As always we have a bunch of marvellous questions in today’s episode!
So let’s jump right into today’s featured question! “When it comes to recording quality, Is a good audio interface or microphone more important to get that radio-ready sound?”
I think it depends on your interface if you’re just using a 15 or 20-year-old interface like one of the early MBox or Digi001’s form the late 90’s -early 00’s then yes the interface is going to make a huge difference.
We did a video on this a little while ago and talked about how if you’ve bought something in the last couple of years than your average interface, like the Audient iD44 is hundreds of dollars, not thousands. – You can make a record on that.
You just have to be careful no too hit it too hard and distort the mic pre but you can make a record on it. As long as you’re working on reasonable quality stuff you should be fine.
So will a microphone make a difference? Yes, It will make a huge difference.
The biggest differences are very very old digital equipment compared with modern equipment.
Cheap modern digital equipment is ten times better then some of the stuff we were using 25 years ago. – Maybe not today’s lowest level stuff but in the couple of hundred of dollars range it’s amazing what we can get now.
As far as microphones go, I think a decent priced condenser is worth its weight in gold. – It doesn’t have to be a $15,000 vintage microphone.
The $500-$1000 range has a lot of incredible microphones. We’ve been using microphones that were $149 on vocals. Some of the lower price range microphones like some Lewitt’s are phenomenal value for money. – There are a lot of other manufacturers as well, Audio Technica makes great microphones that are inexpensive as well.
It’s arguable what is a good microphone these days, I think $500-$1000 gives you a lot of good choices. But there are gems in that $100-$300 price range, and there are some great microphones out there which will give you incredible results. – It’s a lot different world than the one I grew up in.
In the world I grew up, the only “affordable” condenser was the AKG C1000s and it wasn’t even that cheap.
I fired one up a couple of years ago and compared it against a Rode NT1 and yeah… that was the only thing you could choose those days.
Now there are so many microphone companies like Lewitt, Audio Technia, and loads of others who are making wonderful microphones at incredibly affordable prices.
If you’re asking me which one to get, my questions to you would be:
1) Do you have a really, really old interface? If so, get a more modern interface.
2) Do you have at least a decent highish to a mid-level quality microphone? If you do, then you’re going to be fine.
You can make incredible records for just a few hundred dollars worth of gear.
We cover the following questions during this episode of FAQ Friday!
• Where is the best place to put a room mic when recording a rock band along with their amps and PA in a room? (1:53)
• Do you have an opinion on continually variable phase adjustment for drums vs your time adjuster? (6:42)
• When it comes to recording quality, Is a good audio interface or microphone more important to get that radio-ready sound? (10:59)
• When you send stems out do you remove any automation? (14:14)