M-Box
12' I book with Pro Tools LE
256MB Ram
20 gig Hardrive
Yamaha RS 7000 Drum Machine
Yamaha S03 Keyboard Board
Tascam T1000 mixing Board
Roland 840 harddisc recorder

Anyone have any suggestions for a Condenser Mic and Pre-Amp?

Any Help would be greatly appreciated.
Looking to start recording my first album by begining August. I'm a R&B/Hip-Hop/Rap Artist
Anyone have a similar setup? Anyone using the
Yamaha RS 7000?

Depends on:

-your budget…
-your taste…

You should really try some different mics if you can, before jumping on 5 numbers mics and preamp. Depends of voice, depends on your "behaviour" in front of a mic, depends of the use (studio only/studio and gigs…). How much can you spare on that!

BTW there's an other thread running on the same subject…

http://www.macmusic.org/agora/forums/index...2321&s=&lang=FR

Check it too…

But you have a better budget…(500$)

lot of decent choices there

(sorry back in 5 mn)

MMh back…

You have a Mbox… focusrite pre… could be worse

Something better will cost you more than your budget

Check the Rode NTs, or the bunch of cheap condensers that are around…
plenty of stuff available.

As I said in the other thread, my own voice sound better to me with a NT1 than a NT2 so the price tag is not only the thing to check, some mics suit better than other for a type of voice. Can't tell you for yours. Pretty personal taste.

AND a pop shield (home made)

i make a lot of r&b and hiphop.
most people in this field go for a valve mic.
as lepetitmartien says there are no golden rules, but check out some valve mics like rode classic or akg solidtube.
otherwise, akg 414 is a classic, an affordable neumann with a large capsule, or rode (large capsule again).
the other solution, to a degree, is antares' mic modeller plugin.
it can sometimes be great!
also, compression is very important here, especially with rap. using a good compressor after a good mic pre is kinda' essential for getting good vocal sounds.

I also have an ibox and little ibook. As LepetitM says, you already have good preamplification in your Mbox. If you use headphones, start with the volume low then blast. If you blast straight away you may need your ears fixed. I use a Rode NT2. I got it for the equivalent of 410$ in France (list price 750 here if you get the carrying case too). If you want portable, you might like to try a DPA 4060 www.dpamicrophones.com There's a 'microphone university' on the site. Try www.dpamicrophones.com/art544.htm on miking vocals in the recording studio. The 4060 is very small and you can carry it around in the bag with the ibook and mbox - even strap it to your head as it doesn't mind sweat too much. List price in France equiv. of 400$ inc postage but in th US probably cheaper. I haven't got it yet so I feel silly having everything portable except the big heavy highly sensitive NT2 (sounds great for me though). I haven't used it yet so I can only quote:

"The Miniature Microphone's size taken into consideration DPA has obtained an outstanding noise floor of 23dB(A) re. 20 µPa and an impressive sensitivity of 20mV/Pa and if powered correctly, the microphone will be able to handle sound pressure levels up to 134dB SPL before clipping occurs"

Also, do a search on your browser for StudioBuddy. Its a concise 'How to record guitar/drums/voice/sax etc' free download - loads of good tips for green sound recorders like me.

If you live in a big town, I too say go and try some out. Mics are expensive and you don't want to make a mistake if you have a limited budget.

Apparently, 2 mics are better than one and omnis can give a nice sound.

Pop shield : stiff wire + wife's old tights
When you get the mic, you may find you need sound isolation.
If you do it yourself it shouldn't cost more than 5000$
Heehee;-)))

hang on here.
studio mics and field mics are very different beasts.
stereo pairs and all that...
some of you guys may as well use micmodeller and RAVE about how good it is.

Hi
I have tried many mics and I am so satiesfied with my Protube.
Anyone heard of that?
It is a condenser mic with Neuman tech inside.

I have screamed and been breathing in it, and it is perfect.

It costs as much as a Neuman though