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Hi all,

I popped my large diaphragm condenser mic while I was finishing my last project. After panicking, I looked up online if

you can use a Shure SM-57 with a tube pre-amp. Others had, so I tried it. Listeners said that they did not notice the difference when the mics changed.

It was an Art portable tube pre-amp. I figured it would go out on me before the condenser mic did, since it looked more fragile.

Just putting this out there in case others get caught in a bind.

Best,

Wendy Landers

Typical dynamic mics designed for stage use can be surprisingly good when paired with a good preamp. The preamp is important because dynamic mics have less output and are less sensitive than condenser mics. 'Big' studios think nothing of dropping two grand on a mic pre and some of them might actually be worth that much, but when you think about it, a fifty or hundred-dollar mic preamp makes a lot of sense in some situations, such as the very common one where you have an interface that sold for less than $200; odds are, the purpose-built preamp will beat the ears off whatever the interface is sportin'. Presonus, Mackie, Audio-Technica and ART all make fabulous budget gear with no compromises; I'd recommend them to anyone who needs to meet a price point and that's just about everybody.

I've got my eye on a Universal Audio LA-610 - for someday.

I was just so surprised that the Shure SM-57 didn't drop consonants. I was - sure- it was going to. No pun intended.

Wendy

wendylanders wrote:I've got my eye on a Universal Audio LA-610 - for someday.

I think you'd be money ahead to get one of these, and use the money you save to go to the Rally. It's functionally very similar to the LA 610 but has more range/features, a lower noise floor and at the price, it's second only to ART's Pro VLA as an exemplar of no-compromise budget tube gear. If I were (still) running a commercial studio, I'd have to take into account how name-recognition appeals to the clientele; as an independent producer, my money goes so many places that I have to be really careful to keep the price-performance ratio high, particularly where it comes to hardware, that takes up what otherwise could be living space for me, the spouse and the cats.

Ha Ha Ha!

It is on the wish list as we "speak."

I will be at the Road Rally this year. I almost made it last year. - I don't know how I suddenly became indispensable to a friend at the last minute, but it happened. Probably "resistance."

Thank you for the gear recommendation!

Best,

Wendy Landers

mojobone wrote:

wendylanders wrote:I've got my eye on a Universal Audio LA-610 - for someday.

I think you'd be money ahead to get one of these, and use the money you save to go to the Rally. It's functionally very similar to the LA 610 but has more range/features, a lower noise floor and at the price, it's second only to ART's Pro VLA as an exemplar of no-compromise budget tube gear. If I were (still) running a commercial studio, I'd have to take into account how name-recognition appeals to the clientele; as an independent producer, my money goes so many places that I have to be really careful to keep the price-performance ratio high, particularly where it comes to hardware, that takes up what otherwise could be living space for me, the spouse and the cats.

Thanks for this recommendation!

wendylanders wrote: I was just so surprised that the Shure SM-57 didn't drop consonants. I was - sure- it was going to. No pun intended.

Wendy

Ronan Chris Murphy said one time that he could probably record and mix a whole band with nothing but SM-57s. http://www.venetowest.com/rcm/

So... what did you do to "pop" your condenser?

Russell

Sufjan Stevens made his first three (maybe four) records with nothing but SM57s.

Ronan Chris Murphy said one time that he could probably record and mix a whole band with nothing but SM-57s. Sufjan Stevens made his first three (maybe four) records with nothing but SM57s.

Riddle:


They could but they don't, they did but they don't. Why don't they??

THEY (pregnant pause) don't have to. Have you met Ronan? People fly him all over the world to record indigenous/ethnic/folk as well as pop, rock, funk and punk. Sufjan Stevens, on the other hand, did most of his first two records in his college dorm room; some of it was sung live, whilst his roommate was sleeping.

I think the first reasonably complete song I ever made featured an Audio-Technica copy of an SM58, a ragtag assemblage (I wouldn't call it a set, since none of the kitpieces matched) of borrowed drums, bass played live from a Yamaha DX100 and a cheap Washburn dreadnought that remarkably, I still own, use and love. I actually also still have the DX100, but that's a long and even more depressing story.

I didn't even have a reverb, so I routed the relevant vocal parts through the springs in a silverface Fender Super Reverb, returning through the same mic to my trusty Tascam cassette 4-track, which cost enough at the time that I had to cash in an insurance policy to buy it, but c'est la vie; If I hadn't had a place to put those emotions, which resulted from the end of my first marriage, I probably wouldn't be here to tell you about it.