Its ZERO degrees outside with a windchill well below that today,

So Im going to run some tests today to figure out where to get the best acoustic guitar signal from what I have available.
MAudio Fast Track Ultra
Allen & Heath 16:2 Mixer
Mackie 1604 VLZ Pro

Ive already ran my mics through the Mackie into a standard X1 Template  finding which one gives me the closest to real sound of the guitar without coloring it up or down
I tested the
Audix I5
Shure Beta 58
C02s
D112
Perception 220
Shure 56

Surprisingly the C02s sounded the closest/best to what I hear by ear with everything set the same on the boards and a standard X1 template loaded.

Now to get/check to the Mic Pres.

Im going to run the same mic (C02) through both boards set the same and the MAudio Fast Track Ultra to see which Pres put out/sound the best.  I am lacking in knowledge/inexperienced in the world of mic pres.

Kinda curious to see how my low budget stuff will work out

Let us know how you get on Mike

you need some new mic pres. 

...you need some new mic pres No you don't this is bad advice! The Mackie VLZ is more than enough to make a great recording through. You probably need a better microphone for the job especially if it's a great acoustic guitar sound you are after.

You need a decent larger diaphragm condenser mike, that is going to give you the sound you are after much quicker than any mic pre. There are some great cheaper ones especially from Rode. And also some good old fashioned mic technique. None of your mics seem to fit into that vein.

Of course a great and much more expensive mic pre is a nice thing to have, no argument there but it is not necessarily the first thing you need.

Beagle


you need some new mic pres. 

 Thats what the salesman will definitely tell me.


I usually use the MAudios back inputs off of the Mackie for recording bands but what Im really looking for for my home Projects doing just one track at a time kinda thing is maybe to get something better "If Needed"


Ive kinda looked at the Avolon Products and Id love to get that HTC40 mic but just trying to justify I guess you could say.


Acoustic guitars and Vocals would be my 2 main things.


As for doing bands and Demo kinda stuff, what I am currently doing creates "good enough" demos for bands to get their word out to prospective clients/gigs and has worked real well so far.


Never really considered what I currently have as far as checking things out in depth to see what and how to use each piece for certain things.


Generally I use the 
D112s for Kick Drums and Bass Cabs (If they dont have a direct out)
56s on the Toms
C02s for Overheads
I5s for Guitar Cabs and Snare
Beta 58 for Vocals (live stage)
I might use the Perc 220 to catch the room hear and there


Thought it would be kinda interesting to do and post for others out there just getting started in my kinda situation and use of Sonar  

Thanks Jeff

I believe Beag was just kidding around with me LOL

I was writing as you beat me to the post.  Thanks for the heads up on the Mackie.  Im wondering how/if it is better or worse than the Allen & Heath.

As I mentioned before I got to read your post,  Im looking for a better sound now out of my Acoustic guitar tracks and Vox.  Wondering what mics I might need to move to with out forking out a $1000 for each   but do better than where I am currently at.

If Im thinking right,

Going in direct from the Mixer into the back of the MAudioFTU bypasses MAudios Pres and uses just the boards Pres with the mic. The MAudio shouldnt added or detract from the quality at all should it?

Jeff - did you miss the  in Beagle's post? 

You really do need better microphones, but I'm going to skip that to suggest that there is some truth to Beagle's suggestion.

There is nothing terrible about A&H or Mackie preamplifiers, heck even the M-Audio can be serviceable. But they are not in the same league as dedicated microphone preamplifiers that don't cost a lot more.

For starters, let's just skip past the part where every microphone preamplifier design sounds different. They do! You may not be able to hear the differences yet, but you will. AND if you can't then it is a little silly to spend too much on them.

The biggest benefit of a slightly better preamplifier is that it won't make you work so hard. The preamplifiers you own are known to be a little lite in the headroom department. We're not talking about measured headroom - there are too many tricks to measuring headroom vs dynamic range vs S/N ratio, etc. We're talking about a perfect take that is spoiled by a little 'crunchiness' as you exceed the voltage rails of the power supply... not the end of the world, and certainly avoidable, but heck, if you can make the problem go away... (and it is just too darned easy to do this, especially on the Mackie and A&H mixers.)

There are LOTs of stand-alone microphone preamplifiers with oodles (that's a technical term) of headroom, and that's what I usually recommend to folks who ask. Oodles of headroom means you can be a little more dynamic, a little more expressive even, without worrying about it.

Amongst the no-longer-manufactured class I like the Gaines Audio MP2, the SPL Micman (which also has oodles of gain if you happen to be messing with ribbon microphones), and the Groove Tubes MP family. I think you can get any of these for around $150 to $200 per channel, maybe less. That's not a lot to pay for two good - easy to use - channels of microphone preamplifiers. (NB- the Groove Tubes preamplifiers require a Groove Tubes power supply and cable, and some unscrupulous sellers don't include them. If you can find the whole kit they are really cool!)

If you are a DIY type you can scrounge around for old channel strips (I have a pair from a Trident Tri-Mix that sound awesome when they work, but they are not the most reliable!) or old gain cards - I have a bunch of Melcor cards that I've used to build preamplifiers, they sound really nice, almost like an API.

And there are worse crimes than making recording easier.

The problem with gear is that sometimes we forget why cool gear is cool. It isn't cool JUST because some famous dude used it - but it is cool if it brings something to the dance. And I'm as guilty as the next guy, so learn from my mistakes!

If I had it to do all over again I'd start with microphones, and I'd do nothing but gather some really great microphones. What constitutes a really great microphone differs from person to person, but that's where I'd start. Then I'd focus on preamplifiers, and then my monitoring system (room, loudspeakers, amplifier), and then everything else. You can make an argument to start with the monitoring system, but in hindsight I think start at the other end of the chain.

Acoustic guitar and voice can be darned difficult to capture well... but it is so much fun trying to do so!!!!