OK, I am using a Babyface and have a few mics that I use. I have a Blue Bluebird, a nice old Audio Technica 4051 (cardioid top), a great sounding antique Sennheisser MD21 (an omni) and an EV RE20 (that is not working up to spec and is still under warranty so I need to send her in for care). So my question is this: I am not overly thrilled with my vocal sound and wondering if it would be advisable to pop for something like a used 414 (which I loved many years ago paired with a VC1 Meek) or to buy a good preamp and work with what I have. I am saving up my cash and hope to be able to spend about 600-700 Euros. What does this community think is the best way to head?

 

No doubt, with a good preamp your mics will sound way better (I love 4051 wiht my voice).
414 is good, but to make a real diference depends on your voice and style of music.
Remenber that some great singers use cheep mics that have a sound that they like, mics and voice are a marriage after all..

 

Hey ovalf, thanks for the reply. My voice sounds terrible with the 4051 but supreme with different guitars, especially a 40 year old child's size Framus guitar that I got from my brother-in-law's ex-wife that now doesn't sound like a cardboard box with strings. But I guess the thing is, I have to decide. The RE20 hasn't been tested with the Babyface pres and I won't get it back until the middle of the summer. The Bluebird I got SUPER cheap but never gets me excited. I have been surprised by the MD 21 as it sounds pretty dang good if I put a blanket over my head to knock out the room vibe. I could get a Neuman TLM 103 for a song but have never used it and do not want to throw money at an unknown . Ahhhhhhhh....

 

Get a good preamp/strip, the chance that 4 mics don't come close to the sound you're after renders buying a 5th one meaningless.
You might also want to look into how you're mixing and change that.

 

a preamp for sure but you're going to have to spend at least two or three thousand dollars to get a real good quality preamp like an Avalon on or a UAD

 

Go for a preamp, dude.
I wondered exactly the same last year and finally bought an LA-610 that changed my life in the studio.
It's worth the upgrade for sure.

 

What is the acoustic treatment like in the room you use? When looking to improve your recording chain, start there, invest there. A lower quality mic and preamp in a great treated room will sound better than a great mic and preamp in an untreated room. Also +1 on the LA-610. I just bought a Focusrite ISA One and I'm loving it too, both are roughly in your price range.

 

Universal Audio preamps are top tier, same with Avalon stuff. Id do a UA preamp over Avalon though, from experience.

AND If you do a mic, i couldnt be happier with my Blue Bottle and 5 capsules for it. AMAZING mic. Forget shure, i have a KSM44 and had tons of SMs, they are pale in comparison to the power of a Blue mic. Blue is just beauty in mics. Sennheiser is good too. I use their stuff for drum mics, they have more mid to low range and other have better highs. The Blues just have such full range it seems (with the right caps and preamp).


Blue Bottle #4 to UA 6176 to (various rack gear) to Presonus StudioLive out to Griffin Custom mid/near and Yahmaha NS-10s


And i suppose my UA 6176 statement would depend on what music styling you like. I like more a vintage feel to it. Always loved those preamps. But i would say the LA-610 or 6176 would be a wise choice. My buck is on 6176.

 

I'll chime in here and say pre-amp also..... I also had a few mics and ended up getting an LA-610, which officially ended my mic searching days.

 

The room is Ok I believe. When I record my voice I put up some gobos and create a quiet space that seems to work. I do need to get some corner bass baffles for my mix but the sound for tracking my vocals is good. It is like an isolation booth almost. And yes, I hear you about the preamp and am heading in that direction.

 

Source > Mic > Preamp > A/D converter

Funny how it reflects the signal flow order.

 

Avoid Avalon...overpriced crap.

Api, Neve, UA Etc are much better...

 

This is an intersting question, what You use Henrique You mix your voice?
I beliieve tha t almost every voice can be extreme beaty, burt sometimes it need some coach, its good if You show some exemples...

 

Take a look at the Warm Audio Tone Beast .. and then save up for their 1176 clone

 

Chop off your head and grow a new one. You get new vocals!

Oh wait.. not a hydra!

You could provide a sample to the forum. We might be able to help better with that. I feel everyone just guessing and it might not be the right decision.

In case you decide for a preamp. Why not just getting UA interface and use it as your main "studio" interface. You could just sell the babyface or use it as a travel gear. Just gotta make sure that you can "return without fees" in case that doesn't satisfy your ears.

You can join the club of "uad plugins" users.

 

I'm not guessing, I recommended the Tone Beast because it has two different preamp circuits, two different transformers, additional tone shaping circuits, you can swap out opamps, and it is within budget. A very versatile preamp that can go from clean to colored, and also has distortion properties

 

Actually, if your voice is really not "married" with the characteristic sound of the microphones you already own, a preamp won't change that.
The guys who recommends you only the preamp, maybe they already got a mic which suited their vocals nice (but not great enough), then a new and better preamp just made it from sounding nice to sounding great. But if you really think that your voice is really that against the microphones's characteristics, then you should try some new microphones as well, just to make sure who is lacking, your mic or preamp. In my country is a music store where you can test any microphone they have in their stock. (even a Neumann U87AI or the AKG C12VR, but anyway, let's not think that far).
So.. the idea is... see if you can find some place/store where you can test some microphones in the price range you can afford.
About preamps, yea' an UA 610 is great, but you may also check the Focusrite ISA One Digital (not Analog version, because Digital has a A/D converter included). If you didn't heard about ISA One, don't get fooled by it's low "popularity" because i can even show you some commercial songs with vocals recorded through this preamp.
When it comes about microphones, i can recommend you the TLM 102 (not the 103, because i found it a bit.. harsher sounding... maybe because it has a bit more highs), Also Rode K2 is great too.
These songs references are recorded with a combo of Rode K2 & Focusrite Isa One Digital, i selected some with various vocals/genres:

Hip-Hop:

Hip-Hop 2 (featuring female vocals):

Pop-Rock

Dance/House:

Spanish Ballad:

I hope these songs gives you a picture or idea about that combo. Cheers!
P.S. don't take these references lightly, if you check Hip-Hop 2 song, it has 13,6mil views.

 

+1 on Warm Audio...affordable swedish engineering but you will have to like the transformer sound(output) *yes*

edit: transformer output can be bypassed and its also a DI...not bad for 600 quid

 

What's The Difference Between A Hill And A Pill?

The Baby

 

Your gear is great. How is the room you record in?