whats the next investment??

S

Spider

New member
hi all ... im looking at spending a bit more money on the studio (god forbid if itll ever end!) and i was wondering what the next main investment should be .. I hear compressors mentioned quite a bit ..are they all that and more ?? currently ive got a reasonably powerful pc (p3 450 , 256MB) , a decent soundcard(8in4out) , behringerMX2642A 16ch.mixer, alesis quadraverb , behringer powerplay head phone amp alesis RA100 amp , alesis monitor ones and some cheap arse midi controller , i use logic audio (demo though, but it does the job!!) ..
so looking at that what do u think the next most crucial piece of equipment is .. ive got most the mics i need .. i just need a good vocal mic (i use a shure at the moment)
So does anyone have any sugestions??? Limiters , gates , compressors etc.etc. ....
Do they make that big a difference .. can pro quality music be produced with out them ??? any help here would be much appreciated... cheers all...
 
I've never done any pro quality recordings, but I can't see how you can live without compressors, even doing amateur stuff like I do. :)
Each time I record anything with a mic I put it through a compressor (vocals, guitars, basses, harmonicas, thumb pianos, whatever).
Loads of people like to put light compression the finished mix too. I have never been able to do that without making the mix sound bad, but thats just me. :p

You should probably start off with a stereo compressor where each channel can be operated separately. I have three compressors, a small Boss 1/3 rack mono compressor/expander/limiter/noisegate, a dbx mono overeasy halfrack thingy, and a Behringer Ultramizer, which is a stereo compressor and shome other shtuff).
The dbx with overeasy and softknee is very unaudible in use, but has only one control, so often I use the Boss compressor instead, where you have complete control over all the parameters. The Behringer is new, and I have still to actually use it. I mostly compress mono sources and the others do their job...
 
Erm, maybe invest in a decent machine to master to. For amatueur recording, maybe minidisc, cdr, for pro, DAT, DCC, CD, UMATIC(!).
Umm, otherwise, maybe invest in new programes for your computer, such as T-Racks Mastering Software, Sound Forge, some plug ins. If you have a lot of cash lying around, get pro tools, belive me, it's worth it.
 
yeah, you can't really live without compressors. They add so much warmth to a vocal, even if you only use it slightly. You *could* put your final mix through a compressor such as a Alesis 3630, and the results would be quite good if you did it right, but don't compare to a finalizer or other mastering equiptmnent.
If you're recording things like vocals, bass guitars, and especially drums, compressors are vital. i've found that software compressors don't work as well as external ones for some reason. I'm guessing by the soundcard spec you gave that you're using the Maxi Studio ISIS card. well...
if you buy a compressor, you just have to route the track that needs compressing to outputs 3+4, take these outputs into the compressor, take the outputs of the compressor to the inputs of the maxi studio. disable the monitoring of the track on 3+4 outs (cus otherwise you will get feedback),and you can just rerecord the compressed track onto a spare track, or just let it play straight onto your mastering media. if it sounded copmlicated, mail me, i'll be happy to explain!
 
yes. compressors are a must! I would suggest a nice stereo compressor such as the dbx 1066. lotsa goodies on it for around $400US. you might also consider checking out a mic preamp/compressor/eq, such as any of the Joe Meek stuff. if you are tracking to your hard drive through a 58, you REALLY, REALLY need to get a good vocal mic. even in the $200-$400 range you can find some really good stuff. the Audio Technica 4047 is a bit more but it's a really nice sounding mic.
happy hunting.
 
I'm going to suggest something completely different - Acoustics!! good acoustics can change your sound more than any effect It effects what you record and it effects what you hear. I did a studio for a friend and he reckons it changed his sound and recording more than any other piece of equipment.
 
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