Doc wrote:

After fooling around more with recording trumpet,

You usually play it, right? - I think you want the recording to sound
like you, the player, hears the instrument, and not like the instrument
is heard by the audience.

I find if I run the output from the compressor through an eq,

Turn your back to the mic. I'm not completely fond of brass instruments,
so I will take the liberty of saying that sometimes a trumpet plain
sounds better like that. Here is how I learned it:

Once upon a time a friend of mine asked me to help with a jazz
recording, new orleans, in a very small bar. Bars are characterized by
the audience somehow loosing physical coordination in a progressive
manner during the concert. For this reason mic stand safety is
paramount. The band was placed in a corner, with the contrabass,
unamplified, in the very corner, single pa box next to it. drumkit on
one side wall and piano on the other, and the rest "in front". There was
zero real estate in front of the band, the usable real estate was behind
the bass player. So on my suggestion there went the mic stand and the
4006's. On later occasions MKH 406's were tried in that position.
Result: perfectly balanced new orleans sound.

However, it seems to me I shouldn't have to dull it down this much.

No, you shouldn't.

This being the case, are the Soundblaster Live converters a possible
suspect? Do they possibly exaggerate certain frequencies?

Nah, boring perhaps, but linear.

At the moment, blowing through a brand new Shure Beta58a, a mic I know can
work well on trumpet, having seen it used in live professional situations.

Live sound reinforcment and studio recording are different. I'd humbly
suggest trying a Behringer measurment microphone, see Arny's many
references to their virtues, including excellent budget compatiblity.


Kind regards

Peter Larsen

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