Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

[wahwah]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

Ok sosomething, here's my thoughts. I haven't heard a Brick, but it comes highly recommended as a true budget mic and instrument pre. I know what the FMR RNP sounds like, and it is impressive too. If you were to go the Brick option alone, you would need two of them, because it is a mono unit. So, instead of buying two Bricks, I would recommend one Brick and one RNP, which then gives you a broader pallet of pre options. You could run a matched pair of pre's with the RNP, or you could mix and match between one channel of the RNP and the Brick. It would also be good to have both options when it comes time for vocals. That's it. Maybe more than you wanted to spend, but neither of these units would go to waste. Get both buddy.



Cheers..........................wahwah

 

[sosomething]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

Good advice as usual, wahwah.

Now I need a thousand dollars I don't really have.

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

That was pretty much ridiculous and rude, especially since Jeff wasn't making generalizations and FYI is 100% accurate about the reamp in metal thing. Lose the ego.

Hilarious, as well, since Stillrise had a mixing contest where everyone had access to their tracks, and aren't even signed to Roadrunner.

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

I don't know how you guys plan to cut the record, like everyone playing at once or one track at a time.

Here's a thought though. Track the drums in a studio with good pres and lay down a scratch bass and rhythm guitar at the same time if your looking for a more organic feel. Then replace the guit. and bass with overdubs on your own time. You can get by with one good pre and a sound card that has two inputs in case you want two mics on a guitar amp or something.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

innerdream... you pretty much nailed it.

We're doing the drums in a studio here locally with a great, huge-sounding drum room. We've worked there before for a one-off song that was supposed to appear on a soundtrack (to a movie that never came out). We'll be recording to a click track and then doing the bass / guitars / vocals in-house.

We'll go back out for mixing, most likely, since I'm the only band member with enough experience to do it and I don't really want to. One or two songs, no problem, but there's no way in hell I'm mixing a whole full-length with live drums on my own.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

Hey now - that looks interesting too. A real tube mic pre (I'm assuming it's real and not some crappy tube in starved plate mode) for a low price.

I hate to sound ungrateful, but can you guys give me a run-down on the benefits of the RNP vs. the Brick? Much appreciated.

Its real, high voltage pre

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

Oh great, here we go again with being talked down to...

Your 16 and spew "facts" like your Mutt Lange. What do you expect to happen? Lose the ego and open your ears. You will find that the great one do a lot less talking and a lot more listening

 

[sosomething]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

Your 16 and spew "facts" like your Mutt Lange. What do you expect to happen? Lose the ego and open your ears. You will find that the great one do a lot less talking and a lot more listening

Not in my thread, please.

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

innerdream... you pretty much nailed it.

We're doing the drums in a studio here locally with a great, huge-sounding drum room. We've worked there before for a one-off song that was supposed to appear on a soundtrack (to a movie that never came out). We'll be recording to a click track and then doing the bass / guitars / vocals in-house.

We'll go back out for mixing, most likely, since I'm the only band member with enough experience to do it and I don't really want to. One or two songs, no problem, but there's no way in hell I'm mixing a whole full-length with live drums on my own.

Keep in mind you don't need to get perfect drums on tape, just a great performance. You can use drum replacement software and get Steven Slate drum hits http://stevenslatedrums.com/ - they're used by many top notch pros.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

Keep in mind you don't need to get perfect drums on tape, just a great performance. You can use drum replacement software and get Steven Slate drum hits http://stevenslatedrums.com/ - they're used by many top notch pros.

Drawing the line, there.

Our drummer didn't spend thousands of dollars on a custom DW kit so we could replace his sounds. We're going to get totally good, useable sounds from his kit in that room. As I said, we tracked drums there before and it sounded great.

As I might have mentioned earlier, we're going for a warmer, more organic (softer attack) kind of sound for this release. We want huge Bonham-esque drum sounds, thick chewy guitars, and thumpy fuzzed-out bass... We're basically going for as "analog" of a sound as we can get away with while still making a heavy-sounding record and not resorting to going down to 2".

Because that would cost a fortune.

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

Right on.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

Not in my thread, please.

I will speak my mind as I see fit. This is a public forum after all

 

[sosomething]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

I will speak my mind as I see fit. This is a public forum after all

I'm not trying to restrict your right to mouth off.

I'm asking you politely to do it in a different thread, if you must.

See... this thread is about mic preamps. Thanks for recommending the Brick, btw. That's definitely a strong consideration for this project.

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

I understand that you're against sound replacing, but at least consider this.

When you record his drums, before you get down to do the full tracking, but after you've tuned up and gotten the mics in the proper position...

Take samples of the guys kit. Alternating hand hits of different velocities on every acoustic piece, maybe a few cymbal hits just in case. This will let you keep his original drum tones, but have the ability to sound replace/trigger the same drums later on, for consistency and whatnot.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

I'm not trying to restrict your right to mouth off.

I'm asking you politely to do it in a different thread, if you must.

See... this thread is about mic preamps. Thanks for recommending the Brick, btw. That's definitely a strong consideration for this project.

Then why didn't you lodge your complaint via IM if you are so concerned about staying on topic? I am not the only one to comment on the matter but you felt the need to single me out?

 

[sosomething]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

Take samples of the guys kit. Alternating hand hits of different velocities on every acoustic piece, maybe a few cymbal hits just in case. This will let you keep his original drum tones, but have the ability to sound replace/trigger the same drums later on, for consistency and whatnot.

Fantastic idea. That's a great way to get isolation on a hit that might be getting lost in the live performance tracks without subbing in generic samples of any kind. Our drummer has expressed interest in this method himself, so there is a good chance we'll record those samples of his kit as a precaution at the least.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

Then why didn't you lodge your complaint via IM if you are so concerned about staying on topic? I am not the only one to comment on the matter but you felt the need to single me out?

You're not the only one I asked to stay on topic...

Guys (J Moose, VK) - I sincerely value and need both of your input, but let's all get along, hmm?

...You just seem to be the only one who has a problem with it.

 

[J Moose]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

Hilarious, as well, since Stillrise had a mixing contest where everyone had access to their tracks, and aren't even signed to Roadrunner.

'Ya know, this is the LAST thing I'm gonna say on this...

You wanna see my invoices? I was contacted AND contracted to mix songs for a compilation... what happens with them after they leave my shop is whatever happens. As long as the clients are happy & AFAIK they were.

I was being a bit sarcastic last night, now if 'ya want I'll be brash. I couldn't really give two sh!ts about what some 16 year old 'self-proclaimed AE' punk thinks but when words are put in my mouth about me, my friends & peers about things that we've seen, done and know to be 110% TRUE and you're talking about our CAREERS?!?

You've bitten a hand dude.

Gone WAY too far over the line.

*plonk*

A million apologies to the rest of the peanut gallery for letting myself get baited by a snot.

 

[J Moose]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

• A bunch of onboard effects nonsense. I don't need an iPhone either.
• Fake-arsed starved-plate tube design - say "no" to marketing hype!

So far, suggestions include:

1. FMR RNP
2. The Brick
3. Aphex 207D

A preamp is a preamp is a preamp. There's no such thing as a "vocal" pre any more then a "guitar" pre or a "kazoo" preamp. Some things do lend themselves to be better on some sources then others but really, a good unit is a good unit.

The Aphex IS a starved plate design... sounds "ok" but not a big upgrade over a Smackie. If you really need two channels then at $500 or so the only thing that's really worth spending cash on is the RNP. For a few bucks more you can probably find a used Vintech Dual 72 which is based of a '70s Neve design. Maybe $800-1000 used but it's a quality unit. Doesn't get any "better" from there, only different.

The other one to consider would be this Toft pre/EQ preamp linkage which isn't too shabby. I used it a bit when I worked at Mercenary a few years ago and while I think the RNP sounds a little "better" the Toft has a nice color & the EQ's alone are worth the price.

Getting the brick and the RNP would be hip too, but is the money better spent elsewhere on the record? Get a better mastering engineer or more time mixing?

What preamps are you using now? What's your whole rig comprised of?

 

[Imp]

Re: Recordists and Engineers - Good mic preamps?

does it have to be tube if it's just for guitar?

i mean, i've gotten a mackie onyx satellite for £150 recently and i'm having a great time.. i got it partly because the pre-amps are very well regarded for the price, and partly because of the flexibility thing.

tom