mic test...

[Yamaha Man]

Here's the latest test recording of the Martin D-35 into the two Neumanns. This one may sound a little different as I was able to reset the pre-amp controls to get the optimum signal from the mics and a good strong signal into Sonar. I think it sounds great for a home studio....

https://soundcloud.com/djwayne2000/l...-into-neumanns

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[rick-slo]

A little bass congestion. Might try positioning mikes to avoid that.

[Yamaha Man]

I have to admit I could have done a better job of mic placement. I just dragged the dual mic stand into my computer room to set the levels by the meters on the Focusrite and in Sonar. One mic was adjacent to the 12th fret, but the other right over the sound hole, pointing at my arm. That's the mic that picked up the bass and is a bit muffled. After listening to the tracks separately, the left channel over the 12th fret sounded nice but the right side sounded a bit muffled by my arm in the way. I didn't spend much time on placing the mics properly and maybe that's what you're hearing. The point of the test was to get the settings on the Focusrite up to a maximum output with out distortion. My mics usually sit in a different room than my computer room and there's no way for me to play guitar out there and see what's happening on the levels of the Focusrite and Sonar. This test was to get those levels adjusted, and the end result was much better than I hoped for.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

I doubt that the R24 will obsolete very soon, I own the very similiar R16, and as RUDY said it's somewhat convenient for mobile use.

I just don't like the cheap feel of the knobs and faders which are very lightweight, and more importantly the onboard display which is tiny, which to me adds adds a level of inconvenience. I don't why I haven't sold it

So instead for remote (which I do alot of) I use a RME Babyface, and a laptop with SONAR X3, if I need more channels I use either an Audient Mico (if only 2 extra are needed) or a Mackie 800r for 8 more channels. Both of these external preamps sound great and interface with the Babyface for higher bitrate recording than the R24. Used Babyface interfaces usually go for around 3 to 5 hundred dollars and at that price and with it's easy to expand layout I recommend it as the single best piece of gear to buy for the home recording enthusiast with a computer. It just plain sounds professional! I use one daily and it never seems to let me down!

What we all choose to record with is a very personal matter, and sometimes you get caught up in the chase of gear, but after you buy a few pieces of high end gear I think you find out pretty quickly if it's worth the money. A lot of the high end gear is based on hype but there are a few pieces that absoluley make recording easier. I think the Neumann TLM102 mics and the SM7B both qualify as worth it for the home recordist although be aware the SM7B needs a lot of gain at the preamp to get it into the zone.

I also had reservations about the feel, but user reviews convinced me that it might not be an issue, and it wasn't. I choose the R24 over the R16 because it has a larger display and 8 channels of 48v phantom power. It really does make a slick live tracker; the session shown here was done in a large warehouse room and I transported my whole rig in the back of my Honda Fit. Set up was quick-n-easy! It's also ultra-simple to use, and 24 bit / 44.1 Khz wavs means I can track without the need to keep the levels pinned and still produce clean and low noise tracks when mixing.

[Yamaha Man]

The sad part about live recordings for was the bands I was recording sounded great live but sucked when you got back in the studio. I would hear mistakes, out of time drumming and bass, vocals were way off key, out of tune guitars, you name it, I heard it....after a while I just gave up on live recordings, because when the bands would hear themselves on tape, hear all the problems, they would become very discouraged. There's an old saying, "the tape don't lie."

In a live setting there usually ain't no "do overs." In a studio setting multiple takes are common place, because you can actually hear the recording right away.

[Yamaha Man]

So what did I buy today???? A used Auralex MudGuard Studio Foam Microphone Isolation Shield. I got a great price on it too !!

I'll use this in conjunction with the SM7b and room noise should be a thing of the past.

Here's a pic of one like mine...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/sound...phone-isolator


.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

I also had reservations about the feel, but user reviews convinced me that it might not be an issue, and it wasn't. I choose the R24 over the R16 because it has a larger display and 8 channels of 48v phantom power. It really does make a slick live tracker; the session shown here was done in a large warehouse room and I transported my whole rig in the back of my Honda Fit. Set up was quick-n-easy! It's also ultra-simple to use, and 24 bit / 44.1 Khz wavs means I can track without the need to keep the levels pinned and still produce clean and low noise tracks when mixing.

It looks like you had fun tracking that band. And kudos to you for using the R24 to it's fullest.

I don't know if you read my whole post, I OWN the R16 and my brother owns the R24. The R24 display is taller while the R16 is wider, neither one of is that easy to read. And the units are pretty much the same size, and to me the controls feel like a toy compared to a professional interface. For what they are, and at the price point, they have a lot of features, but next to a Babyface and a laptop, they aren't in the same league. Yes to do more simultaneous channels with the Babyface you have to have an external pre like the 800r, but when I'm live tracking a band, I want immediate access to a bigger display, independant 48 volts on every channel, high and low pass filters, parametric EQ, and phase knobs on every channel and I don't want to scroll around with a multifunction knob to access the parameters. As I said for what they are, and their price point, the R16 and the R24 are both nice little rigs. But for what I do, and the way I like to work, they just doesn't cut it. I bought my R16 to record the songs I write while on vacation in Montauk NY, where I go every year to relax and write songs, and although it was a pain to scoll through the screen, I still wrote a song or two using the built in mics, and saving to a SD card. Basically I came back with some decent demos. The next year I did the same thing with the RME Babyface, a laptop (loaded with Sonar, Sound Forge, and Waves Gold), and three microphones (2 Neumann KM184's and a M147), and a set of headphones. I came back with 5 finished songs. That's when I decided it was worth the effort to pack just a bit more stuff (which still fit in a small suitcase), and forget about the small all-in-one multi-trackers. And I felt like I was working in a pro studio the whole time I was using the RME rig! That's why I can't think of anything I would recommend more for a simple home studio set-up.

Here's an example of what it's like to look at the displays of each (the RME display is for my RME UC which looks almost identical to the Babyface, but my Babyface is at the studio so I just used the one I had at home ) but keep in mind that's only a corner of the laptop screen compared to the whole display on the R16...



It's not like the R16 R24 don't get the job done, I just feel they aren't very convenient. If someone doesn't mind the inconvenience of it multifunction knob, small screen, etc, they can work just fine. They just doesn't do it for me. I also bought an Apogee One, to use with my iPad, and I came to the same conclusion, too inconvenient for me I guess I should put some items up in the classifieds, hell, they are both in LIKE NEW condition! But I'm glad I bought both of these units to learn what they can do, and each one of them, in the right hands can obtain very good results. It's just that I prefer the RME. And the Babyface is 24-bit 192K, has arguably the best windows drivers for any audio interface out there, and the company continually releases software and firmware updates to keep their interfaces working with just about any operating system worth mentioning.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

It looks like you had fun tracking that band. And kudos to you for using the R24 to it's fullest.

I don't know if you read my whole post, I OWN the R16 and my brother owns the R24. The R24 display is taller while the R16 is wider, neither one of is that easy to read. And the units are pretty much the same size, and to me the controls feel like a toy compared to a professional interface. For what they are, and at the price point, they have a lot of features, but next to a Babyface and a laptop, they aren't in the same league. Yes to do more simultaneous channels with the Babyface you have to have an external pre like the 800r, but when I'm live tracking a band, I want immediate access to a bigger display, independant 48 volts on every channel, high and low pass filters, parametric EQ, and phase knobs on every channel and I don't want to scroll around with a multifunction knob to access the parameters. As I said for what they are, and their price point, the R16 and the R24 are both nice little rigs. But for what I do, and the way I like to work, they just doesn't cut it. I bought my R16 to record the songs I write while on vacation in Montauk NY, where I go every year to relax and write songs, and although it was a pain to scoll through the screen, I still wrote a song or two using the built in mics, and saving to a SD card. Basically I came back with some decent demos. The next year I did the same thing with the RME Babyface, a laptop (loaded with Sonar, Sound Forge, and Waves Gold), and three microphones (2 Neumann KM184's and a M147), and a set of headphones. I came back with 5 finished songs. That's when I decided it was worth the effort to pack just a bit more stuff (which still fit in a small suitcase), and forget about the small all-in-one multi-trackers. And I felt like I was working in a pro studio the whole time I was using the RME rig! That's why I can't think of anything I would recommend more for a simple home studio set-up.

Here's an example of what it's like to look at the displays of each (the RME display is for my RME UC which looks almost identical to the Babyface, but my Babyface is at the studio so I just used the one I had at home ) but keep in mind that's only a corner of the laptop screen compared to the whole display on the R16...



It's not like the R16 R24 don't get the job done, I just feel they aren't very convenient. If someone doesn't mind the inconvenience of it multifunction knob, small screen, etc, they can work just fine. They just doesn't do it for me. I also bought an Apogee One, to use with my iPad, and I came to the same conclusion, too inconvenient for me I guess I should put some items up in the classifieds, hell, they are both in LIKE NEW condition! But I'm glad I bought both of these units to learn what they can do, and each one of them, in the right hands can obtain very good results. It's just that I prefer the RME. And the Babyface is 24-bit 192K, has arguably the best windows drivers for any audio interface out there, and the company continually releases software and firmware updates to keep their interfaces working with just about any operating system worth mentioning.

Sorry if I offended you. I DID read your entire post carefully. If I'm going to reply to a post I feel the poster deserves that consideration.

To each his own, but I find that a larger display isn't necessary for me. Other than calling up a project template and hitting the enter button to assign it as a new project I barely use the display. I have no need of inserts, EQ, or anything else as my MO is to track dry with a pristine signal that I can work with in a DAW. Most of the time assigning EQ or compression or anything else when tracking turns out to be wrong about as often as it's right. (YMMV obviously)

Phantom is assigned in track pairs for the most part and having phantom power on a input that has a dynamic won't hurt it a bit. The only time I can think of an application when you might actually do some damage is applying phantom power to a ribbon, and then only some of the vintage stuff not having it's own electronics. In that case you're well past capturing tracks with an R24, so it's a moot point.

For hardware I have $500 invested in a recorder and I've done 3 full CD projects and a bunch of other stuff with it. My needs are simple and I try not to get caught up in the whole process of continually needing to upgrade. Obviously I have way more invested in peripherals, but you have to do that no matter what you're recording with.

I'm not trying to insinuate that your personal choices aren't worth the cost, only that I'm very satisfied with my own bang for the buck.

[Yamaha Man]

In other news, my SM7b and Auralex MudGuard have both shipped. Checking around it appears that Auralex has discontinued the MudGuard I bought for a MudGuard Version 2, an udated design for of course at a higher price($149).

I'm was happy to find the original used one at the price I got. ($50). I was thinking about making a homemade jobber, but when I found the Auralex unit, I couldn't replace it for what I paid for it.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

A little bass congestion. Might try positioning mikes to avoid that.

Sounds mono to me, which may be the reason for the bass sound. This was two mics? Setup how?

[Yamaha Man]

It was two TLM 102 mics setup on a stereo bar about 12" apart. I set it up to record two mono tracks in Sonar, a left and a right, what your hearing is what was exported out of Sonar into an MP3. Did Sonar mix these two tracks together to make on mono exported track ?? Possibly. Like I said one channel was a bit muffled by my arm as it was a very quick setup without much attention to detail. The purpose was to set microphone levels on the Focusrite and in Sonar. On closer inspection here, one track does indeed sound a bit muffled.

Thanks for listening, better recordings will be coming out once I get the SM7b and the Mud Guard.

[Yamaha Man]

No, it's not mono, I traced the recording out of Sonar and it sounded indeed like it was a stereo recording, with the left channel muffled, I turned down the right channel and what was left was the muffled sound. I did the same to the recording on Sound Cloud, thinking that maybe they mixed it to a mono track but nope, the left track was still muffled, right track sounded fine.

I'll have to experiment more with mic placements.

[Yamaha Man]

What I'm thinking about doing, is to wrap the Mud Guard with a Harbor Freight moving blanket and let it drape to the floor, creating a semi circle of a homemade sound booth. Then put the two stereo TLM 102's inside the booth to record guitar, and drop the SM7b into the top of the booth...then put an insulator piece of foam horizontally to separate the SM7b and the TLM 102's into separate compartments. Then I can record vocals and guitar at the same time and still have them on fairly isolated tracks in Sonar. I'd have three inputs into the Focusrite 18i8. I may have to work out a few bugs, but this just might work !!!

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Martin Maniac

No, it's not mono, I traced the recording out of Sonar and it sounded indeed like it was a stereo recording, with the left channel muffled, I turned down the right channel and what was left was the muffled sound. I did the same to the recording on Sound Cloud, thinking that maybe they mixed it to a mono track but nope, the left track was still muffled, right track sounded fine.

I'll have to experiment more with mic placements.

Interesting, it didn't have much of a stereo field, and each side seems to be identical when I listen thru sound cloud. But it's hard to really verify without having the file. You can enable downloads in soundcloud if you want to allow people to access the file to give better feedback. Also, you don't have to convert to mp3 before posting, soundcloud will take care of that, while still allowing people to download at full quality. Assuming you are looking for feedback, that lets people do more than they can do listening to soundcloud, and eliminates some potential errors in conversion.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Interesting, it didn't have much of a stereo field, and each side seems to be identical when I listen thru sound cloud. But it's hard to really verify without having the file. You can enable downloads in soundcloud if you want to allow people to access the file to give better feedback. Also, you don't have to convert to mp3 before posting, soundcloud will take care of that, while still allowing people to download at full quality. Assuming you are looking for feedback, that lets people do more than they can do listening to soundcloud, and eliminates some potential errors in conversion.

It's mono. Izotope Insight is reading it as absolute mono but with some bizarre anomalies. It's dead mono with an occasional minuscule spike (looks like a sun flare) shooting off to the right.

I've never seen anything like it. It doesn't look like phase anomalies. My strong hunch is something afoul in the signal chain.