Sound Recording - the WellMixed.com Blog

The blog has not been well-tended recently, but now it will be even less so, as the WellMixedStore.com takes over the NavBar link on the main website.

However, this means the beginning of a new era, where the microphones that you want to listen to are available at WellMixedStore.com

News about all thing related to home recording will be more constantly posted on a little microblogging platform that you may have heard about called Twitter. Be sure to Follow @WellMixed there.

How much of a difference is there between a mic that’s $99 and one that’s $1199?

This (sorta’ old) link lets your ears be the judge.

Brandon Drury at Recording Review, created this on-line experiment. He mashed up several combination of preamps, AD converters, and microphones, then recorded a short excerpt of hard rock with each combination.

(Will you like the SM-57 or Royer 121 better?)

You get to choose which recording you enjoy more. His emphasis was on cost. There are several unavoidable flaws in the methodology, but in short he tried to make every take sound as platinum as possible.

http://www.recordingreview.com/quiz/signal-chain-form.php

Yep, Zoom’s new H4n allows you to record 4 tracks simultaneously. That pretty much makes it not only a great solution for traipsing around town and interviewing people, but also makes it a nice music production solution.

You can put a mic on your kick drum, a mic on the snare, and use the built in mics as stereo over-heads.

And although, it only plays back 4 tracks simultaneously, Zoom has included Cubase LE for stacking up tracks.

For more, check out:

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h4n/index.php

Time and Space has just began shipping to the states the ESI UGM96l.

This little thing looks like…. surprisingly like a big iPod shuffle. Maybe they’re going for the new (firewireless) MacBook guitarist market. At about 7 cm x 6 cm, it runs off USB2 power and features:

• 2 x analog input and 2 analog output channels
• 2 independent mono Hi-Z inputs
• One Hi-Z input switchable to microphone input with preamp
• 2 headphone output
• One headphone output can work as line output
• Drivers for Windows Vista/XP with ASIO support with low latency
• Core Audio support under Mac OS X 10.4 and higher

The lack of XLR jack is disappointing, but fairly understandable given the obvious desire for portability.

It’s not the most beautiful thing ever, but the “VersaPort” is manufactured by American Audio. So, as it is ThanksGiving, maybe we all can get American and take some interest in this guy. (Remember how when Iraq started all the jingoists started companies called American this, and American that..?) It’s retailing for an MSRP of $180.

The Specifications:
USB audio interface
2 stereo RCA inputs
2 stereo RCA outputs
1/4″ mic input
1/4″ headphone jack
Mic and Monitor adjustments

Recommended Software:
Windows: MME, MS Direct Sound, Steinberg ASIO & Audition
Mac: GarageBand, Audio Hijack

One interesting feature is a Ground Terminal to reduce humming and popping associated with magnetic phono cartridges. Clearly, it’s aimed squarely at DJ’s more than recordists, which makes one wonder about the “Versa”(tile?) part of the American Audio VersaPort.

It may serve users who require only RCA inputs and don’t like disconnecting things …. ever. Or if you’re recording strictly from a turntable, it may be your thing. Otherwise, It would be hard to see the advantages for the recordist market when products like the $130 E-MU 0202 offer an XLR jack. Let us know what you think in the comments.