Favorite Mic-Preamp Combo(s) for Recording Guitar & Vocals

[Ivan Lee]

At 96kHz 64Buffer - the lowest ProTools HD Native goes Round Trip Latency is 1.7ms through pro tools and plugs. The 1.1ms number is using Logic as the host at 96kHz 32 buffer (unknown yet it ProTools will support 32buffer at 96kHz with this interface).

Although there is a ton of good to be said about all the i7 equipped Macs - in the past 4 years I have owned a 2009 MacPro Nehalem quad, 2012 mac mini (all SSD), and a Late 2013 27" imac i7 - all SSD. Although any of those can do the job - IMO - For serious audio work at low buffers (low latency) none comes close to the nMP. Its is more $$ for sure (though at $3K for the quad not extreme) - but having all of those right in front of me - I am super happy with my choice. No new machine needed now for many years.

[GuitarsFromMars]

Yikes!...some pretty nice gear, Guys.

PC based: Core2Duo using FW card to an RME FF 400.

I have 2 Rane MS1b pres and a JJ Audio modded M-Audio (dual pres) DMP3.

The guitar currently gets a JJA U87 clone (12 fret), a JJA KM84 clone (behind the bridge). I have a JJA C12 clone for the vox.

So 3 sets of pres(RME, Rane, or DMP) and a bunch of other mics.

I always wanted a pair of Schoeps...

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Ivan Lee

At 96kHz 64Buffer - the lowest ProTools HD Native goes Round Trip Latency is 1.7ms through pro tools and plugs. The 1.1ms number is using Logic as the host at 96kHz 32 buffer (unknown yet it ProTools will support 32buffer at 96kHz with this interface).

Although there is a ton of good to be said about all the i7 equipped Macs - in the past 4 years I have owned a 2009 MacPro Nehalem quad, 2012 mac mini (all SSD), and a Late 2013 27" imac i7 - all SSD. Although any of those can do the job - IMO - For serious audio work at low buffers (low latency) none comes close to the nMP. Its is more $$ for sure (though at $3K for the quad not extreme) - but having all of those right in front of me - I am super happy with my choice. No new machine needed now for many years.

1.7 for PT HD Native ? Wonder where I got the 5. perhaps that was out through my M7 and back? Or just faulty memory

Ivan what size SSD are you liking for the OS drive ? I am running a MacPro Westmere 6 core 3.33 Ghz that I am pretty happy with and will use for some time yet. However at present I am still running disk HDs, a 1 TB for the system and a 2 TB for the Pt sessions. I am wondering if my next move might be to get an SSD for the OS drive and then since I can run 4 drives use one disk for Audio session storage and one for Video storage . And when you say all SSD is that system and session storage ?


So I have not noticed any delay in my head phones as such while recording which I usually do at either 32 or 64 buffer.
Except for the time I did an overdub on a fairly large session with lots of plugs (30 or 40) including some high sample delay mastering plugs Waves MBL comp and L2 limiter Lin EQ , 5 or six instruments and also with most of tracks (both audio and midi) coming in from Reason slaved via Rewire to PT.
Even with Auto delay comp on , and a total of around 3600 samples, definitely had a noticeable and distracting delay. The good news I was able keystroke batch bypass all the plugs and run at 64 without a noticeable delay.

[Ivan Lee]

AVID i/o's run in different modes at 44.1 vs 96k. Latencies are:

Avid Omni + 16x16 Input 16x16 output Omni
96kHz I/O RT
64 samples ---- 1.80ms
128--------------3.12ms
256--------------5.8ms
LLM--------------0.47ms

AVID OMNI - TB 44.1
32 samples ----- 3.35ms
64 samples ----- 4.80ms
128 -------------- 7.68ms
LLM -------------- 1.9ms

If 5ms latency doesn't bother you - as the song says - Don't Worry - Be Happy :-) The tolerance for latency is all over the map. LLM is the low latency option for HD hardware.

As far as system drives for OSX - in your MacPro it is easy to add in a 3rd drive (though you need an adapter case/plate (see newegg) to fit nicely into those 3.5" slots. A 128G would do for most people (just OS and programs) though a 256G is so "cheap" nowadays I would go for that. Also - your machine is SATA II so no need to get anything fancy (all current drives are SATA III speeds - backward compatible). I would highly recommend the Samsung 840 EVO series - the Pro series is a step up if you feel flush but will not feel any different in your system.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Ivan Lee

AVID i/o's run in different modes at 44.1 vs 96k. Latencies are:

Avid Omni + 16x16 Input 16x16 output Omni
96kHz I/O RT
64 samples ---- 1.80ms
128--------------3.12ms
256--------------5.8ms
LLM--------------0.47ms

AVID OMNI - TB 44.1
32 samples ----- 3.35ms
64 samples ----- 4.80ms
128 -------------- 7.68ms
LLM -------------- 1.9ms

If 5ms latency doesn't bother you - as the song says - Don't Worry - Be Happy :-) The tolerance for latency is all over the map. LLM is the low latency option for HD hardware.

As far as system drives for OSX - in your MacPro it is easy to add in a 3rd drive (though you need an adapter case/plate (see newegg) to fit nicely into those 3.5" slots. A 128G would do for most people (just OS and programs) though a 256G is so "cheap" nowadays I would go for that. Also - your machine is SATA II so no need to get anything fancy (all current drives are SATA III speeds - backward compatible). I would highly recommend the Samsung 840 EVO series - the Pro series is a step up if you feel flush but will not feel any different in your system.

Thanks for the info

[rockabilly69]

I have some really high end mics, but my favorite acoustic guitar setup is mid-side with a modded Rode NTK (by John Bonnell) as the mid mic, and a Rode K2 as the side mic, into a Drawmer 1960 pre/compressor. The bright Rode mics mate extremely well with the dark Drawmer. I also like recording with a Cloud JRS34 into my Manley Voxbox, that's another sweet combo!

[Luria]

Originally Posted by alohachris

Aloha,

I would love to read what your current favorite mic-preamp combo is for recording acoustic guitar.

If you are looking for a pro sound, inexpensive, and you only need to trk 1 or 2 tracks at at time, mostly using a single Condenser or 2 Condensers, then i would suggest that you purchase a cEntrance MicPort Pro.
its Class A, 96k, requires no downloads, and will work instantly with any Daw.

Nothing competes with this gear if you are tracking with one mic and are playing and singing, or playing, then overdubbing.

Its a brilliant device.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Luria

If you are looking for a pro sound, inexpensive, and you only need to trk 1 or 2 tracks at at time, mostly using a single Condenser or 2 Condensers, then i would suggest that you purchase a cEntrance MicPort Pro.
its Class A, 96k, requires no downloads, and will work instantly with any Daw.

Nothing competes with this gear if you are tracking with one mic and are playing and singing, or playing, then overdubbing.

Its a brilliant device.

I believe Chris is not looking for suggestions, just asking people to list their favorite or gotto set up is . Kinda like a "Show me your Studio" thread.

[Luria]

Originally Posted by KevWind

I believe Chris is not looking for suggestions, just asking people to list their favorite or gotto set up is . Kinda like a "Show me your Studio" thread.

Apple MacPro 17 - With a few Daws in it.

Monitors,- Dnyaudio BM5A, Focal CMS-50, Adam F5

Waves Plug ins.

Sound Device Pre2, Audient ID22, QSC Touch Mix 16, Apollo Duo Twin, SPL Crimson, Roland Quad Capture, Focus Mix 16

cEntrance MicPort Pro (2)

Mics - Avantone Tube, MXL-Tube, Shure

Headphones , Blue MO-FI, Sennheiser 650 & 598, Philips Fidelio L2 , Sony MA900

Acoustics : Goodall GC , Schenk GC , Steve Stevens OO, Yamaha Custom OM

Electrics : Brian Moore I21, Gibson LP, Reverend Reeves Gabriels Sig, Jackson JTX

Midi Keyboard into Ignite if im writing music without using guitar.

When mixing i bypass my Mac's converters and use a Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus, or I use a super high end Headroom Max Analog Amp's outs > into the monitors.