Stand Alone Digital Rec. (Mackie HDR24) or PC/Mac based DAWs? Your opinions please.

pisces7378

pisces7378

New member
What do you think is "better"? Stand alone digital recorders like the Mackie HDR24 or the Tascam of the same ilk, or PC/Mac based DAWs running high end software like Logic Audio, Steinberg, Pro Tools etc...?

The reason I am asking is because a friend of mine just took out a $10,000 loan from a bank to purchase a ton of gear for a studio. Don't ask about the momeny. He has first of all, more $$$ than he has sense. And second of all he earns a lot of money so he will have that loan paid off in like a year. Not married, no kids... don't you HATE HIM!?!?!?!

Anyway, he has never laid a single finger on a mixer before and he has no idea what he needs. He is impatient as hell and he is leaving to go to Atlanta tomorrow to get a ton of stuff. He wants a 24 track Digital studio. He asked me to tell him what to get. I was like... uhh uhh uhhhh uhhhh. I myself have never touched a stand alone digital multi-tracker before. I have no idea what the story on these things are other than the fact that they are expensive.

I have a PC running Logic Audio Platinum and a Delta 66 sound card. I don't even have a mixer. I use the OMNI Studio. He wants as close to pro stuff as he can. I mean he will not be getting any SSL 72 channel digital mixers and 6 Neumann U87 Cond. mics. But he does want top notch Project Studio stuff.

What in the hell would you guys suggest him to get as far as a mixer is concerned and a recorder? Would you recomend a stand alone-recorder like the Mackie or a DAW running high end software and a bad ass audio interface. If so... which DAW running whcih software... with which interface.

Keep in mind he is not the brightest apple fall off the tree so I can't imagine him spending 10 years bogged down learning complicated software etc. But I really just do not know. What is more "pro" these days? What is the industry standard? DAWs of Stand Alones?

Any other recomendations for a guy with $10,000 to spend only on studio gear? Whcih mixer would be good for 24 tracks? Not Digital please. Effects rack gear? EQs? Reverb Units? Compressors? Brand names and model numbers would be of incredible help.

Thanks guys,

Mike

P.S. Pretend that you are a kid in a candy store and just tell me what you would pick with $10,000.
 
Hmmmmm...that's a loaded question. will he be recording full bands or just doing one or two tracks at a time?
 
Will be recording a full band...

Drums (9 tracks)
Guitar (2-4 tracks)
Bass Guitar (1 track)
Vocals (1-4 tracks)
Extra stuff (2-6 tracks)

That makes a max of 24 tracks. He will be doing rock music mostly... so not much use for samplers and fancy vocoders etc. Just raw dog rock n roll.
 
How about a 24 channel Soundcraft Ghost ($6000) and a HD24 ($2000) and put the rest into a decent mic locker. Maybe 6 SM-57s, a pair of AKG D-112's, a pair of Octava MC-012's or the small diaphram condesor of your choice, a pair of AT-4033's and an AT-4060. You'll want to budget for some quality cables too.
Witha hard disc recorder you can track like you would with an analog recorder and the learning curve shouldn't be too steep and if you have a computer and multi track recording/editing software (just about anything from Vegas, Cakewalk, Sonar, etc..)you can fly your tracks in and out of the computer for tweaking.
 
Does he want to build a studio at a fixed location, or does he want to use his recorder on location too? If he goes for a fixed location, and has some pc knowledge, I'd go with a PC or mac based system. (I'm more familiar with pc, so for me that would be pc.) If he wants portability, record on location at times (like I would want) I'd buy a standalone recorder. (Like those new mackies, alesis 24 tracks...)

For a mixer, analog or digital... I don't know. Never thought about it since a decent mixer is WAY out of my budget. But I would not mix on the pc. Hell, just tell 'em to buy what you want to have. He's gonna get all confused about it, and will either let you explain him how to work with it, have you working on it, or sell it...

Outboard gear: this is depending on the mixer. At least a nice voice channel, some compressors, maybe some micpre's with different colors...

Does he need mics, cables and stands, maybe multi's too for that money? What will it be, portable or fixed location? (Portable would mean flightcases too) Don't forget a patchbay. These cable thingies EAT money if you're starting from the bottom. Best thing here might be to start with a soldering iron and some of those silly electronics DIY kits with loads of flashy leds to learn using it. :)

For mics:
few SM 57 (snare etc.)
Sennheiser e604 for toms. (I like 'em better as SM57)
421 (just awesome...)
some kickmic
some nice big diaphragms
nice pair of small diaphragm condensors
2 x ECM8000 (For that price, you can't leave 'em....)
 
Board....
Mackie 32ch 8 bus mixer ($3600)

DAW....
1 Nice Computer ($2000)
Motu 24i core (1300)
A Multitrack Program and some nice plugins ($1000)

Sub Total - $7,900

Monitors....
Event 20/20 ($645)

Sub Total - 8545

Mics....
4 sm 57's ($320)
2 mxl 603's ($140)
2 mxl v93's ($300)
1 mxl V77 ($300)
1 ATM 25 ($150)

Sub Total - 9755

Cables....
As many as you can get with $245

That would be a really respectable home setup. $10,000 is really not as much as you might think when you have to start from scratch. I hope this helps you out. With this setup you should be able to record a whole band (5 piece) at one time.

Beezoboy
 
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