A little background:

I have cubase SX3, which I LOVE! I also have for a sound card the mAudio Delta 66, and I use a Berringer UB8002 (the 6 channel cheapo with 2 microphone preamps and phantom power.)

I just purchased a Rode NTK microphone after reading rave reviews and hearing it in the store. I was using an MAudio Nova, which sounds good but nothing compared to the NTK. I now notice I am badly in need of a compressor, and possible a microphone preamp.

Is the Preamp built in on the Berringer as good as a dedicated preamp? WHat will I gain by getting a dedicated preamp? Finally, is it possible to plug in the NTK directly into the Delta66 and use Cubase's Compressor? I am after excellent sound, but do not want to spend a grand or more on a pre-amp / c ompressor.

Thanks for having this forum, I browsed around quite a bit to find a well-rounded forum with an actual knowledge database, instead of the "I want to plug my X into my soundblaster." type of questions.

Thank you all for your time!

-Rhone

I would bet that the Rode would sound a heck of a lot better through a better quality preamp than the ones on your Behringer. And Yeah, you should be able to use the compressor from Cubase as your record. I don't actually use Cubase, but I don't see why you couldn't do that.

uncle_jerr wrote:

I would bet that the Rode would sound a heck of a lot better through a better quality preamp than the ones on your Behringer. And Yeah, you should be able to use the compressor from Cubase as your record. I don't actually use Cubase, but I don't see why you couldn't do that.

Thanks for the reply Uncle!

I did a little research on the card, sorry for not updating my post.

The Delta series do not have microphone pre-amps, so I need to have that part by either going through a board, or geting a dedicated preamp. This also does not allow the cubase compressor, unless I use a preamp and go directly into the Delta.

I am still a newb when it comes to all this stuff, and did not realize it until I got a quality microphone. Everything I used in the prior to 'get by' is now less than adequate, to understate.

I was using eggcrate matresses on my walls, but now notice the terrible sound the room gives.

My next purchase is either a quality board, or a quality pre-amp for the NTK. Do you guys have suggestions? I read since I have a tube microphone to use a solid state preamp, but I do not want to spend a shitload of money! Good quality for a decent price.

Thanks!

-Rhone

Hey, check out the ART Tube MP StudioV3™ Mic/Instrument Preamp. Inexpensive yet quality preamp

impol wrote:

Hey, check out the ART Tube MP StudioV3™ Mic/Instrument Preamp. Inexpensive yet quality preamp

Uh... no....

The Tube MP makes for a reasonable bass DI, but as a mic pre it's pretty crappy.... noisy and muddy-sounding....
_________________
Bruce Valeriani - Mix Engineer

i have quite a decent setup myself, but not yet to the level i need it to be...

anyhow, my AudioTechnica 3050 into a ART TPS preamp and into a either Rane or Rolls compressor, into a Mackie 1202 VLZ board, and into either a m-audio delta44 or m-audio 1814 FW, and into cubase sx2. in csx2, i could add vst fx or inserts to the input channel to either further compress, effect or whatever the input signal... im happy, but not extactic about my sound yet.

Blaak wrote:

i have quite a decent setup myself, but not yet to the level i need it to be... anyhow, my AudioTechnica 3050 into a ART TPS preamp and into a either Rane or Rolls compressor, into a Mackie 1202 VLZ board, and into either a m-audio delta44 or m-audio 1814 FW, and into cubase sx2. in csx2, i could add vst fx or inserts to the input channel to either further compress, effect or whatever the input signal... im happy, but not extactic about my sound yet.

From my experience...

My guess from your setup is that you have shoddy microphone cables. Try using top quality cables (gold plated) and get rid of your mackie (they are really overpriced IMO, and the Berringer line for 1/4th the price is just as good, and berringer sucks ), and you should be ok. NOW, to get good sound,I would go from PreAmp to Compressor to MAudio. The Extra board step is probably causing too much distortion.

I Am still learning, but this is what I learned from my XP...

-Rhone

RhoneRanger wrote:

From my experience... My guess from your setup is that you have shoddy microphone cables. Try using top quality cables (gold plated) and get rid of your mackie (they are really overpriced IMO, and the Berringer line for 1/4th the price is just as good, and berringer sucks ), and you should be ok. NOW, to get good sound,I would go from PreAmp to Compressor to MAudio. The Extra board step is probably causing too much distortion. I Am still learning, but this is what I learned from my XP... -Rhone

i didnt say that i had STATIC, i said that i was not EXTATIC (i'm not SUPER HAPPY YET) about my setup... and to me, the MACKIE board (which i paid 150$ for) (and if you know ur stuff, you cant compare berhinger with it)... is a great helper, it helps me have a better control of the sound that goes into the computer. otherwise, i would have to control it with the mouse on the software based fader of my audio interface??!!!!!!! NOoooo thank you!

also, my mic cables are top of the line cables, with neutrik connectors and are hi-grade hand built with the outmost care, never has any of my cables given me any disturbing sound whatsoever. Only one did, which i got with a mic i had bought (it was not the same kind...) so i got rid of it...

but thanks for trying to help, when i was also trying to help...

LOL

Blaak wrote:

but thanks for trying to help, when i was also trying to help...

Ya, I see that now! DAMN drunk posting! I apologize.

I still think the problem is going from pre to compressor into the board. If you set the compressor right, you should be able to go directly into mAudio and record. The Mackie boards are not that good IMO, and if you are recording, it is my opinion to not eq the signal during recording at all, keep it flat. I am sorry for being too blunt, I did not mean anything bad.

:Side note

I just bought the Rane DMS22, not a bad preamp for under $500! I also bought an Alesis compressor / limiter / gate, and I am not so happy with that one. The compressor / limiter is fine enough, but the gate just sucks!

The Rane I am very happy with! Thank you uncle_jerr for stearing me in the way of a dedicated preamp! I am very very happy with the sound I got!

The Rode NTK is an excellent microphone too! I am very happy with my sound! I added a little verb, and did not need to eq vocals at all! Very clean and crisp sound.

My next question: How important is room acoustical foam? I hear a lot of 'room hiss' now during recording, and I can hear the furnace kicking in. Is there a cheap way to rid myself of these things? Or is it going to take another $500 payable to Auralex...

Last edited by RhoneRanger on Sun Nov 20, 2005 5:01 am, edited 1 time in total

i disagree with the hardware being the cause of bad sound quality. a behringer mixer is still a mixer and as such should perfectly do the preamp job. i have both a preamp and a mixer and using the mixer instead of the preamp does NOT lower the sound quality. it is simply very convenient to use the preamps big knobs for setting the gain level and hi pass filter frequency.

to enhance sound quality i would rather try to apply processing inside cubase. i suggest using any or all of these : high pass, equalisation, noise gate, compressor, enhancer. there are very useful plug ins that do all the stuff in one plug in (by order of preference) : TrackPlug, Waves RChannel, PROSONIQ Voxciter. The other good thing with being all in one is that they have presets for all common kinds of source and all effects. you can setup a complete drum or piano or horns or vocal track processing suite in just a few clicks.

there's no bad hardware, only bad engineers who just cant seem to use it. the behringer stuff just does the trick for a reasonable price. people who don't like it are usually just pissed because they bought some gear that has ten times less features for ten times the price of the behringer...

pfelelep wrote:

i disagree with the hardware being the cause of bad sound quality. a behringer mixer is still a mixer and as such should perfectly do the preamp job. i have both a preamp and a mixer and using the mixer instead of the preamp does NOT lower the sound quality..

WHAT????

I used a berringer mixer for a while, then got a dedicated preamp for my mike, and the sound quality is MUCH better, Much cleaner! Like night and day... If hardware does not make a difference, might as well buy a 1/4" to 1/8 " adapter and plug a Radio Shack microphone into a soundblaster and use that for recording.

If you do not notice a difference in quality, then you are either using a lower class microphone, do not have decent monitors, or your preamp you had was lower class.

Quote:

There's no bad hardware, only bad engineers who just cant seem to use it.

I disagree wholeheartedly! If you can't hear the difference, (trying to be nice here, please do not take offense) then maybe you don't have an ear for engineering. A lot of people that want to do produce music don't.

Actually - there is some truth to what pfelelep is saying.

George Massenburg will get better results with a PortaStudio than a monkey with a Neve.

Engineering skills do matter more than the gear at hand, because a skilled engineer knows how to compensate for lack of gear. High-end gear only makes it easier to get good results, cheap gear makes it harder -- but to a skilled engineer, the quality of their end result is the same.
_________________
Bruce Valeriani - Mix Engineer

BlueBearSound wrote:

Actually - there is some truth to what pfelelep is saying. George Massenburg will get better results with a PortaStudio than a monkey with a Neve. Engineering skills do matter more than the gear at hand, because a skilled engineer knows how to compensate for lack of gear. High-end gear only makes it easier to get good results, cheap gear makes it harder -- but to a skilled engineer, the quality of their end result is the same.

A good post Mr Bear
_________________
Recording Studio Suntans

BlueBearSound wrote:

Actually - there is some truth to what pfelelep is saying. George Massenburg will get better results with a PortaStudio than a monkey with a Neve. Engineering skills do matter more than the gear at hand, because a skilled engineer knows how to compensate for lack of gear. High-end gear only makes it easier to get good results, cheap gear makes it harder -- but to a skilled engineer, the quality of their end result is the same.

I do agree to what you are saying BBS, but to say comments such as "hardware does not matter" or "there is no difference in sound" and "a berringer perfectly does the preamp job" ???

Even I in my limited experience can hear the difference between a quality preamp and a board, I can process the signal of the latter to make it sound decent, but not the same. When you start with a much cleaner signal, you get a much better result.