Sup yall, i been using an Oktavia mic with my Mbox for a few years now, but never experienced using a separate pre-amp or compresor for the mic. Though I hear a preamp or compressor will make my vocals much stronger and etc.. What route should I go, get plug-ins for my protools or find a good priced preamp or compressor? Thanks.
software or hardware preamp?
- Thread starter Young D-A-T
- Start date
What oktavia mic are you using? How much money do you have?
Pre amps and compressors are two different tools and handle two different tasks. However, both will give you a different sound depending on make/model and how you use it. What software compressors are you using right now?
And if it were me I would upgrade the pre amp first.
Pre amps and compressors are two different tools and handle two different tasks. However, both will give you a different sound depending on make/model and how you use it. What software compressors are you using right now?
And if it were me I would upgrade the pre amp first.
The oktavia mic is MK-319.. I'm only hoping to spend about 100-150 on a preamp or compressor as I'm using the Mbox for preamp/phantom power. I guess the Mbox gives adequate power but the gain always has to be almost MAX for good input.
The only compressors I'm using are the basic Protools plugins.. I usually only use simple reverb or delay on my vocals but I'm trying to experience with compressors to see how I can improve my vocals. I'm trying to achieve stronger/thicker/clearer vocal presence and not have to MAX out the mic gain on my Mbox just to get clearer or louder output.
The only compressors I'm using are the basic Protools plugins.. I usually only use simple reverb or delay on my vocals but I'm trying to experience with compressors to see how I can improve my vocals. I'm trying to achieve stronger/thicker/clearer vocal presence and not have to MAX out the mic gain on my Mbox just to get clearer or louder output.
Correct me if Im wrong but being you have what might be considered a somewhat descent...not great front end(Mbox) and a fairly cheap mic,I would consider...oops damn you only wanna spend 100-150..you might wanna mess with some plug ins,but when you get serious..think about better a/d d/a converters....apogee, also maybe a universal audio mic pre-amp,or maybe a nice channel strip...neve,ssl, I guess it depends what your expectations,and budget permits,of course you dont have to buy high end to get a great sound,maybe do some research on the signal chain,and how each part effects one another,go to a site where recording gurus are at and listen to there experience with products etc,go to a guitar center and play with everything,with out the knowledge,you may end up wasting alot of money,with more knowledge you probably can get more results and spend less.
The only pre amp I would purchase in that range is a presonus blue tube. If it were me I would save up for another one. you can get away with plugin compressors. In fact I would prefer a plugin compressor over the compressors in the 100 to 1000 range. I'll take Slighty Rude, McDSP, C4 and RCOMP any day of the week.
If your gain needs to be at or near its maximum to record something is wrong. When you record vocals how loud are they coming out? How close to 0db are you getting? In pro tools you can record at -18 to -12 and still have a good signal. You do not need to record the signal at 0db (or close to it)
If your gain needs to be at or near its maximum to record something is wrong. When you record vocals how loud are they coming out? How close to 0db are you getting? In pro tools you can record at -18 to -12 and still have a good signal. You do not need to record the signal at 0db (or close to it)
I just downloaded waves platinum from the website.. do they have good compressor plugins? which ones?
When recording, my input gain on the mbox is usually near max just so I don't have to spit extra loud to get a decent output. Is that wrong? Should I lower the gain and just spit louder? I'm just tryna find a way to improve my vocals, tryna try different things... thanks for the input yall.
When recording, my input gain on the mbox is usually near max just so I don't have to spit extra loud to get a decent output. Is that wrong? Should I lower the gain and just spit louder? I'm just tryna find a way to improve my vocals, tryna try different things... thanks for the input yall.
Yes, I would lower the gain and spit louder. Do you have something I can peep? If so send a link to my pm box
C4 and RCOMP are compressors by waves. The C4 is a MULTIBAND compressor and you may want to grasp the hang of compressors before you jump into a multi-band. Also the RVOX is a good one
http://www.waves.com/content.asp?id=716
You can compensate for the loudness of the output by compressing or limiting the signal after you have tracked it. The important part is to not overload going in. As I said before you can track in pro tools @ -18 to -12 and these are good levels. In fact these are the levels you SHOULD track at in pro tools. Their are many reasons why you would want to track at these levels, but one of the main reasons is to ease stress on the summing buss.
C4 and RCOMP are compressors by waves. The C4 is a MULTIBAND compressor and you may want to grasp the hang of compressors before you jump into a multi-band. Also the RVOX is a good one
http://www.waves.com/content.asp?id=716
You can compensate for the loudness of the output by compressing or limiting the signal after you have tracked it. The important part is to not overload going in. As I said before you can track in pro tools @ -18 to -12 and these are good levels. In fact these are the levels you SHOULD track at in pro tools. Their are many reasons why you would want to track at these levels, but one of the main reasons is to ease stress on the summing buss.