Next gear purchases? [insert opinions here]

[Sifunkle]

After several weeks study and experimentation, I think I've learned a reasonable amount on music production (not enough, but I doubt it ever will be). Particularly I think I'm starting to understand the limitations of what I currently own.

I guess my end goal is to make songs I'm not ashamed of, that I hope other people will want to hear. What I want to achieve production-wise is demos of high enough quality that the average person will notice the songwriting, rather than how poor the sound quality is compared to what they hear on the radio, CDs, iTunes, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to achieve truly professional results, but I don't have the time or money for it (for the foreseeable future). I've decided that I'd like to concentrate on achieving the best results I can with the gear I've got, and hopefully my skill will improve if I'm able to achieve good results on not-so-good gear.

But I think there are a few things I'm currently missing that are constraining my current results, so I'm prepared to do one more round of gear buying before I settle. Money is tight, so I want to plan carefully what I need most, therefore what I should buy first. I've got a few ideas and am looking for your opinions on what are the most important. Hopefully as I go through them, you'll see what my current setup is. My ideas:

1. Monitor speakers. At the moment all I have is my laptop with it's tinny speakers, and a set of bass-heavy headphones for tracking. I'd love KRK Rokit 8s ROKIT 8 Studio Monitors Speaker KRK SYSTEMS , but $800 is a big investment for me.

2. Audio interface with more mic inputs. I currently have a Lexicon Omega Product: Omega | Lexicon Pro , which has been good enough for recording vocals, guitars, various percussion stuff, etc. But I would like to be able to record myself playing the drum kit, so an interface with more inputs and a set of drum mics sounds good. I can get around this to some extent by sampling my drums and doing them as MIDI (I have a small USB controller), but it's just not the same as really playing the beat...

3. A dynamic microphone. I only have one microphone currently, a JTS JS-1 condenser JTS - Wired Microphones,Studio Microphone,JS-1 . As I've never recorded through anything else, I'm not sure how much of an improvement having a choice of mics would make, but I've heard that the Shure SM57 Shure Americas | SM57 Instrument Microphone | Instrument Mic, Rugged, Touring is fairly versatile and gives reasonably good results.

4. A better version of Cubase. The only sequencer I've used has been Cubase LE which came packaged with my interface. As I'm familiar with Cubase and have limited time, I'll probably stick with Cubase, but I wonder if upgrading would offer me many benefits?

5. A mixer or control surface. I feel like I waste a fair amount of time making tweaks within the software, so wonder if this would be a worthwhile alternative. Also, potentially this could be another way around my problem of wanting to record my drum kit. I'm not very familiar with mixers - I assume I'd still need some sort of interface, but perhaps the Lexicon Omega would suffice if I made submixes at the mixer before sending them into the computer?

To anyone who bothered reading all that, I would absolutely love your advice on:

-What my priorities should be (I suspect the monitors are probably #1)
-Suggestions for alternatives I haven't thought of
-Anything else I might find useful

Thanks so much in advance You've all helped me out so much over the past few weeks of my hassling, and I really appreciate it!

Si

 

[mjbphotos]

Monitors and mics would be your first choices, but I think there are a lot more alternatives than the $800 Rokits.
The SM57s are a good all around mics, everyone should have at least one in their recording kit!

Interface with more ins/outs - that's your choice. You can record your drums with as few channels as you have (mix down to stereo), go for 4 channels/4 mics, or go up to 8 or more - it's your choice on how much control of the sound you want during mix down.

 

[Sifunkle]

Thanks for your response mjbphotos ! I think I will definitely grab a SM57. I do like playing around with my drum levels too, so I'll probably want at least 8 channels...

On the KRK monitors, it's just occurred to me that if I buy them from the U.S.A. over ebay, I can get them for about half of what I was expecting to pay in Aus (especially with the exchange rate at the moment).

Is there anything I should particularly watch out for if attempting this? Like, are counterfeit speakers being notably common on ebay?

Obviously getting the right power supply for Aus power might be difficult... for me anyway, I'm terrible with cables and cords and knowing what will work and all...

Hmm...

 

[Bristol Posse]

I'd reconsider the logic behind buying the rockit 8s

you're considering buying the largest most powerful, deepest bass monitors in the product line to put into a presumably smallish, untreated mixing space. By doing so you'll probably create as many problems as you solve and will still not be come up with mixes that translate well and sound good because of all the room reflections you'll create.

If KRK is a brand you like I'd suggest taking your $800 and spending $400ish on Rockit 5s and the other $400ish on room treatment

 

[arcadeko]

You can get a pair of Rokit 6's for $400 USD
KRK RP6 G2 Rokit Powered 6 Generation 2 Monitor (Pair)
Rokit 5s for $300 which also sound very good they just don't have as much bass response - they are still very good monitors - but you should go listen to some at a music store.

If you are getting a better interface just get one with a mixer - a control surface isn't really necessary, it does not enable you to do anything you can't do with a mouse and keyboard. Although some interfaces work as both mixer and control surface, like the Zoom series. You can get a full duplex multi channel interface for as little as $250 USD

As far as Cubase - what LE version do you have? And what limitations are you having with it? I use Cubase LE 4 and I can mix 12-20 tracks with ease.

The Shure SM57 is a popular microphone - but it really depends on what you are recording, it wouldn't be my first choice for vocals. And if you want to record live drums you will be needing multiple mics. But used mics are not that difficult to come by.

 

[guitaristic]

I'd reconsider the logic behind buying the rockit 8s

you're considering buying the largest most powerful, deepest bass monitors in the product line to put into a presumably smallish, untreated mixing space. By doing so you'll probably create as many problems as you solve and will still not be come up with mixes that translate well and sound good because of all the room reflections you'll create.

If KRK is a brand you like I'd suggest taking your $800 and spending $400ish on Rockit 5s and the other $400ish on room treatment

^^^What he said. If you really want to make good-sounding stuff, I would get a pair of 5s or 6s instead of the 8s and treat your room! Room treatment is the most-overlooked step out of everything!

 

[JimmyS1969]

Room treatment (rock wool) and monitors before anything else. Rokit 5's are fine to start and you can always add a sub later. Or sell the 5' and get bigger. They hold their value fairly well if you don't poke in the tweeter.

 

[Sifunkle]

Thanks everyone, lots of good advice

If KRK is a brand you like I'd suggest taking your $800 and spending $400ish on Rockit 5s and the other $400ish on room treatment

I would get a pair of 5s or 6s instead of the 8s and treat your room! Room treatment is the most-overlooked step out of everything!

Room treatment (rock wool) and monitors before anything else. Rokit 5's are fine to start and you can always add a sub later. Or sell the 5' and get bigger.

Okay, I'm hearing that loud and clear (sorry, terrible pun). Only thing is, as much as I've read how important it is, I'm not sure room treatment is an option for me at the moment . I'll be a student for the next 2.5 years, and have different semesters on different campuses... so I won't really have a set room to treat (I anticipate having at least 3 different homes over this time-frame). Happy to be persuaded otherwise!

The reason I initially preferred the Rokit 8's was the extra bass response. My main instrument is bass, and it's often pretty central in the songs I write, so I'd like to mix it well. I'd hate to not mix enough bass in due to hearing too much, but I'd like to hear it well so I can get the tone perfect

If the interference from the room acoustics will probably mess with the 8's bass response (especially because I prob won't be in a treated room), I guess the 5's or 6's are the way to go? In Australia, I reckon I could get the 8's for $750, the 6's for $600 and the 5's for $450. Being a poor student, I'd rather go the cheaper option, but am happy to save up and pay more if the extra advantage would be worth it. In light of my love of bass, would you still recommend the 5's?

(Also, in light of what I previously posted about potentially ordering from America, I suspect the postage costs - they're a bit hard to find out - will mean I only save $50 - $100, which I'd probably be happy to spend not to have the frustration of making it work on Aussie mains, or shipping it back etc if they were faulty...)

If you are getting a better interface just get one with a mixer

Sounds like a plan I think this might be a while down the track though, I think monitors and mics are key at the moment, so I'll spend the intervening time doing a bit more research.

As far as Cubase - what LE version do you have? And what limitations are you having with it?

I'm on LE4 too. No specific limitations, just didn't really know what I might be missing out on as I've never used another version (or any other sequencer for that matter). If someone's happy to tell me LE4 is adequate, I'm happy to hear it

The Shure SM57 is a popular microphone - but it really depends on what you are recording, it wouldn't be my first choice for vocals. And if you want to record live drums you will be needing multiple mics.

My main thing with microphones is that I've only ever used the one (my JTS JS-1 condenser), so I've never been able compare its strengths and weaknesses. I think it does a reasonable job on vocals, but I really would have no idea how it shaped up against other mics.

I picked the SM57 because 1. I don't already have a dynamic mic, and 2. it has reputation of being versatile, maybe a 'jack of all trades, master of none'. I figure it would be a good 'reference point' to compare to if I buy more mics in the future, and between it and my condenser, I should be able to record most things to an acceptable standard in the meantime.

As far as drum mics go, given that I'll be delaying purchase of a new interface/mixer, I'll probably worry about them later too.

Really happy to have you guys to point me in the right direction Thanks so much to all of you!

 

[Absolutepower]

I'd say get a cheaper pair of monitors maybe spend like $200. That will be a huge step up. I just posted this in another thread but get the GLS audio sm57 knockoff. Same damn thing for $30.

 

[guitaristic]

I'd still recommend the 6s, especially if you won't be able to treat your room! The KRK 8s are awesome, but you're going to have quiiiite a bit of low end bouncing around the room if you get those, especially if the room is untreated! Therefore, I'd get the 6s. I have them, so I can vouch for their bass output. It's the best balance considering you want accurate low-end but won't be able to treat your room!