The converters have a lessor impact.  Most lower cost interfaces sound fine.  The difference between $200  and $2000 converters is the least important factor in sound.  I'll take the Burl over the Creative card, but as a final step, not first.

A good rule of thumb is the closer the source, the more important the quality.  Player, instrument, room, mic, preamp etc., converter.

@

HELLYA, I have noticed that lower end interfaces can have undesireable Eq curves which are not in your favor. Have I tested them all? No. But I used an M-Audio card for a few years and the first thing I noticed when I moved up to a Lynx interface was that I was getting a tighter low end and I was not fighting translation to other speakers as a result. I generally think that less expensive interfaces do a good job of capturing the sound, it's the playback that you can end up fighting when EQuing that comes into play because interface companies spend less money on the critical D/A circuitry. All that said, some of the newer low end interfaces are very good and in any case, as AT says, they won't drastically alter a good sounding vocal.

I agree with using a compressor on the front end but it has to be a GOOD compressor. Those " cheap gizmo" compressors should be avoided. They will trash your sound. 

I would never use heavy compression when recording.

Sometimes I use light compression from a hardware channel strips when recording.  Sometimes I record with no compression.

The purcpose of compression when recording is just to ensure that you have a fairly consistent recording—not to limit the dynamic range as much as you would when making the final product.

I would say that if you have any doubt, don't use it.

Somre free advice, if you want it:
Where many new engineers go wrong is failing to pad the mic sufficiently.  It is easy to get breakup at the mic level, no matter where you set the input (trim) or how much you compress.  If you hear distortion but don't see any meters in the red, make sure you are not over-blowing the microphone.  Some mics have a switch on the body (for example, 0, -5, -10).  If you can't pad the mic, you may need to change mics.  I have an RE20 (dynamic mic) specifically for singers who can't control the volume/distance when singing.  It is much harder ot distort a dynamic mic than a condenser.

Hi Konrad,

Please excuse the rooky question but what do you mean by padding the microphone?  I don't do microphone recording at the moment as you may have guessed.

Cheers

Many microphones come with a Pad button which gives you the ability to attenuate the signal entering the mic capsule by a fixed amount. -10dB & -20dB are common, though other values exist

Actually that's wrong - I just had a brain fart

It (the Pad) attenuates the OUTPUT of the mic, not the INPUT

Thanks Jonesy,

So would I be right in saying that you use the Pad to approach the optimum output from the microphone (coarse adjustment) and then use input gain on the channel (fine adjustment) to get exactly the right level you need?  

Well the only time you should need to use the Pad is if you're recording an extremely loud source, like on a snare or kick drum.

But there's an underlying mistake in your post, wanting to use the Channel Trim to adjust input level - Sonar and no other DAW works that way - those controls only affect what is already recorded - you adjust your input signal in the Analog domain, via your mic preamp or interface.

Input gain MUST be set before the signal hits your AD converter - once it clips there, there's no way to reverse it one you've recorded it

Make sure you record @ 24 bit - this will give you more than enough flexibility to avoid the noise floor at lower levels and clipping at higher levels. Adjust your gain (mic pre)so that the signal is reading anywhere from between -9dB & 18dB and you'll be fine

Thanks Jonesy, makes sense