I'd help but i won't download from that site, try a soundcast or just directly uploading the wav file here, i mean...it's a snippet, not going to be too long. I engineer all the time and can give some tips. From the description I you laid out, I would check the source first. Remember Garbage in Garbage out. When you record vox you want to make sure the source is strong but not clipping (RedLine/Distorted/Etc.) Plus giving it room on the top allows you to add compression and effects and other plug-ins without compromising the headroom and going into a clipping state.
Mic wise, it's your choice, comfort level and pocket, I've heard people recording with Guitar Hero mics...so thats up to you. The most important thing is to make sure you get good levels going in. You mentioned the vox sound far away and almost blurred...that is a little vague without listening to the sample, but a couple of things could be at play. The first would be reverb overuse, and even though you said you only used compression and EQ, you have to remember reverb just recreates a room, so even if you don't have any additional reverb on the track post-recording, you still have natural reverb where ever you initially recorded the vocal.
One way around that is to use a thick blanket to trap and deaden sounds, hang it up and surround yourself and the mic, it can make you a little muddy because it will soak up the hi frequencies and leave the lows, but it's a lo budget solution. Sound Treating the room is a lot more effective. I use a flexibooth in my home studio.
If reverb isn't the problem, EQ'ing may be. Now when I was talking about reverb I said the cheap solution with the blanket would absorb the his and leave the lows...well thats not clean, in fact it's really muddy and boomy. When you EQ vocals you typically want to cut the lows for males around 200hz (everything is to taste tho so try out what works for you) that way you get rid of any mic noise, electrical hum, and unneeded bass frequencies in the recording (this also makes it mix better with the instrumental). On the hi end, make room for the hats, claps, snares, etc by rolling off some of the hi's probably around 2000hz (I might have my hi's and low's switched I'm not looking at an EQ right now, but you should get a nice round off on both ends...this should actually be done on every track to scalpel out unwanted sounds and give space to every part). Keeping the mids and mid-hi's (where most vocals live) will make sure the recording is more crisp, and to give it that stand out punch you add compression.
Now adding compression should be the last thing you do but again everything is to taste, so play around with it. I normally use a short attack to clamp the vocal (a long attack will be more subtle, good for choruses or singers), the release is also going to be short (same reason). The threshold is normally set pretty high if you have a good source because you won't need it much (by it, i mean the compressor, the threshold tells the compressor when to kick in, the higher the value the higher the gain needs to be for the compressor to pull it back). The ratio states the degree of compression to be used, in your pic you have it set at 5.03:1 so for every 1dB of gain past the threshold the source is the compressor will drop the source 5.03dB. I'm not too familiar with make-up but I believe it refers to the overall mix of the vox after the compression is applied and that after the drop of that part the entire thing will be upped 5dB to compensate, thus leveling it out and making it stand out more in the mix.
Now you said someone told you to make three copies and pan it left right middle...not sure why they would tell you that, even if you were grouping there isn't really a need all it does is amplify the source by 1.5Xs especially if you have each part in Stereo. Think about it, the middle is going half left half right, the left is on the left, the right is on the right, but it's all the same part. Now if you were doing a double or ad libs that would make more sense in my mind, but what ends up happening is you get a lot more force than necessary, and have to work with an overloaded plate before you can really start mixing. If you were going for an echo effect or a delay with the L/R parts there are easier ways, but as always it's up to you to find what works for you.
With delays in mind you have the MonoDelay configured, not sure which channel it's on, or if it's on the whole mix, but that will definitely creating some spacing when playing back.
If you can post or email me a copy of the track I can go into more detail because this is just off of what I read, I can be spot on or way off. the email addy is:
[email protected]
And if you have the individual DRY wav files (no effects/plug-ins/etc) I can mix it down for you and let you hear the difference.
Ride out, Glide out.
