38 Tracks Flat in/flat out GDIY Mics, Pres and Op Amps

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iturnknobs

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 2, 2014
Messages
736
Location
Crystal Lake, IL
Not quite sure where to post this...

Here's a completely flat in/flat out recording completed at my space. Every preamp and opamp were built by me, from the knowledge of all who have posted in this forum. I use an Antelope Audio Orion 32 for my interface. This was recorded at 96k/24bit with Nuendo 6.5(need to purchase the upgrade).  It has been exported as a 44.1k/16bit stereo wave file. There is an excel speadsheet attached with mic, preamp and opamp chioce where applicable. I ran the LR mix through a pair of Don Classic NV73s. There is NO compression, NO eq and NO effects. This is naked GDIY. This may result in more questions than answers, but here goes. Thanks to all who have donated their time and knowledge. I'm not really an electronics engineer, so this is my attempt at giving back.

I think all will be able to access these file and stream through google drive with their music player. Free software should be available to view the excel file. Please let me know if any of these links do not work. Happy listening and many thanks to the band in front of the microphones.


https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Sq80RBCyk5qAfuoOztFOeevk6PuyyINU      .wav file
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1k-yGkdHuIVbCHtgBoZONgGfgqqnvkeV1        excel spreadsheet file
 
Ian-

I think your idea is a great one. I have spent over half a decade on this website/forum trying to make gear that I "thought" had a certain sound, and now I know about certain circuits, instead of wondering. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I would assume an audio file with transducer, circuit and placement information is worth about an equal amount. I think we could save each other a lot of time and money with a discussion like this and maybe use our gear a bit more instead of building it. Have I lost sight of the reason of this forum? I do not feel that the title of this discussion is appropriate for us all to share and I'm not sure about where this topic should actually reside... The Lab?  Suggestions?

-Brian
 
I agree with more recording and less gear drooling.

I think the biggest place people go wrong is preamp obsession.  Most of the records we love we recorded with whatever console preamps were available.  I think you should pick a preamp flavor you like and build /buy enough channels you need to make music.

Brian, are you satisfied with how your tracks sound?
 
craigmorris74 said:
Brian, are you satisfied with how your tracks sound?

Yes and no. I hear many things wrong. I may consider "time alignment" for some of the drum room mics. Upon analyzing the files, I think the top and bottom snare were not equidistant from the source, causing time smear. My stereo XY on AC GTR is noticeably incorrect when summed in mono, but not awful. My recording space dimensions lack much to be desired. I can't afford a space/home with 11+ foot ceilings.  Musicians can usually do a better job(myself included), especially vocalists with mic distance/technique. What I can say is, I think that this might be the best start before mixing in my recording experience that I have had. The "low end", overall, seems like it may not need much manipulation. For me, it is rare to be somewhat content at this point in a project. I am really looking forward to mixing this project and usually I am thinking about mixing to repair, not mixing for fun.  Fingers crossed.
 
Cool - thanks for sharing.
I don't hear anything 'wrong' - I've found once you get nice mics & preamps and can really hear your room and instruments, you start to put your focus back there. 

Here's a track I've been working on, using a lot of DIY gear. I don't have a tracking spreadsheet but I could put one together pretty easily from the tracks in the DAW.
There's some compression / EQ / effects of the stems so it's not flat like yours.
Only plugin is L2 at the very end to bring up the volume.
 
I only have an mp3 on drive at the moment:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1w8KLK0shOsQLISVbvjgi__AESaHdjYqR


{warning: there is a curse word in the chorus}
 
iturnknobs said:
DMP, your lead vocal sounds really good. Jealous. Hopefully more will start to share. I'm curious to hear more DIY stuff in action.

Thanks. I'm pretty sure I was using a U47 style mic .  A good mic helps, but trying to keep the level more even by singing quietly has helped out my recordings a lot.
This reminded me to keep better notes on tracking. I couldn't remember what preamp I used.
 
Brian, based on what you say, I would say that you need to focus on setting up the room to optimize its performance for tracking (unfortunately, for most small rooms, you'll need to invest some time/cash into room treatment).  Another suggestion would be to really focus on what things are sounding like when you're recording.  Record a bit, listen back, and make adjustments based on what you're hearing.  Fixing problems in the mix is no fun.  Record often, experiment, and listen.  If you really learn where in the room your instruments sound best, and which mics work for different sources, and the best positions for your mics, your recordings will come a long way.
 

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