help needed in laptop studio creation

F

fantompauer

New member
halo
i was in a band for four years which died around christmas, during that time i really got into recording with cubase, playing guitars directly into crappy soundcards and recording drums in four hour stints at a local studio and editing out the mistakes later (which i got a perverse kick out of). Anyhoo now being left totally at my wits end I have decided to set up a home studio, and here is what I am thinking of so far

1. I own a decentish laptop which ive just put a load of ram into
2. i own an sm57

interface : presonus firepod, because im on a budget and cant afford a preamp strip and an 8 input interface. i have read about lots of problems with the firepod like crappy software and spontaneous firepod death syndrome but still it looks like my best bet, i cant afford motu and wont settle for a setup that cant record a band live.

1. vocal mike: rode nt1a (but is the studio projects c1 better, any ideas??)

2. overhead microhones : oktava mk012 (is there anything in this price range that is better?)

3. bass drum mike akg d112 - seems like an industry standard but is not too cheap - is there anything else i could use or should i cough up now and enjoy the benefits in the future??

4. random cheap headphone amp and some headphones for monitoring

5. leads and stands and pop screen, for leading and standing and screening


so my question is is there any glaringly obvious omission in this setup or anything that could be done better (yes i know i need another three microphones to complete the setup, but i can pick up some more 57's once i get over the shock of buying the rest of this stuff)

i am hoping to keep the price under 1500 euro (a bit under 2000 dollars, but things are much more expensive to buy over the internet from ireland, and i have to buy the presonus over here, which costs me the equivalent of 900 dollars, or else presonus' customer support will disown me, and my children and my childrens children)

thanks
 
There are other choices that will be cheaper than the firepod and still give you 8 channels. I have a Terratec EWS88/MT. It has 8 channels for $400 but now you can get its little brother (terratec phase 88) for $300 and its pretty much identical. This unit does not have built in pre's however but for another couple hundred, you can get a mixer with 8 pre's. This is just an idea to save ya some money...
 
hi, again the problem is things tend to double in price once they get over here, for instance the phase 88 sells for the equivalent of 590 dollars in europe, so i guess ill probably go with the firepod, thanks
 
8 mic pre amps are hard to beat at that price.
I just changed my order from a FA101 to a Firepod tis morning.
Insert points as well on Chs1 & 2

Currently using ST Audio/Hoontech DSP2000 on the desktop.
Unbalanced but clean and reliable now the drivers are sorted by europeans.
The Korean drivers could be dodgy.

D112 not my favourite kick mic.
Got a lot of buyers from the rep of the D12/D12E.
That I DO like.

Some of the AT and Thomann kick mics sound OK as well.
Don't forget you need top a well as low.
Sensitivity isn't as important as max spl tolrance on a kick mic.

At the end of the day a SM58 will sound OK in a bass drum.
The old favourite of the pros was the Beyer M88.
 
I don't think they still make them.

Second hand do come by now and then but tend to stay in the kit as a keeper.

The early D12 with the paper diaphragm is the connoisseurs favourite but the D12E with the plastic diaphragm is fine and probably a little more robust.

You see pictures of the Beatles singing into D12s.

You can tell them apart, the mics not the Beatles ;) , by the stand connectors.
The D12 is held by a mic clip.
The D12E has a lead coming from the base with a Male XLR on it. The stand fixing is an integral threaded lug.
 
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