Hello All,
 
I am just starting to record vocals for my project.  I have never recorded vocals before and was wondering if I need a tube preamp to sit between the mic and the audio interface.
 
I have this right now, but I am unhappy with the way the "S" and "T" sounds through it, they aren't as crisp.  http://www.amazon.com/Presonus-TubePre-v2-Tube-Preamplifier/dp/B0072JBCTK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452616461&sr=8-1&keywords=presonus+v2
 
I replaced the tube with this one:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005Q1XR8U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00
 
I do like the overall tone better using the preamp, but the "S" and "T" sounds are not crisp enough, I can't imagine anyone would like the way the "S" and "T"s sound... I have an example posted here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s...7ldelsz7/test.wav?dl=0
 
I split the two vocal takes with a short piano note.

before the piano is: mic -> audio interface
 
after the piano note is:   mic->preamp>audio interface
 
 
so, the question is, can I record professional sounding vocals without using a tube preamp?  

I should mention my audio interface is the Steinberg UR22
 
Thank You!
 
 
 

The short answer is that a valve pre-amp isn't necessary for recording anything. Not after the transistor became cheaply available in the 1960s anyway.

Most commercially recorded vocals have almost certainly been done through a solid-state mixing desk. Valves (or 'tubes' in USA English) pre-amps can add a bit of colouration that is almost impossible to get with a solid state transistor circuit and only emulated digitally to a certain point. But unless you want more valve-created saturation and over-drive than is usually used on vocals many plugins do a decent job of emulating the "valve sound".

Most of the time the mic pres built into interfaces range from usable to very good and if you can't get an acceptable result from them then changing to an inexpensive valve pre isn't likely to suddenly make things great.

Replacing valves can make quite a difference in guitar amplifiers, less in preamps where the audible effects of the valve are much less marked, apart from some valves are less electrically noisy than others. In both cases the circuitry surrounding the valve also plays a big part in the sound, and even if you know the characteristics of different makes of valve it's still a trial and error process finding the ones that you prefer.

My personal preference for a valve pre-amp, assuming it uses a 12AX7, would lean towards a New Old Stock General Electric 7025 or Sylvania or US Phillips equivalents. A current production small-plate JJ Tesla might also work well as they are very much like the old Mullards. But it's very much a matter of taste...

thank you very much for this - I appreciate it.
 
So maybe I should go right from the mic into my audio interface and then use plugins.  hmmm...  

I should have also mentioned that the microphone used can make a huge difference to recordings as can a singer's mic technique (or lack of it :-) )

And sometimes the high-end mics aren't necessarily the best for the job. The SM57 is an industry standard for all kinds of things, and Michael Jackson apparently always used an SM58 from "Thriller" onwards because he liked how he could creatively use the 58's characteristic tendency to boost low frequencies.

well for this sample i used the same mic.... i just feel the preamp is doing something to the "S" sound that sounds terrible IMO

That replacement tube is a very good quality with low noise and good gain. IF you want a brighter sounding tube I would suggest a Chinese 12AX7, which is probably the stock tube.

ampfixer
That replacement tube is a very good quality with low noise and good gain. IF you want a brighter sounding tube I would suggest a Chinese 12AX7, which is probably the stock tube.

yes that was the stock tube.  I took it right out just because i was told it was crap.   

Chinese valves tend to be noisy, gritty, very bright, harsh and distort quickly, some guitarists like them in higher gain Marshalls but I wouldn't regard them as pre-amp friendly.

The Tung Sol you say you're using is almost certainly better than the cheap Chinese things. I've a Tung Sol 12AT7 in my Fender reverb unit and it sounds pretty good there.

Out of the new-old-stock stuff you might find a GE or Sylvania 7025 is worth trying, they were in most US produced audio equipment for decades and do clean, crisp and bright very well. Phillips JAN can also be good but tend to be noisier. For modern production valves the Tesla 12AX7 is very good, as are JJs and Harma. Some modern valve production at least seems to have finally caught up with the old days.

yea but what it is doing to my "S" sounds really is undesirable.  I think I am going to return the preamp and tube.

It's not your imagination. Harmonic distortion does exacerbate "S"s and hard consonants. But it's so imprinted on our collective memory from decades of tube-processed recordings that we've come to expect it. That's why they still make tube preamps.
 
However, where vintage gear designs went out of their way to minimize distortion, modern designs tend to exaggerate it by boosting gain, "improper" biasing and setting plate voltages below the tubes' design specs. In deciding to emphasize those characteristics of tubes that were once considered drawbacks, they often go overboard with it.
 
Personally, I like to keep things as clean as possible going in, and then subsequently add controlled distortion as needed. That leaves you with the most mixing options.