two important all-around web resources..
www.GEARSLUTZ.com (like NT but for sound)
www.THEPROAUDIOFILES.com (informative and very easy to read articles)
and one very useful app..
www.QUIZTONES.net (frequency ear trainer, improves the precision/efficiency of your mixing greatly)
WWW.LOENDRADIO.COM
Just released a new musical project as an artist, "6S - 131", on the 31st of January. Also handled the mix, artwork, and majority of the production myself. Check it out if you can, you will have no regrets..
There is a clear sonic difference between a 320kbps MP3 and any lossless format (wav, flac), most easily perceived as a "loss of depth". However, if you say most of your music is 320 kbps already, converting it to FLAC will not do anything as the information from the original source was already...
All solid advice. Reflexion filter, solid mic, A+ converters plus a semi-treated room should be enough to pull off real solid vocal recordings; I don't even have a reflexion filter yet and I'm very satisfied with my quality at this point.
I would say the most important piece in the signal chain...
Mike Dean (hip-hop producer/engineer/all around sound genius, currently plays a huge role in Kanye West's operation) drops some serious knowledge in this episode of Pensado's Place..
The "Excellence" section of Muder to Excellence gets played multiple times a day. "The Joy" and "New Day" get play like every other day.. "Primetime" and "Otis" every once in a while. That is all..
Here's a solid EQ reference chart..
http://www.recordingwebsite.com/articles/eqfreq.php
Keep in mind these only give a guideline as to where to start, use your ears to make your final decisions.
It is almost always worth it to put up the money and have a pro master your stuff, unless you are a sound god.. These people have been doing specifically mastering for years, with ears and an environment that is so much more precise than any of us can fathom. I too thought that I could do my own...