Money
- Thread starter 6_sic_6
- Start date
Way to F'ing much ..... and still ain't got all I'd like. Pry never will.
How much ya got?
Can I have it? ...... never mind.
Go buy some shit and start recording. Once you've reached the limitations of the gear you've got .... go buy more shit.
Trust me, it's fun .... and chicks will dig you!
How much ya got?
Can I have it? ...... never mind.
Go buy some shit and start recording. Once you've reached the limitations of the gear you've got .... go buy more shit.
Trust me, it's fun .... and chicks will dig you!
Tim Brown
New member
Okay, first you need to establish what you intend to record on.
If you intend to record on a Computer, you need to keep a few things in mind.
#1. Obviously, You need to be bale to have the computer in the same place you intend to record.... so that rules out using most family/home computers.
So you'll need a Computer.
The Fastest CPU you can afford. at least 1 Gig of RAM. and 2 Hard Drives - the first one is to put your programs on, the second is to store your audio files on.
The best bet is to get a high-speed firewire card installed.
Then, go with a Presonus Firepod. It allows you to plug 8 microphones directly into a computer.(about $600) If you buy the Presonus Firepod, it comes with a software program called Cubase LE that is a 48-track audio recording software. I haven't used it, but I know a lot of guys who have, and I've heard a lot of good things about it - especially for something that came with the interface.
You'll need a set of Audio Monitors - not "PC speakers" - you can't use those. Generally somewhere between $300 up to $1,300 for a pair is what most people spend.
Microphones?
Some of us have had lot of success with Marshall/MXL 603 microphones and 990 microphones. I prefer condenser mic's for recording, but some people prefer dynamic mic's. Condensers require what is called "Phantom Power" which means the preamp sends an electrical signal to the microphone to actually power it. These types of mic's tend to deliver a very crisp sound with great detail.
You'll need a multichannel headphone amplifier to power several sets of headphones. (about $150)
for Headphones, just use cheap headphones. After all - you're not worried about sound quality here - these are just so you can hear what you are playing to. I use Philip's headphones that I got on sale for about $20 at Walmart - I bought 5 pairs of them when i caught them on sale, and they work great.
If you do a search for Harvey Gerst - he's a Homerec.com forum member - he sells a kind of headphone that a lot of guys use, and sells them for dirt cheap.
You could get into recording for a few hundred dollars, but my advice is don't waste your money. if you can use the PC you have, that helps a lot.
I would definitely go with the Presonus unit. I've talked to several friends who have them and I've heard nothing but great things about them. This is the model I intend to go with. I started out on tape, but I'm going to move over to the PC recording. It's the way of the future, and it's here now.... and has been for a few years.
By the way, welcome to the board.
Tim
If you intend to record on a Computer, you need to keep a few things in mind.
#1. Obviously, You need to be bale to have the computer in the same place you intend to record.... so that rules out using most family/home computers.
So you'll need a Computer.
The Fastest CPU you can afford. at least 1 Gig of RAM. and 2 Hard Drives - the first one is to put your programs on, the second is to store your audio files on.
The best bet is to get a high-speed firewire card installed.
Then, go with a Presonus Firepod. It allows you to plug 8 microphones directly into a computer.(about $600) If you buy the Presonus Firepod, it comes with a software program called Cubase LE that is a 48-track audio recording software. I haven't used it, but I know a lot of guys who have, and I've heard a lot of good things about it - especially for something that came with the interface.
You'll need a set of Audio Monitors - not "PC speakers" - you can't use those. Generally somewhere between $300 up to $1,300 for a pair is what most people spend.
Microphones?
Some of us have had lot of success with Marshall/MXL 603 microphones and 990 microphones. I prefer condenser mic's for recording, but some people prefer dynamic mic's. Condensers require what is called "Phantom Power" which means the preamp sends an electrical signal to the microphone to actually power it. These types of mic's tend to deliver a very crisp sound with great detail.
You'll need a multichannel headphone amplifier to power several sets of headphones. (about $150)
for Headphones, just use cheap headphones. After all - you're not worried about sound quality here - these are just so you can hear what you are playing to. I use Philip's headphones that I got on sale for about $20 at Walmart - I bought 5 pairs of them when i caught them on sale, and they work great.
If you do a search for Harvey Gerst - he's a Homerec.com forum member - he sells a kind of headphone that a lot of guys use, and sells them for dirt cheap.
You could get into recording for a few hundred dollars, but my advice is don't waste your money. if you can use the PC you have, that helps a lot.
I would definitely go with the Presonus unit. I've talked to several friends who have them and I've heard nothing but great things about them. This is the model I intend to go with. I started out on tape, but I'm going to move over to the PC recording. It's the way of the future, and it's here now.... and has been for a few years.
By the way, welcome to the board.
Tim
drossfile
nope
well, for all you know, donald trump and bill gates hang out at this bbs talking about their studios. the important thing is, how much money do you have in your budget? i started off with a recording console (a tascam analog 4-track) 12 years ago, and have been adding stuff to my studio ever since. hell, i didn't even have a separate room for recording until i bought a house last year! there are starting points, and there are upgrades. the real object here is to get music onto media while staying (mostly) within your means. if you already have instruments, then you need a console, whether it's a stand-alone recorder or a computer interface. if you plan to mic your instruments, then obviously you'll need a mic. i got by for years just running a direct line out of my amps into my console, and used headphones plugged into the input of a guitar effects pedal for a vocal mic, and an alesis sr-16 for drums (even though drums are what i'm best at--but i didn't have the money to buy a bunch of drum mikes). sure, it sounded like i'd never done a recording in my life, but at least it was true to my budget and experience. if you have decent ears and some common sense, you can make pretty damn good recordings with very little money. what's your budget, and what do you already own?6_sic_6 said:
Tim Brown
New member
Ah ha, somebody didn't like my answer and gave me a negative rep.
Hey man, my theory is "Buy Once, Cry once". Why waste money on a mediocre setup when you can go directly to 24-bit 96kz recording for around $2K if you have a computer you can already use.
$2,000 isn't crap to spend on gear - I've got well over $30,000 in gear and right off the bat three-fourths of it isn't going to be used when I move and my brother and I set up our new studio. We're going to set up a system on a PC, so that will be the end of the use of the DA-38's for quite a while, unless I decide to set up a little 16-track demo studio and charge bands like $25 an hour to record there.
Tim
Hey man, my theory is "Buy Once, Cry once". Why waste money on a mediocre setup when you can go directly to 24-bit 96kz recording for around $2K if you have a computer you can already use.
$2,000 isn't crap to spend on gear - I've got well over $30,000 in gear and right off the bat three-fourths of it isn't going to be used when I move and my brother and I set up our new studio. We're going to set up a system on a PC, so that will be the end of the use of the DA-38's for quite a while, unless I decide to set up a little 16-track demo studio and charge bands like $25 an hour to record there.
Tim
Tim Brown
New member
drossfile said:
You're dead on - one of my friends just won some kind of contest using a Boss BR-8 and a guitar. The label said it sounded so good that they want to master it and release it.
That said, if you have $1,000 to spend, and by waiting a few months you can save anouther $1,000 so you can step up to a pro system - it makes no sense to low ball it and then have to start over later.
Tim
Last edited:
drossfile
nope
Tim Brown said:
Thanks, and congrats to yr friend!
Including instruments, I'm in about $15k (although about 5k was spent just in the past year). I don't really have anything that would be considered "high-end" but somehow my stuff sounds fairly decent. I've even found that mixing on headphones (I know, a HUGE no-no) can be ok if you've been doing it long enough to know how to compensate for the deceptive nature of mixing on headphones. Within the next few months, I'll be getting a pair of M-Audio Bx5a monitors, so that'll be another upgrade...
anyway, I hope I'm not the one who gave you bad rep. I'm pretty sure I gave you positive rep, but since I have negative rep, positive points may translate as negative??? I'm not really sure how this works--I got into a tiff with some guy who was pulling all kinds of elitist crap and he had like a million rep points, so I gave him bad rep, not realizing that once he hit me back I'd be sunk. I went from having 12 points to -205 over that one slam. Live and learn, eh? So for that reason (and of course, the fact that there's nothing in your posts that would justify it), I'm sure I wouldn't have given you neg rep! So, sorry if that was me...maybe I should start giving people I like negative rep and since i'm at minus 205 it'll have a positive effect on their rep??? Man, I really don't understand how this site works...I thought I was just joining to get good info (which I have), but it turns out that there are politics involved...
you're right though. 2k is chump change for a studio. i feel my 15k has only gotten me mediocre equipment...i will say that for $200, the AKG C1000S is a steal...
Tim Brown
New member
drossfile said:
Yep, the CS1000's are good mic's.
Here is the thing - when you were first buying gear - you couldn't get into a pro quality recording system for $2,000.
Right now at Musician's friend, you can get a package deal for $800 that is a Presonus Firepod, a pair of Fostex near-field powered monitors, a couple of mic's, stands, and Cubase LE software (48 track.)
If you have a computer that you can use already -you can step into a basic professional level platform for under $1,000 right there.
Now, Cubase ain't Pro Tools by any stretch of the imagination - but that money is spent much more wisely on this type of setup than it is on a standalone 8-track HD recorder that only allows you to record 2 channels at a time....with the Firepod you get 8 channels/mic's at a time - and you can add more Firepods to increase your track input.
When I made the jump from Open Reel (I had a Fostex 8-track that was made in 1982) to digital in 1999, I wish I had gone with a Computer format rather than the Tascam DA-38's. I didn't trust recording on a computer. I had one for mastering or at least making CD's on - I had shelled out $3K in 1998 for that included a $600 Yamaha CD Burner and I actually had 1 Meg of memory in it. Young guys laugh when they hear that - but think about it - MY CD Burner at the time cost me more than some people's PC's cost them now - it just astounds me how much the prices on some of this stuff has dropped.
Tim
drossfile
nope
Tim Brown said:
Oh, no doubt! And I didn't trust computer recording either when I sold my 4-track and bought the DPS12 (with a whopping 4 GB hard drive!) in '97 for $1200, and spent $450 on a standalone burner (Harmon Kardan
). But now I'm pretty much resigned to the notion that when my Akai dies, I'll get a Mac and Firewire mixer...Hindsight is 20/20, but when the technology's new, there are a lot of unknown quantities and when you're shopping for your studio, you want tried and true (and now affordable) equipment...i sigh...so in other words, i'm with you 100%.
Question for you (I now run the risk of hijacking this post--sorry sic): I really have no way to transfer data to my computer from the Akai (i have a dell pc, w/ no scsi) to "master" my stuff aside from mixing to cd, importing the wav files to cool edit pro, and proceeding from there. My question is, how much difference would it make if I burned each individual track (drums, guitar 1, guitar 2, guitar 3, bass, vocal, etc) to cd, imported to cool edit, and individually eq/compress the tracks and then mix them in the software? is this even viable? i realize this sounds like an excruciating excercise, but I'm tempted to try it. Is it in any way worth the effort? Is mastering my mixes in cool edit even worthwhile in the first place? I've only used it as a cursory experiment on a rough mix--will it really improve the quality that much?