What VST is best to make up for the lack of a good preamp?

[Trevor Jackson]

I want to see if I can get by recording vocals through a KSM 27 into a Scarlett 2i2. I know it's a modest setup, and if it doesn't work out, I will pony up for something that works better. But before I drop $3000 on a mic and pre, I want to try something. What is the best plug-in to process a modestly-recorded vocal track? I assume Vintage Warmer will be on the list (I will purchase this one shortly). Anything else?

[arkmabat]

UR44's preamps are amazing. Worth every penny. My roommate asked if I had "autotune" on when it was only the preamp and a little delay haha. They sound very good. I don't think software can replace that.

[fese]

I don't know what your intentions are, but if you're a hobbyist (like me), I wouldn't spend too much money and focus on what you have. [granddad mode]Twenty years ago, recording with a portastudio and a dynamic mike I probably would've killed for your setup
[end granddad mode]
Common knowledge and my own experience say that it is not possible to polish a badly recorded vocal with just one plugin to perfection. Maybe with with lots of processing and knowledge one can make it relatively good. I think the chain of importance for recording vocals is like this:
- good singer, good performance. Can make a song sound great recorded just on a field recorder. I can't .
- room. Good sounding room is required. Sadly, I don't have one, have to help myself with mattresses to tame annoying reflections. Works, well, meh...
- microphone/preamp/interface. A good microphone is more important than the preamp, and you should have some solid preamps in your Scarlett.
- plugins. With freeware plugins like slickEQ, DC1A and IVGI you should be good to go. I often use Toneboosters FlX (20€) for problem frequencies and de-essing.

Personally I think the first two points are the most important. I often don't like my vocal recordings, but I don't attribute that to the mike or preamp. It is me not being good enough at singing and recording, and my crappy room. A $1000 preamp wouldn't probably help much.

[Trevor Jackson]

Thanks for the tip on the free plugs. I have downloaded them and will try them tomorrow. Today, I was working with the Scarlett and shure and I found a bit of a sweet spot. Yes, I get what you are saying about priorities, first don't suck, second be thankful for what you have.

The Scarlett Pre's aren't bad, they just don't have much gain and very little headroom. I can get around that in the usual ways. I think the plugs you recommended will probably help. Much obliged.

[Trevor Jackson]

UR44's preamps are amazing. Worth every penny. My roommate asked if I had "autotune" on when it was only the preamp and a little delay haha. They sound very good. I don't think software can replace that.

i wonder if this has any headroom. The Scarlett Pre's aren't bad at all, they just don't have any gain to speak of and what gain they have, the Scarlett doesn't have the headroom to handle it. It's one of those problems that $500 will easily solve, but I have a lot of problems like that and they add up

[fese]

I don't know the 2i2, from the specs is says that it has like 46dB of gain which doesn't really seem much, but for recording vocals with a condenser mike it should actually suffice.
But if the preamps really don't make you happy, why not try to get an external preamp for cheap? I bought a used ART ProChannel II on a musician's flea market here for like 120€, does a decent job.
Of course money can always solve problems, that is why I bought me a RME Fireface for my birthday this year, great unit, solved the problem of my annoyingly bad ASIO driver of my previous interface but doesn't really make my singing better

[aciddose]

You need to consider what you're using the preamp for. Are you using it to buffer/amplify the signal, or are you abusing it to apply significant amounts of distortion?

What you need to focus on is getting the best S/N ratio you can with the lowest distortion you can. After that point everything can be done in software.

If I wasn't trying to gain ~20db S/N, I wouldn't even be considering a preamp.

I designed and built several 9v powered preamps for ultra-cheap dynamic microphones. These preamps have significant distortion, but this has the positive consequence of compressing the signal. By using the preamps I gain 40db of S/N ratio over plain console mic inputs (or medium-high quality mic inputs on whatever) in addition to avoiding clipping for very high levels, "soft clipping".

The distortion can be reversed to recover the original signal, but this requires extraordinary fine tuning to achieve and normally wouldn't make sense. (Other preamp options for high nominal signal level recording make far more sense.)

The distortion is at an unacceptable level for recording "normalized" signals, like a guitar or voice at a fixed distance and peak level. Instead this preamp is ideal for recording ambient sounds at highly variable distance and level where the nominal level is -20db or so.

Now the really notable thing about this: The components including 100% of the circuit, pcb, wiring, sockets and even battery to gain this 40db S/N cost about $10.

[MadAnthony81]

I love ABleton Lives Saturator for a preamp sound, paired with tube in Live you get a tubish sound too.

Now I used Waves.com Kramer preamp.

There are also Waves.com Preamps in CLA 76.

I also have experimented with Autotune. I love Autotune MIc mod, and use it everytime with my Blue encore 100. Although the Blue encore 100 isn't exactly on the mic list it is responsive and does the job paired with the "generic" mic setting. Indespisnable for 39 bucks. It had a preamp on board too that is adjustable. It can sound faitly classy.

I highly recommend Waves.com and Autones Mic Mod. Check out musicians friend for a great buy.

Waves Kramer Preamp has a lot of latency but it does sound really preampy. It wont probably go on sale again for a while.
Good luck, but if theres one thing you want to find the right mic is Mic Mod, it gives great rep of the mics it has. Very flavorful.

[rockstar_not]

You have a 500$+ microphone, with a $150 input device.
If you are thinking you don't have enough headroom, you can't solve it with a plugin. Buy the headroom with an upgrade to your pre-amp.

[aciddose]

Headroom in digital recording is 100% the result of high S/N ratio allowing input at a reduced level.

So the question is: Can you improve your S/N ratio?

[MadAnthony81]

agreed. if you don't have something celan to work with it probably cant get cleaner easily or desirably.

[chrisrich93]

I really like the Golden Age Pre73. For the price it's a decent Neve 1073 clone, not a vintech or BAE but still good on a budget, and you can get the transformer modded for a better one which I hear makes it a lot better pre.

[fedexnman]

If you can carry a tune a shure sm58 or sm57 is a great mic $99 . If you want a good pre without breaking the bank , get something like a Hamptone JFET or tube . Or seven circle audio makes some clones of neve , api , john hardy etc etc . TapeOp magazine and forum stuff . Oh , and U2 , Madonna , Michael Jackson , etc etc all have Shure sm7 , sm58 and sm57 used for vocals on various albums and songs over the years . Im just not sold on needing a Nuemann and a Neve for a good vocal track .

[Samplecraze]

Esoteric pres are all nice but the mic will have to be priority. In this instance and for the OP the scarlett is fine. Once you've attained some experience with different mics etc then you can make an informed decision.

[rockstar_not]

To the OP, the Scarlett probably has plenty of gain, unless you are just recording breathy-voiced vocals, you might run into an issue. How about posting some samples that you feel are under-gained? It could be a whole host of other factors that are negatively affecting your recording process.