Microphone / interface advice for a new guy

[JohnH]

Hi everyone! I'm really looking for some help.

I joined SF, and even entered in the "Right There At The Edge" fight a few weeks ago, because I want to improve the quality of my songs. The main points I got from everyone was that I need a better mixing balance, and my recording sounded very raw/analog.

I am very new to the recording aspect. I absolutely have a plain USB mic from Rock Band like 5 years ago, and use Audacity. That is probably a lot of the problem, from the topics I've read so far. I also don't have any kind of interface anything for the mic. It's just plugged into the USB port on my computer.

I also seem to get this constant hiss or buzz, though not too loud, on my recordings, despite having no background noise.

Can anyone recommend a good/great microphone for starting out, and what equipment a new recorder like me should use? And will some kind of interface help with the raw/analog sound?

A friend of mine wants me to perform at a local concert with him (VERY EXCITED) but I want to get the recordings better first, and then I'll worry about stage equipment... and how to hook-up a laptop for a stage performance. One step at a time.

All help is really appreciated guys. Sorry for the wall of text, but I wanted to be very detailed. Thank you for any advice you have!

[Caravan Ray]

Others with more expertise than me will chime in - but I recall the exact same problem when I started here (my 2004 vintage entries will show it) - crappy mic and bad hiss.

I kept the crappy mic and plugged it into a USB audio interface like this:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audi ... -interface

and the hiss problem went away.

So I would think the interface is your first port of call. A cheap mic through that should be a start anyway

[ken]

Yep. Get yourself an interface and a decent mic. I suggest the workhorse SM57.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audi ... -vocal-mic

Also, if you can afford it, some basic accessories you may or may not already have.

Stands and cables:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessor ... 1000000000

Popfilter for vocals:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audi ... pop-filter

Upgraded mic cable:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessor ... hone-cable

Once you get this stuff going, you can think about some decent condenser mics.

If you have any specific gear questions, feel free to post them or contact me directly via PM.

Ken

[Billy's Little Trip]

What Ken said is a great first mic purchase because an SM57 is a dynamic mic and will be with you through all of your future music endeavors.

But because your primary question was for vocals, I'd recommend the SM58. The SM57 and the SM 58 are identical internally. The only difference are the heads. The SM58 is a ball head that creates a pattern best for vocals with a built in wind screen and the SM57 is a focused cardioid pattern that's better for instruments. Personally I like the SM58 for vocals and the SM 57 for instruments. But if you are buying 1 mic, either one will be great. Great in the studio for recording vocals and instruments, but also still the popular choice for live performing. An SM57 "must" have a pop filter for vocals though. They are very sensitive to air movement.

The other thing you mentioned was an interface to communicate between your analog mic/instruments and your computer, or as I like to call it, a translator between the meat world and Tron. *flux capacitors not included.

I swear by my first ever interface, the PreSonus FireBox. It is firewire, so make sure you have a fw port. It came with the software bundle to make music right out of the box, including Cubase as my DAW that I still use to this day. You have many choices of brands, but whatever you do, make sure you pick an interface that comes with a software bundle to "make music". Because if you buy the softwear separate, it will cost you 10 million dollars.

If I could give you one piece of advice that you will not regret, it is to just buy the PreSonus FireBox and don't look back. Don't let any sales person change your mind! It is a turn key system for a person that knows very little about this stuff for under $200 bux.
http://www.humbuckermusic.com/prfifiresy.html

edit: unless you don't have a firewire port.

[JohnH]

Thank you everyone for so much insight and details, seriously. I now know where my next paychecks are going, after that whole "rent & bills" thing.

Some additional questions now:

-If I don't have a firewire port, but buy an adapter, will I still have a good sound quality?
-Should I look into a better soundcard? Will that make a difference in the recordings/final product?

I currently use Reason 5.0 for the backing tracks, and overall I love it, but if I get Cubase in a package I'm more than willing to learn.

Again, thank you Ray, Ken, and Billy. I truly appreciate the help, and so do the ears of the people who listen to my music.

[ken]

I think in the low-end market you get about the same quality for $50-$300. For now, go cheap and get used to it, once you have a better feel for how you work and want you want to do, you can upgrade. It is the same with microphones, instruments and cables.

I take it you made your backing tracks in Reason, exported a stereo track, imported it into Audacity and added vocals? Well, with Cubase, you can use Rewire to run both programs at the same time and use them together! It is pretty cool. Since you already use Reason, you might look into a newer version which allows you to record audio. However, just about any program will work for you once you get used to it. You kind of get stuck on whatever you start with in my experience.

Ken

[Billy's Little Trip]

-If I don't have a firewire port, but buy an adapter, will I still have a good sound quality?
-Should I look into a better soundcard? Will that make a difference in the recordings/final product?

I believe the new PreSonus can do both firewire and USB. It might be a specific model, like the Mobile Studio or something. Basically what I'm saying is just go USB if you don't have firewire. Most here use USB units.

Also, you don't need to upgrade your sound card. The interface comes with one that will be used for recording and playback through headphones and monitors. As well as phantom power for condenser mics, etc.
*note - make sure the interface you go with has the 48v phantom power. Some don't. Very important down the road. I do know that all PreSonus units have it.

[nyjm]

Yep. Get yourself an interface and a decent mic. I suggest the workhorse SM57.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audi ... -vocal-mic

An interface will give your music a huge boost in recording quality. But save yourself some serious bread and grab some GLS microphones, which are of equal quality to the Shure's and cost 1/3 of the price.

Oh, wait, better than that: grab the Mic Packages for 57 and/or 58

[fluffy]

I'm a fan of MXL microphones. I use a V63m as my primary workhorse microphone, and I think you can get it for around $60. Being a condenser mic it requires phantom power, though.

I've been pretty happy with Presonus' various Firewire interfaces. I don't know anything about their USB offerings. I've had lots of trouble with Tascam's USB interfaces (getting them recognized by the OS mostly, and they have a tendency to not keep their drivers up-to-date). I know some people here swear by M-Audio stuff; I used to hate them because their MIDI stuff was pretty terrible once upon a time but they seem to have gotten at least somewhat better since then.