Help me with my recording please

[DurkMusic]

I have a blue yetti with a pop filter and recording about 5 inches away from the mic give or take. I have it set to cardioid and it's a usb mic so it's going straight into audacity. I am trying to get good vocals here but when I compare it to lil wayne acapellas his sound soooooo much better than mine. I mean I expect it to sound somewhat better but this mic is supposed to be really good. I am recording in a closet to. Maybe that affects the sound? I don't know what I'm doing wrong or what it is really supposed to even sound like. Here is a link to a sample recording:

http://www.4shared.com/audio/c3VcKKXb/vocalsample.html

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[zimv20]

the room is a huge part of the sound. as is the vocalist, the performance, the mic, the pre, the conversion and the mixing.

i haven't listened to your track, but if i get the chance i'll do so and comment.

 

[DurkMusic]

Thank you. It's a real short track and all you have to do is click the link and play the video (preview). I guess I am going to try different things and see what kind of different sounds I can come up with.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Actually, it sounds very good and a lot better than I thought it would. It's clean, clear and has no room acoustics.
Remember, this is straight from the source and I can guarantee that lil wayne's source files sound very near to this. Start adding effects, etc. and it'll sound more like you want.

One more thing, the Blue Yeti is a good mic but it's no Neumann, Sennheiser or RØDE.

 

[zimv20]

okay, i had a listen to your track and some lil wayne acapellas.

two major differences stand out. the first is that your voice and his voice sound nothing alike. the second is that, for the couple tracks i listened to, he's recording in an actual room. you've killed all room sound by recording in a closet.

i'm not a fan of the yeti on your voice. mics are "good" because they match well on a variety of sources, or excel on a few, but no single mic is a good match on every source. you may want to demo a few mics and see if there's one that works better for your voice.

i'd also suggest recording in a real room, and maybe trying something like this to keep some room sound, but not let it get out of control.

heck, for doing so on a budget, sing in the room but looking at the open closet, so the back of the mic is towards the clothing. play around with positioning and see if you can get something you like better.