Interface/Vocal mic Upgrade

[Alison]

Every year around this time, I treat myself to some kind of music addition (B-day present ). This year I thought I might upgrade my interface and vocal mic. I don't need a lot of inputs (it's just me, myself, and I recording)

I'm using AudioBox iTwo and have PreSonus Studio One v.5, the mic I use is the PreSonus M7 which came with the bundle.

Recommendations?

A friend turned me on to a free drum download (MT Power Drums). I'm going to give that a try so, that leaves me free to upgrade elsewhere (for now anyway).

Thanks!

[JD01]

Well - unless you need more inputs or there's something specific bothering you, there's probably not a lot wrong with your AudioBox iTwo. Is everything working OK? You having any problems with it?

I don't know much about Studio One - but most of us use Reaper, which is free for you to try anyway. We can certainly help you with Reaper if you want to give it a go. All DAWs are very similar though so if you're happy with it, stick with it!

@Armistice rates Slate drums and there is a free version at the moment, I couldn't get on with it though. I use Superior Drummer 3 which I'm really happy with - super versatile! You'd get on well with that but you might think its expensive.

Your mic seems to be fine on your voice and cello so no real problems there. If you want something that sounds nice on acoustic guitar you could just point an AKG C1000S at the 15th fret. They are cheap and I like my acoustic sound.

Have you considered a set of powered studio monitors? What's your recording space like? You could do some DIY sound treatment.

What about some percussion? Something like a cajon could suit your music really nicely.

[Alison]

Well - unless you need more inputs or there's something specific bothering you, there's probably not a lot wrong with your AudioBox iTwo. Is everything working OK? You having any problems with it?

I don't know much about Studio One - but most of us use Reaper, which is free for you to try anyway. We can certainly help you with Reaper if you want to give it a go. All DAWs are very similar though so if you're happy with it, stick with it!

@Armistice rates Slate drums and there is a free version at the moment, I couldn't get on with it though. I use Superior Drummer 3 which I'm really happy with - super versatile! You'd get on well with that but you might think its expensive.

Your mic seems to be fine on your voice and cello so no real problems there. If you want something that sounds nice on acoustic guitar you could just point an AKG C1000S at the 15th fret. They are cheap and I like my acoustic sound.

Have you considered a set of powered studio monitors? What's your recording space like? You could do some DIY sound treatment.

What about some percussion? Something like a cajon could suit your music really nicely.

Well, there is really nothing wrong with my interface. . . a friend suggested I might upgrade to one with a better preamp and a better vocal mic (I don't think he liked the sound I was getting on my guitars or my voice). The mic suggestion for my guitar is great, I'm going to look into it. Still pushing the Cajon. . . yeah, I'm tempted!

[Tadpui]

Of all of the people here, I may be the most understanding of the "upgrading because I can" thing

It would be good to know of any particular shortcomings that you might be bumping up against with your current equipment. If you're having troubles with things like not enough headroom, not enough gain, too much noise or too much distortion then those are good reasons to leave an interface in the drawer and move on to a different one. Or if it doesn't want to cooperate with your computer...that's always a deal-breaker for interfaces with me. Although in today's home studio world, it's pretty hard to find a truly bad interface (I'm looking at you, Lexicon Alpha). If I were to offer any suggestions, my favorite budget-friendly interfaces on the market today would be the 3rd gen Focusrite Scarlett, the MOTU M2/M4, and the SSL 2+.

I agree with JD, your vocals and cello sound nice. But it's always good to have a palette to choose from when it comes to microphones. It never hurts to have a couple (or a few...or a whole closet full) to choose from. I've come to the realization that I'd rather have a handful of less-pricey microphones to choose from rather than one super-duper expensive one that I expect to do everything.

MT Power Drumkit 2 is great as a freebie. It's a little "80s power ballad" sounding to me, so it might not fit in every situation. But it's totally worth downloading and experimenting with. EZDrummer from Toontrack (the little brother to Superior Drummer) has a pretty vast collection of sample packs to choose from, but it can be an expensive ecosystem to get into. If you do end up venturing into the world of sampled software drums, pretty soon you'll want to get some sort of a MIDI controller because composing drum patterns with a mouse and keyboard in a piano roll grid may be the single least fun activity I can imagine in a home studio. It's less "musical composition" and more "data entry"

It's crazy how saturated the home studio market is nowadays. There's never any shortage of "stuff" out there to lust over. I'm sure that we could give you a shopping list a mile long

[JD01]

Well - unless you need more inputs or there's something specific bothering you, there's probably not a lot wrong with your AudioBox iTwo. Is everything working OK? You having any problems with it?

I don't know much about Studio One - but most of us use Reaper, which is free for you to try anyway. We can certainly help you with Reaper if you want to give it a go. All DAWs are very similar though so if you're happy with it, stick with it!

@Armistice rates Slate drums and there is a free version at the moment, I couldn't get on with it though. I use Superior Drummer 3 which I'm really happy with - super versatile! You'd get on well with that but you might think its expensive.

Your mic seems to be fine on your voice and cello so no real problems there. If you want something that sounds nice on acoustic guitar you could just point an AKG C1000S at the 15th fret. They are cheap and I like my acoustic sound.

Have you considered a set of powered studio monitors? What's your recording space like? You could do some DIY sound treatment.

What about some percussion? Something like a cajon could suit your music really nicely.

Well, there is really nothing wrong with my interface. . . a friend suggested I might upgrade to one with a better preamp and a better vocal mic (I don't think he liked the sound I was getting on my guitars or my voice). The mic suggestion for my guitar is great, I'm going to look into it. Still pushing the Cajon. . . yeah, I'm tempted!

I wouldn't worry about your preamps. Unless you're going utterly bargain basement or properly high end you won't be able to tell the difference.

If you really want a nice mid priced vocal mic I can definitely recommend a Rode NT1

I actually don't mind the "data entry" aspect of drum programming. I find it almost therapeutic

[Alison]

Thanks @Tadpui and @JD01 for your suggestions. You have definitely given me a lot to think about!

There really is nothing wrong with my interface. I was thinking about it just based on another friends' comment.

Room treatment is a great suggestion, I was thinking of looking into getting or making some moveable panels. My room is small but it has 2 big windows in it which could be blocked with panels. Also some powered monitors. Definitely going to look into the mic's and Cajon Decisions, decisions. . . .

Shopping time! (Don't most women shop for shoes and handbags?)

[Lt. Bob]

Thanks @Tadpui and @JD01 for your suggestions. You have definitely given me a lot to think about!

There really is nothing wrong with my interface. I was thinking about it just based on another friends' comment.

Room treatment is a great suggestion, I was thinking of looking into getting or making some moveable panels. My room is small but it has 2 big windows in it which could be blocked with panels. Also some powered monitors. Definitely going to look into the mic's and Cajon Decisions, decisions. . . .

Shopping time! (Don't most women shop for shoes and handbags?)

is your hubby a musician too?

[musicturtle]

@Alison I like you only ever record one or two things at a time.

I love my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2($150 usually) with two inputs. Focusrite also does a plug in deal where you get a free one every few months, and has some nice plugins bundled with the interface.

I also really like my Aston Origin mic for vocals. It runs around $250, and I just love the sound. Not as bright a the RODE mics, but people love those as well.

[Alison]

Thanks @Tadpui and @JD01 for your suggestions. You have definitely given me a lot to think about!

There really is nothing wrong with my interface. I was thinking about it just based on another friends' comment.

Room treatment is a great suggestion, I was thinking of looking into getting or making some moveable panels. My room is small but it has 2 big windows in it which could be blocked with panels. Also some powered monitors. Definitely going to look into the mic's and Cajon Decisions, decisions. . . .

Shopping time! (Don't most women shop for shoes and handbags?)

is your hubby a musician too?

No, he loves music, and he kind of tinkers with piano but definitely not a musician. He definitely tolerates my obsession!

[JD01]

Thanks @Tadpui and @JD01 for your suggestions. You have definitely given me a lot to think about!

There really is nothing wrong with my interface. I was thinking about it just based on another friends' comment.

Room treatment is a great suggestion, I was thinking of looking into getting or making some moveable panels. My room is small but it has 2 big windows in it which could be blocked with panels. Also some powered monitors. Definitely going to look into the mic's and Cajon Decisions, decisions. . . .

Shopping time! (Don't most women shop for shoes and handbags?)

I just made my own room treatment for my small space.
Used 100mm wide 10mm thick strips of pine and made square frames out of them. I then wrapped the frames basic burlap and stuffed them with loft insulation.

I have square ones on the wall about 0.5m can 0.5m.
And 2.0m x 1.0m clouds on the ceiling.

I also made some triangular shaped ones to fit into the corners of the room.

If your husband isn't a great musician... maybe he's handy with a drill. You might find that nice powered monitors aren't that useful in an untreated room.