What is the weakest part of my signal chain ? (Besides me!)

[mark]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Hi all,
I'm just wondering what peoples opinions are on the following signal chain.

On the source end (leaving out musicians or room types), my mics are:

- Soundelux U195
- Josephson C42 (Stereo pair)
- Lots of SM57's

My mic-preamps are:

- 4 channels of RNP
- 20 channels of Crest XR20 preamps

My DAW comprises of:

- 2 x Delta 1010LT's, giving me 16 inputs (only 4 of them balanced).
- Running Cubase SX 2.0

My other external gear comprises of:

- 1 Lexicon PCM-80
- 1 Aphex Dominator II
- 2 x RNC's

Now I know I am a bit (!) low on microphones, I could do with some omnis
for a start, but basically, is there any "unbalance" in my signal chain
? Or is everything about as good as eachother ? Is there anything
perhaps worth upgrading to "flatter" something else in the chain ?

I like the sound I'm getting but sometimes I just wonder, what if I had
better converters for instance, how would the difference stack up in the
mix, etc. The other reason I worry about the converters more these days
is because I like using the Lexicon, which involves coming out of the
Delta 1010LT's, and then back in..

I'm not asking anyone to tell me what to buy, I'd just be grateful for
just general opinions on all this for me to ponder over.

PS, yep I already know the musician and the room are the largest factor ;-)

Cheers,

Mark.
--

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"Mark" <marks@nospamhere.net> wrote in message
news:cpa13p$rpj$1@hercules.btinternet.com


> I'm just wondering what peoples opinions are on the following signal
> chain.

....signal chain deleted because the point is, its incomplete.

IME the most important, irreplaceable part of your signal chain is you. This
begs the question of how you interface to the rest of it. IOW what are you
using for auditioning your work in progress?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Mark wrote:
>
> I like the sound I'm getting but sometimes I just wonder, what if I had
> better converters for instance, how would the difference stack up in the
> mix, etc.

Try some and see. Maybe a Lynx or RME card?



> The other reason I worry about the converters more these days
> is because I like using the Lexicon, which involves coming out of the
> Delta 1010LT's, and then back in..

So find a Lexicon with digital I/O...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <cpa13p$rpj$1@hercules.btinternet.com> marks@nospamhere.net writes:

> On the source end (leaving out musicians or room types), my mics are:
>
> - Soundelux U195
> - Josephson C42 (Stereo pair)
> - Lots of SM57's
>
> My mic-preamps are:
>
> - 4 channels of RNP
> - 20 channels of Crest XR20 preamps
>
> My DAW comprises of:
>
> - 2 x Delta 1010LT's, giving me 16 inputs (only 4 of them balanced).
> - Running Cubase SX 2.0
>
> My other external gear comprises of:
>
> - 1 Lexicon PCM-80
> - 1 Aphex Dominator II
> - 2 x RNC's
>
> Now I know I am a bit (!) low on microphones

Your mic collection looks reasonable, but it depends on what you're
recording.


> is there any "unbalance" in my signal chain
> ? Or is everything about as good as eachother ? Is there anything
> perhaps worth upgrading to "flatter" something else in the chain ?

I'd be a little suspicious of the Delta 1010 - they pack a lot of
stuff into a small package for not very much money. But then you
probably can get more bang for the bucks you'd spend on 16 channels of
high quality A/D conversion by adding a little variety to your mic
collection.

But you didn't ask about your monitoring chain, so I will. What are
you listening with? How do you know what your recordings really sound
like? (or when do you learn what they sound like?)


--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo