[cowparsleyman]

I get a lot of people ask me how I get the Vocals to be so prominent in a mix, well the answer always depends on a few things, but one I can recommend is to use a mic pre amp.

Pretty much all audio interfaces have a mic pre amp built in, but in my experience an external unit works very well.

They don't need to be expensive to be effective, I use a Presonus Bluetube V2, a 2 channel unit with a 12ax7 valve (replaced with a Genalex Golden Lion 12AU7 tube)

https://www.presonus.com/products/bluetube-dp-v2


it is possible to buy all sorts of fancy mic pres, Neve 1073's for example...

https://www.thomann.de/gb/ams_neve_1073_dpa_preamp_stereo.htm

It's also possible to buy emulations of them as vst's (I have quite a few) but to my ears they just don't do it for me.

The vocal sounds better, what do I mean by better? more clear, detailed, a lovely distribution across the frequency range, just how I want it to sound, compared to how it is when plugged into the Audio Interface, which sounds a bit flat, less detailed, I don't know why but it does.  Oh yes, btw I don't go for the Valve distortion (hence the 12au7) I add that later, because it can't be removed if you don't want it.

I don't use expensive mic's just a few  Rodes, Beyer Dynamic and AKG, no need to buy Neumann's for what I do (Neumann's in Studios sound great, but one needs to have all of the other ancillary equipment to that standard to get the best out of it...)

So when I come to produce my Vocals I have the best possible quality to work with, I have my own approach to processing vocals, so usually they are  easy to mix and get right.

When I work on Vocal stems from other artists, I nearly always (not always) hear a difference to mine.

The other thing that I have mentioned before is that my DAW Magix Samplitude pro x5 suite has, a broadcast level audio engine, which is simply sublime in it's clarity, as used on it's bigger brother Sequoia 16.

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/int/business-solutions/audio-production/

The other thing I do is to track at 48khz Sample Rate @ 24bit depth, which together represents a very high potential to capture the detail (24 bit = 16million 16 bit =65k)

Here's a simple explanation why...

https://www.masteringthemix.com/blogs/learn/113159685-sample-rates-and-bit-depth-in-a-nutshell

Whilst I could never hear to that level of frequency definition, it maybe part of why I'm, satisfied with what I release.

I would be very interested to hear your opinions, tricks and techniques.

As always, hope this helps

Rich

[man made material]

@cowparsleyman  interesting stuff mate! Thanks for sharing… My recording vocal technique involves closing the window and door, wait for next doors builders to down their tools for 10mins and hope I can get a useable take ASAP before they start again!😂

[cowparsleyman]

@man made material - You’re welcome , I can imagine your approach  improves the quality of your vocals. I’ll bear it in mind next time the decorators are in…

[CaliaMoko]

I'm not at all experienced with tech stuff like this. I believe my interface does have a pre-amp built in. If it does, what happens if I use an external pre-amp, too?

[cowparsleyman]

@CaliaMoko - you just plug the mic pre into your audio interface and turn on the phantom power on the external mic pre, and leave it off on your audio interface.

Set the level of the mic on the external pre and adjust to suit on the audio interface. Which won’t be much at all the signal is coming into it at the level that you need, mine  is barely on 1.

Also make sure your audio interface is set to line level, and i would recommend good quality xlr cables not $5 from china … you’ve taken all that trouble to get a clear sound, why risk it with buzzing and hissing?

Rich

[adamfarr]

Interesting indeed. One of the first things I ever bought was a mic pre-amp (because everyone said it was "better") but I found it added too much effect and seemed to take away not add quality.

And then people started saying pre-amps were only really to boost gain on low gain inputs which (some) circuits (used to) need and it was better to record as clean as possible.

For my own vocal I sort of know what settings to add in post production. But having looked at this I may go back to fiddling with my pre-amp at least sometimes ... (I also have better ears now...)

[cowparsleyman]

@adamfarr - Pardon? You'll have to speak up...

It will boost the signal, and yes it might colour the tone depending on the preamp circuit/tube, and that's a matter of taste.

What some pre's do is to distort or add harmonics to the signal via a tube, adding the ubiquitous, and apparently much sought after "Vintage Warmth"  which maybe is a good thing, but If I want to wreck my sound I'll do that AFTER I've recorded it clean, or if I really want a valve vocal I can do that if I choose, but I never do.

It's worth a bit of tinkering, maybe do a song with a bunch of tracks comparing different settings, I tend to leave off any pads, I like my Vocal track as close to how it came out of my mouth as possible, I know you're a meticulous guy, You'll nail it Adam. Look forward to your results.

[CaliaMoko]

Ah, there's so much I don't know. It always bugged me that I either had to turn phantom power on for all for inputs or leave it off altogether. This will make it more versatile.