVqHzmH.MAAAERwDovKPl7&JumpTo=OfferList

I've used this to stereo milk vocals along with a 414. This is a great mic and most people don't like Rodes stuff....strange.

Akg C2000b or C3000b would be good too. Now there all Large diaphram mics. Hand held ones like the Beta87 might be better for you but a little more expensive.

Telepaul is spot on with the comp but i'd never like to eq vocals unless you really really have too. But again if its working for you why not. As for fixin it with eq and over layer it with backing vox and doublin it up..If its wrong to start with no amount of anything will make it sound bettter.

Try reverb on your vocals, maybe plate type, but too much can make it not sound clear in the mix.

What preamp are you using on for your mics? Sorry should read tread.
Gearbox modelling S/W as a preamp? I dont know this unit really.

Maybe a seperate mic pre would be worth having. It can be used for other things too not just mics. Like using VoiceMasterPro on a kick...

Jonny.

Paligulus

Cheers for the replies folks:
Thanks Whitelie. I agree completely with you on the mixing end of things. Mixing for me is a constant learning process with a very steep learning curve!!!!! Luckily its all there on the net, if you look hard enough. On saying that, everytime I do a new song/mix, I learn a new trick which I can use to make my mixes better (I still have to redo all my older mixes!!). The main problem is that I am very tentative with my use of panning and reverb/delay. I would only ever hard pan a handfull of elements on my mix and I'm struggling with Reverb with the whole trade off of between adding space to your mix while not making it totally muddy!!!! Nothing practice and obsessive lurking in Recording Forums won't fix!!!!!!

Usually I'm not into the quick fix approach (e.g. My playin is rubbish so I'll get a more expensive guitar or my mix is rubbish so i need new equipment!!), but at the same time, there's always the argument that if the tracking is rubbish then no amount of mixing will fix it. I'm undecided on this in this case!!

Cheers for the recommendations Jonny. I really like the look of the SE electronics mic.
I do comp the vocals, but I suppose I dont hammer them with compression. I might need to start being a bit more agressive with my comping...
I'm not mad about excessive EQing. I tend to do the odd high and low pass filter just to get things to fit better but that's not because I'm a purist - It's cos I'm still learning how to use EQ properly!!!!
-Well if I got a good mic I would definately look into getting a good H/W mic pre. Budget vs. priority and all that!!!

Oh yeah, forgot to mention - Melodyne is the Answer!!!!! (Seriously though, amzing piece of S/W)

Paligulus

Oh btw, listened your tunes whitelie. Great stuff. Some really clever ideas going on in all your tunes. Especially on "A Million New Ways To Lose Yourself". Fair play