Between a Rock and a Hard Place!

coldethyl · #1 April 27th, 2006

Oh dear, dear!

I seem to have gotten' myself in a bit of a pickle. I really want to get myself the Planetalk book and dvd which is about $100 Aus and I also want to buy a good quality mic (around the same price $100 Aus)to start contributing some music in the recording booth.
BUT, I can't afford to get both.

What should I get first? Planetalk or Mic? Mic or Planetalk? Oh, decisions, decisions!

Can someone set me on the right track.......................P L E A S E?

Neil

Garg · #2 April 27th, 2006

I say buy PT first then when ul get ur mic ur recording will probably just sound better.

allthumbs · #3 April 27th, 2006

Gotta agree with garg on that one.

nagukush · #4 April 27th, 2006

Hi Neil !!!

Hope everything is Great there, and You & your Wonderful family are very Well !!!!

In my personal opinion, It would be a better choice to buy the PT first !
I also had the same situation, when I had to opt between a good "Sound-Card" for my PC (which I needed very-very badly, as you can see from my recordings

) and PT, but I'm proud to say that I opted for PT, as I believe that once I master the Guitar to a decent level, people would record my Playing and why would I bother then !!! LOL

Sorry, just getting Over-Ambitious here !!! Please dont mind that, just kidding !!! I know I've a far distance to cover between today and my Dreams !!!!

Anyways sorry for going off-Topic, but its my personal opinion that PT is the First-Choice !!!

Lots of Regards and Care
Your Buddy
Kush

Clancy · #5 April 27th, 2006

Neil... take this for what it's worth...

I guess you're thinking of recording your acoustic as you are talking about a mic... Personally, I don't think you'll be able to get a mic in Australia for a hundred bucks that will sound all that much better than just using a cheap computer mic that you could buy from Tandy, Dick Smith or any place that sells computer mics. Computer mics should only cost you around $10 - $14.

What mic were you planning to buy for around $100?... I could be completely wrong about this... but I don't think you'll get anything around that price that you'll find all that impressive.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is, you could do both.

Cheers

Clancy

6string · #6 April 27th, 2006

the knowledge from planetalk will last forever, the $100 mic has a guarantee for say what, 90 days???

coldethyl · #7 April 27th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clancy

Neil... take this for what it's worth...

I guess you're thinking of recording your acoustic as you are talking about a mic... Personally, I don't think you'll be able to get a mic in Australia for a hundred bucks that will sound all that much better than just using a cheap computer mic that you could buy from Tandy, Dick Smith or any place that sells computer mics. Computer mics should only cost you around $10 - $14.

What mic were you planning to buy for around $100?... I could be completely wrong about this... but I don't think you'll get anything around that price that you'll find all that impressive.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is, you could do both.

Cheers

Clancy

THANKS for the advice Clancy!

I actually was thinking of getting a Shure mic second-hand for around $100-150, but I think I'll get the PT now and wait until I can get a decent Shure (SM-57 or 58) which is probably going to be around the $250-400 mark depending on what will suit my particular needs.
I'd prefer to get a good mic rather than something that won't give me the quality and dependability that I'm going to need.
Thanks again Clancy!

.....and a big THANKYOU to the rest of you who offered advice also on this.

Kirk Lorange · #8 April 27th, 2006

Hi Neil ... I'm with everyone else. I'm not sure what stage you're at with your playing, but if you do feel that you've got the basic down and now you've reached a plateau, then PT will certainly give you plenty to work on and a whole new way of looking at the fretboard, one that will last forever.

I used to do some pretty decent recordings with a cheap PC mic and I did try a couple of other medium range mics too without much improvement. You've really got to go up a few notches to really hear the difference with mics. So much has to do with mic placement, levels, background noise, eq ... no matter how expensive the mic you're using. I'd hold off until you can get a really good one, myself.

Rockerbob · #9 April 28th, 2006

I've done decent recordings with an SM58. I think better than a $15 computer mic. That being said, the PT is likely the better investment. The mics I use retail for about $1200 and require phantom power.

coldethyl · #10 April 28th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirk

Hi Neil ... I'm with everyone else. I'm not sure what stage you're at with your playing, but if you do feel that you've got the basic down and now you've reached a plateau, then PT will certainly give you plenty to work on and a whole new way of looking at the fretboard, one that will last forever.

I used to do some pretty decent recordings with a cheap PC mic and I did try a couple of other medium range mics too without much improvement. You've really got to go up a few notches to really hear the difference with mics. So much has to do with mic placement, levels, background noise, eq ... no matter how expensive the mic you're using. I'd hold off until you can get a really good one, myself.

Thanks Kirk!
Yeah, I really don't want to go with a cheap mic and end up regretting it later. I really would like to get PT because I feel I'm at a stage where certain parts of the ol' grey matter need unlocking to allow me to start moving again, because as you say I have reached that dreaded plateau stage, and I reckon that PT will be the key to open that up for me.

So I'm off now to order PT!

Neil

Clancy · #11 April 28th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockerbob

I've done decent recordings with an SM58. I think better than a $15 computer mic. That being said, the PT is likely the better investment. The mics I use retail for about $1200 and require phantom power.

I'm sure you're right about the SM58 over a cheap computer mic Rockerbob, but I think you would be hard pressed to find one of those in Australia for AUD$100. Unfortunately, we just pay more over here... actually, here is a new one on ebay.com.au for AUD$150 - you might want to look into that at some stage Neil.

By the way Rockerbob, am I wrong in thinking you would not be able to connect a mic like a Shure SM58 directly into your computer like you would with a computer mic?

Clancy

coldethyl · #12 April 28th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clancy

I'm sure you're right about the SM58 over a cheap computer mic Rockerbob, but I think you would be hard pressed to find one of those in Australia for AUD$100. Unfortunately, we just pay more over here... actually, here is a new one on ebay.com.au for AUD$150 - you might want to look into that at some stage Neil.

Clancy

Many thanks again Clancy!

BTW, I have just ordered PT!
Now it's just a case of waiting until it arrives.
I tried to send Kirk an email to ask him if he could possibly sign my book but unfortunately, the email didn't work.

Neil

Clancy · #13 April 28th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by coldethyl

Many thanks again Clancy!

BTW, I have just ordered PT!
Now it's just a case of waiting until it arrives.
I tried to send Kirk an email to ask him if he could possibly sign my book but unfortunately, the email didn't work.

Neil

Hmm, I wonder why it didn't work. Here's a link to his contact information - http://www.thatllteachyou.com/contact.html - he has just left for a gig tonight, otherwise I would just tell him about it. Let me know if your email doesn't get through again and I'll write a note for him... or actually you could just PM him about it here.

Cheers

Clancy

coldethyl · #14 April 28th, 2006

Yeah no worries, I'll just pm Kirk about it!
Thanks!!

Regards
Neil

Clancy · #15 April 28th, 2006

By the way Neil. You don't have to wait until your PT package arrives to get access to the PlaneTalker's forum. If you want to go over and sign up over there, I'll activate your account as soon as I've seen you've joined up. Lots to keep you busy over there.

The forum is located at http://www.thatllteachyou.com/board/

Cheers

Clancy