So I bought a tube mic. Now what?

W

wutitbelikewhoadi

Guest
Some of you may remember the thread a while back where I was asking about a mic (most of you probably wont). Well, I went out and bought a shiny new mxl v69 tube mic, and it came with a presonus TubePre. And I kid you not, the first thought I had was "man, my cheap *ss condenser mic sounded better".
So I've come to the conclusion... that I'm doing something wrong. It goes from extremes, to sounding either extremely overdriven, or just too low. I guess you could say it lacks the presence that I thought it would have.

Oh, and here's the equip. list

-compaq r4000 laptop
-lexicon omega digital interface
-mogami cables (big deal)
-cubase le
-presonus TubePre
-MXL V69

Sorry for the long thread, but any help is appreciated.
 
Warning: All tubes are not made equal!!
Not every tube mic will sound the same. Some will sound crappy amd some will sound spectacular. Thats why Telefunken mics cost 5 grand and up!! Same goes for mic pre's. Tubes usually have a warm distortion to some listeners when overdriven. This is what people talk about when they sometimes refer to 'coloration.'
 
And not every preamp is an optimal match for every mic and not every mic is an optimal match for every recording task... even from, say, vocalist to vocalist.


Some mics and pres are neutral and some have greater character/warmth/coloration/distortion (that's not intended to be a continuum, necessarily, but they are all aspects of the same set of phenomenona).

And, of course, different mics require different techniques.

Which brings to mind the old story about the pro shop that sold a U47 to a finicky project studio owner. (Now, this story was told to me as a personal remembrance by a 4 deacde veteran in the project/school/church studio market, so it might really be the original source.)

The studio owner had gone through some mic recommendations from the shop but was never satisfied. He was looking for something to deliver killer vocals.

One day he came in saying he knew what he wanted, he'd done all his homework, he had to have a U47. The pro shop located one in very good condition, having to pay top dollar. It was beautiful, nice box, ps, etc. They were proud to hand it over to him.

They didn't hear from him for a few days and hoped for the best but finally they got The Call.

"It's just not working for me. It's really, really dull sounding."

The shop owner, who said he'd tested the mic and it was a very nice mic, was dumbfounded.

Finally, he said, look, I'm going to be in your neck of the woods, let me come by and check out how your using it, your settings, etc.

So, he goes out and the studio owner says he was just about to track a girl vocalist. He's got the U47 and another mic set up. in the studio and he pulls the U47 over in front of the girl and positions it.

The pro shop guy watches for a few moments, unbelieving, as the studio owner goes in and punches up the tape.

About halfway through the first verse, the pro shop guy says, "Uh, I gotta stop you man. There's a problem."

And the studio guy says, "What? Is there something wrong with the signal chain? Is the preamp set wrong, the compressor? What?"

The pro shop guy says, "Uh, yeah, I mean... well... the U47 is a side address microphone and you've got her singing into the top of it."
 
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Ummm... yeah. I understand what you're getting at. I have it positioned correctly, and even if I didn't, I experiment with it in different positions until I get the optimal one. As far as the preamp goes, I'm pretty new to this, so I don't really know what to buy to get the effect I want. Not to mention that there's nowhere around here where I can sample stuff to see what I like or don't like and I'm not too enthusiastic about spending my life savings trying to find the right piece of equipment.
 
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