Mic/interface combo for good vocals

douglasskates

New member
When it comes to getting “good vocals”, will any of these mic/interface combo get the job done?
without any real treatment(rigid fiberglass,rockwool, etc), its not allowed where im staying.
ill record in a medium sized bedroom with sort of thin walls and carpet on the floor.
Is it a bad idea to add in a few acoustic blankets?I heard it’ll sound worse than having no treatment at all, because then there will be an excess of lower-mid frequencies.
My goal is to achieve “good vocals”= satisfies major indusry artists/producers/A&R. I am not aiming for high end studio/professional quality.
Im a male with a deeper rap voice, I will sing as well but I need autotune, my voice is similar to sage the geminis
I intend to spend as little as I can, can you tell me yes or no if any of these will combos get the job done.
NT1A/focusrite 2i4
Sm58/focusrite 6i6/cloud lifter
Sm58/tascam 7000/cloud lifter
Sm58/tascam 7000/isa one
Sm7b/focusrite 6i6/cloud lifter
Sm7b/tascam 7000/cloud lifter
Sm7b/tascam 7000/isa one

a associate of mine who raps told me all i needed was the nt1a a few uhaul blankets and a 2i4 and id be set. i hope this is true
 
the focusrite scarlet solo or the 2i2 will do fine. There's others that'll do fine in that price range as well.
did you think of buying a reflection filter? Cheapest goes for 40 bucks. That'll take care of pretty much all your acoustic treatment if your limited in what you can do.
as far as i know both mics are good but that's not my cup of tea tbh. So i leave the advise about the mic and the filter to someone else.
 
The Cloudlifter is supposed to work wonders (I don't have one). That being said, a condenser mike and some room treatment are generally pre-requisites/de rigguer, so if you only can do what you can do, scale your expectations accordingly.

If you can afford the SM7, that would probably be better than the 58. However, the 58 is a standard workhorse, will take a lot of abuse, and can double as a live mike if you ever need one. So yeah, I guess it's all good...
 
After reading FutureMusic's Antelope Orion Studio review a while back, I picked one up for use on hip-hop, and dance music vocals. Pretty pricey, but the thing is solid as a rock, super-transparent and cleannnnnnnn! I just read on Electronic Musician that they have just upgraded it, so the timing may be perfect for you. I use the tascam 7000 as the audio interface and headphone amp for one of my computers and like it alot, but it doesn't come close to the Antelope. Hope this helps...
 
antelope, rme, apogee, universal audio, and motu are definitely on the top
haven't been very content with tascam tbh. It functions, but it doesn't go that extra length of what those above give you. That's like expecting the impossible, like expecting to build a complete professional studio with 100 bucks.
Though, the quality of the converters of the tascam us100 is mweh, and the mic preamp is horrible. Definitely not worth the 100 bucks I paid for it. That's a good example of going for too much features for too little money. Phono amp and all the other in and outputs, no install needed, etc. Carefully weigh what you need now and what you think you're gonna be needing in the near future and then choose carefully.
You get what you pay for is quite safe to go by nowadays tbh. The competition and our know how of the competition, thousands of reviews near hand, you can quite quickly find out if something will work for a good while or break down or work poorly.
Also, webshops have crazy return policies. You can safely try out equipment that you think works, try to objectively test it and then if you don't like it, send it back, even after 60 days of use.
 
im a little confused about
1. Does a higher quality interface affect the vocal quality of a dynamic more than a condenser?
2. I also heard the cloudlifter doesnt work well with the sm7b/sm58 unless you have a dedicated pre and audio interface ?
3. Are based traps really only useful for mixing, will acoustic blankets be all i need for vocals?
i keep hearing if you want to spend less for good quality go with a dynamic, but people never mention you need a dedicated pre for gain which makes dynamics much more expensive
4. is it a better choice to buy used or new gear? trying to save money, but dont want to be sold something not in good shape. a used product someone sales to me could go bad in a few days, months, etc.
5. preferably can you rank these options in order of what sounds worst to best or you can just tell me the cheapest setup that will meet my goal of achieving good sounding vocals(satisfies major producers/artist/a&rs) ? in a medium sized bed room with parallel thin walls,carpet on floor, and acoustic blankets as the only treatment for a rapper/singer with a deep voice similar to sage the gemini
NT1A/focusrite 2i4
NT2A/2i4
TLM 102/2i4
Sm58/focusrite 6i6/cloud lifter
Sm58/tascam 7000/cloud lifter
Sm58/tascam 7000/isa one
Sm7b/focusrite 6i6/cloud lifter
Sm7b/tascam 7000/cloud lifter
Sm7b/tascam 7000/isa one
 
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thanks for mentioning those, i heard so much good news about the tascam 7000 that i figured it was the best interface in the $500 range
 
i will add that to the buy list, thought they didnt help much because the main area to treat is behind you and the sides. i appreciate it
 
yea ok thats why im strongly considering the sm58 although its the least exciting purchase because it seem like the least detailed mic of the bunch. thanks .
 
can you rank these 10 mic/interfaces in order

can you rank these 5 options in order of what sounds worst to best or you can just tell me the cheapest setup that will meet my goal of achieving "good sounding vocals"(satisfies major producers/artist/a&rs) ? in a medium sized bed room 11x13x8ft with parallel ,thin walls, one window 5x3ft ,carpet on floor, and acoustic blankets as the only available treatment for a rapper/singer with a deep voice. No broadband absorbers allowed where i live.

1) NT1A/focusrite 2i4
2)NT2A/2i4
3)Sm58/tascam7000/cloud lifter
4)Sm58/tascam7000/isa one
5)Sm7b/tascam 7000/cloud lifter
 
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Well, the sound is going to be very different when using a LDC vs. a dynamic microphone. Whether or not this or that's better depends on how your voice is, how the room sounds, how you perform and all that - for example, it's not like you always need a Cloudlifter for the SM7B - if you sing loudly in it, the regular interface gain will be probably just enough. If not, you might indeed need it.

The Tascam UH-7000 is a very nice interface & definitely a step up from the Focusrites, though. I'd go with that and pair it with, well, any of those mics. The Shures will retain their value pretty well, so you could start with those and simply sell them on if they don't work for you.
 
You made 3 posts about the same issue.
I deleted one, I merged the other to this one.
Please keep using this thread for the same question.
Please don't keep posting bump repeatedly.
Please do some research on your own. Google is your friend.
Sometimes, you gotta do with what you got. Ppl sometimes don't give you the exact answer you want to hear. Then you gotta do some more research, or , ask your question differently.
 
Well, the sound is going to be very different when using a LDC vs. a dynamic microphone. Whether or not this or that's better depends on how your voice is, how the room sounds, how you perform and all that - for example, it's not like you always need a Cloudlifter for the SM7B - if you sing loudly in it, the regular interface gain will be probably just enough. If not, you might indeed need it.

The Tascam UH-7000 is a very nice interface & definitely a step up from the Focusrites, though. I'd go with that and pair it with, well, any of those mics. The Shures will retain their value pretty well, so you could start with those and simply sell them on if they don't work for you.

Awesome, yea i've heard they hold their value and are very durable! shure is the way to go!
 
You made 3 posts about the same issue.
I deleted one, I merged the other to this one.
Please keep using this thread for the same question.
Please don't keep posting bump repeatedly.
Please do some research on your own. Google is your friend.
Sometimes, you gotta do with what you got. Ppl sometimes don't give you the exact answer you want to hear. Then you gotta do some more research, or , ask your question differently.
I've researched a ton even before making any posts and still researching. Its just hard to weed out the bad advice from the good for me and you hear a lot of contradicting things. So, i decided to try to be as specific as i can without any useless details. But, alright i need to work on formulating better questions, not bumping and a few other things.
 
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