The next step?

DesolationAngel

New member
First time poster, here.

I did a little searching but it's hard to know what to search for to get good results...

My situation; decent room, decent monitors, decent interface, decent mics, decent instruments (acoustic and electric guitars, mostly).
My thoughts; expansion into outboard gear.

I'd like to expand not because I think it'll be a sonic 'silver bullet' but because I'd like to try it, I'd like to learn about it and, maybe, en route, improve my recordings and my mixes.

I'm thinking to get a couple different flavours of micpre (with 2 channels each), an outboard stereo compressor (to play with on tracking) and 2 channels of EQ (to play with on my stereo bus).

My question; go 500 or go regular rack? If I go rack then I'm going to need rack, maybe a power strip, maybe a patchbay... if I go 500 then I'll need a chassis but the other stuff is covered. But is, for instance, two A Designs P1s going to be close to a Pacifica? Are the 500 modules pretty close to regular rack counterparts?

Anyone been in the similar situation and found obvious answers?
 
Sorry I can't help with an answer, but I'm in almost the same boat. Been thinking about moving toward outboard gear for a while now. I'll be watching for responses to your post. Thanks for asking!
 
If I were touring and wanted my custom effects chain to go along I'd do the 500 rack. It would be more compact and all the power supplies would be integrated. Otherwise it's kind of a wash. In the end I'd prefer regular rack gear because the front panel display and controls, and the connector panel, are larger. Power strips are cheap. Patch bays are not any more necessary with standard rack gear than with 500 rack gear.

For contrast I'll mention that after years of using outboard gear I've been using less and less of it and the sound is getting better. Part of that is that I'm using some mid grade stuff, but even bypassing the better compressors and using plugins instead has been improving my results.
 
You're on the precipice - watch out! :)

I set some arbitrary rules for myself to try and keep me from just buying everything - one was to stay away from the 500 series (and the other was to avoid anything on the computer that needs an iLok). I am convinced that there are some truly awesome 500 modules, but I will keep my vow. I'm also sure I'll never get a console or a tape machine. But I do like my hybrid system.

I have a bunch of outboard these days, mostly compressors (with more on the way right now :( ) - I use them a lot with mixing, and since I don't know what I'm doing, something about the experience of dealing with the outboard stuff is making me a better mixer, I swear.

Also, I don't think I'll ever track vocals without a compressor, or at least only under unusual circumstances. Not because I'm afraid of clipping, but because it sounds good to me, and also to the singer when monitoring, and it seems to get better performances.

I haven't found much need for outboard EQ - I'm always happy with what's happening inside the box. I do have one outboard EQ which I think is nice, and I use it on the mix bus. But I wonder how necessary it is.

But I also have to say that most recent generation of plugins are really good (e.g. for compressors, u-he Presswork, Klanghelm MJUC), and I'm often using only those.
 
Thanks for the responses, so far... seems to be a consensus (and increasingly so) that you can achieve most everything 'in the box'. I think one of my reasons for wanting to at least dabble in outboard is so that I can reach my own conclusions and so I can have a valid opinion on it myself. That being said, I'd be curious to know what y'all are using for plugins... I use Logic Pro X (which has killer compressors) but I'm looking into the Slate plug ins.
 
Thanks for the responses, so far... seems to be a consensus (and increasingly so) that you can achieve most everything 'in the box'. I think one of my reasons for wanting to at least dabble in outboard is so that I can reach my own conclusions and so I can have a valid opinion on it myself. That being said, I'd be curious to know what y'all are using for plugins... I use Logic Pro X (which has killer compressors) but I'm looking into the Slate plug ins.

I asked this question in another forum and the overwhelming response was to go with the Slate plugins. They are offering a "monthly plan" now where for $20/month you get unlimited access to all of their plugins. It's a nice way to try out everything they make and you can suspend your account at any time (after at least paying for the current month I believe).

The other ones that were suggested were the Melda Production ones. They have free ones that work pretty well and the premium ones are even better.
 
I haven't tried slate due to my arbitrary no iLok constraint, but if you could easily try them all for a month for $20 with no commitment (or even with a short commitment - $60, for instance, is a lot less than most single plugin licenses, and 3 months seems like an ample trial period), that seems like a fine way to go.

I use Logic, and I'm constantly learning more great stuff about the stock plugs - I agree the compressor is really fantastic.

I use the Universal Audio plugins, and love them - you have to get a co-processor, though, and that can be expensive (and some would say more objectionable than iLok - for me the iLok ban is just arbitrary, of course). The coprocessor actually helps me because my computer is really old and weak and I'm hesitant to get a newer one. I use their reverb and tape simulation plugs on most mixes.

Other company's plugs I use all the time are Voxengo, PSPAudio, Klanghelm, Plugin Alliance, u-he, FabFilter, and some Waves. And Stillwell. And others jeez. The IKMultimedia ones are good, and they tend to go on sale over the holidays (as do many others) - I haven't started using them too much yet, but I like them. In general, you should wait for sales for all of them if you can - *much* cheaper that way.

And of course I use the Logic I/O plugin to bring in outboard stuff. I wish it had a high pass filter (or a set of filters) so that I could pass through certain frequency bands and hold onto others instead of passing the entire signal out. Getting OT here...
 
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