How Important is the Mixing Board for Vocals???

[DJ Hoppa]

Right now, I have a Behringer B2 Condenser mic for the vocals. For those of you that don't know, this mic is super cheap, but I'm broke and can't afford shit else. I'm running that mic direct into my Behringer 8-Channel super cheap mixing board, and from that, the outs go into my computer via a Tascam-US-224 midi interface.
Now my question:
How much of a difference does using a High-end board (Mackie, Allen&Heath, Neve) make on the overall quality and sound of the vocals?

A group that i know of uses a fairly cheap condenser mic, and a Mackie board, and their vocals sound Pro. He also uses various VST plugins (compressor,limiter,gate . I know about all these, im just curious about mixing boards tho.)

Now, what truly affects mic sound? :headbang:

 

[light]

The mixer and the mic both come in to play and basically your sound will only be as good as your weakes link. so if your mixer has sub par sound then yah your end will result will show it.

 

[Loose Cannon]

Make sure you have good mic cables. I used to have this mic when i first started recording. I used an XLR(F)-1/4" Line cable. The thing sounded like you were rapping into a cardboard box. But after a long time of not using that and having better equipment. I hooked it up to one of my new XLR(F)-XLR(M) cables when i was bored,and it sounded like i could've really done something with-it. Might sound stupid but i think the cables are a part of having good sound too.

 

[jamcity]

cheap?

dont sell youself short...as atarving as we are nothing is cheap..

it really depends.
good mic cables, good mixing board....it's how you use it...it's how your creative with it...

I have a mackie..and a fairly good mic...i route everything to my VS1680, edit and route it to my computer...then more editing...and i get very good results..

jamcity

 

[themucka]

THE KEY 2 A GOOD VOCAL RECORDING.... IS THE PRE- AMP AND MIC....

I USE A NEUMAN U-87... I RUN IT THRU AN AVALON 737sp... and right into my 888
SO MY VOCALS NEVA SEE THE MIXING BOARD....

MOST LOW MIXER ARE THIN....

THE KEYS IS TO 2 GET YOUR SOUND TO THE SOURCE... WITH THE LEAST AMOUNT OF ROUTING POSSIBLE.... 2 GET A GOOD CLEAN SOUND....

AVALON IN MY OPINION SOUND NICER AFTER 2 HOURS ON... AFTER THE TUBES WARM UP,,,,

DON'T USE THE PRE AMPS ON YOUR MIXING BOARD...
BUY A SEPERATE ONE FOR YOUR MIC....
AND OF COURSE YOU NEED A HOIGH QUALITY CABLE...

 

[Loose Cannon]

Still,

Try hooking up a Shure, through a real(REAL) low-quality(cheap) mic cable, and then into a Mixer that costs about as much as a car, then say you dont need some quality mic cable.

(I dont have enough money to do that, but im trying to prove my point)

 

[Architect]

Mucka you got a nice setup that U87 is like three grand almost! The avalon preamps are renowned in a lot of studios I've heard. Most peeps on here can't afford that U87 but a very good preamp you can get for under a grand will make a huge difference along with a solid mic.

Check out these manufacturers for quality pres at a faction of the cost:
Presonus Blue Tube
ART preamps
or Check out some DBX compressors as well

Or check out a nice analog board like health & allen or soundcraft you can get one for under a grand, they have some good preamps onboard, and then get a good mic for a couple hundred bucks. When you want the real tight shit hit the studio and redo the vocals or have it mastered.