Thanks to Yep I started reading George Martin's book "All you need is ears". On page 100 he describes the story behind his first number 1 hit "You're Driving Me Crazy" by The Temperance Seven.
They were looking for the 1920's sound - although stereo was available at that time, they all gathered around one mike, and the singer was singing though the megaphone.
You can listen to the result from youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDhaZElJ4Ho
This is extracted form the vinyl, so you have the vinyl cracks there, but listen to the sound - what a lovely presence! This is what recordings in a great room with a great mic sound like!
I do my music mostly with VSTi-synths, recording only vocals, and my vocal tracks always, more or less, suck. I get mediocre results at best with tricks like using dynamic/ribbon mics, signer exceptionally close to the mic, trying to avoid the "room sound" at all costs, using losts of effects in mixing.
I would like to experiment recording vocal tracks in proper rooms. I have access to such rooms (the stairway hall at my office, a church nearby, why not the beach nearby when its not windy etc) but my problem is this:
I need a portable recording device which is able to record in 24-bit 44.1 kHz while playing back the instrumental to the singer's headphones. I want to use a proper mic so I need XLR and 48V phantom power. Ideally this device would be battery operated (the beach).
A device like Zoom H-4 N seems ideal at first, but it does not record 24-bit when in 4-track mode!
Can you recommend a recording device for me?