For the last couple of years I’ve been using an iRig HD-2 to play around with amp sims and record a few tracks in GarageBand on my phone, but I’ve recently decided to get some proper gear for recording so that I can be happy with my recording quality and work towards releasing music worth asking people to pay for rather than just posting demos on Soundcloud.
Just thought I should ask if the equipment I’ve been considering getting is worthwhile or if there’s anything important that I’m missing. Here’s my current wishlist that is within my budget:
Laptop - DELL Inspiron 15 5590 15.6" Laptop - Intel Core™ i7, 512 GB SSD, 64-bit
Seems to have decent enough specs to use most daws and plugins (not exactly going to be using Pro Tools Ultimate anytime soon).
Audio Interface - Steinberg UR242
Heard that it’s good to have a PAD switch to help with the clipping that inevitably happens with introductory interfaces, it has a nice sturdy metal housing and it claims to have dsp-based zero latency (though I will be amazed if that turns out to be true for its price range). Plus it comes with Cubase AI, which would allow me to upgrade to Cubase Pro 10.5 at a considerably reduced cost (assuming its Cubase AI version 6 or higher), which brings me to...
DAW - Cubase Pro 10.5
I’ve heard a lot of people call it an outdated software, but from what I’ve seen of it it seems to have an easy to understand layout for beginners learning the basics of mixing, plus it has great system and plugin support from Steinberg, which I’d almost expect since they created the first VSTs.
Power Conditioner - Furman M-10x E
The electrical wiring isn’t exactly the best in my house (the lights often flicker whenever someone uses the microwave or hoover), so figure a power conditioner would be good to manage fluctuations and reduce the cheap interface’s inevitable transients.
MIDI Controller - M-Audio Keystation 88 MkII
I tried out my friend’s M-Audio Keystation and was surprised by how good the quality was for such a low price, so thought I’d get the same one. Online reviews seem to agree that its of very good quality for its price range.
DI Box - BSS AR133
Gonna be recording guitar straight into my interface using amp sims until I can get a better amp and a mic, and heard DI boxes are important for bringing guitar output signals up to line level. I’ve seen this particular model used at pretty much every gig I’ve ever been to so I’m guessing it’s an industry standard?
Headphones - Audio-Technica ATH-M50 X, Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro
My current living situation doesn’t permit me to use monitors (especially since I have a habit of recording at night when people are sleeping), so I’m just going to be using headphones for the time being. I’ve heard that closed-back and open-back headphones both have their own purposes when mixing so I’ve decided to get a pair of each, but one thing I’m unsure of is how important is the impedance of the headphones? If the phones maximum output level of the UR242 is 40 ohms does that limit the usefulness of the 250 ohm DT-990s?
One more thing I’m not sure about is whether I should get an external preamp for recording guitar, or would the UR242’s preamps be sufficient enough? I’ve often heard a “tinny” sound quality being attributed to the cheap interfaces, so not sure if an external preamp would improve the recording quality or if it’s something that won’t be remedied until I get a better interface in the future.
I don’t sing or anything so won’t be needing a mic until I get that amp or get good enough at violin to actually record something with it, and so won’t be needing any acoustic treatment either for a good while.
Is what I have listed sufficient enough for a full initial setup or is there anything critical that I’m missing, or should any of the mentioned equipment be replaced with something else? Thanks for reading through, answers much appreciated.
Just thought I should ask if the equipment I’ve been considering getting is worthwhile or if there’s anything important that I’m missing. Here’s my current wishlist that is within my budget:
Laptop - DELL Inspiron 15 5590 15.6" Laptop - Intel Core™ i7, 512 GB SSD, 64-bit
Seems to have decent enough specs to use most daws and plugins (not exactly going to be using Pro Tools Ultimate anytime soon).
Audio Interface - Steinberg UR242
Heard that it’s good to have a PAD switch to help with the clipping that inevitably happens with introductory interfaces, it has a nice sturdy metal housing and it claims to have dsp-based zero latency (though I will be amazed if that turns out to be true for its price range). Plus it comes with Cubase AI, which would allow me to upgrade to Cubase Pro 10.5 at a considerably reduced cost (assuming its Cubase AI version 6 or higher), which brings me to...
DAW - Cubase Pro 10.5
I’ve heard a lot of people call it an outdated software, but from what I’ve seen of it it seems to have an easy to understand layout for beginners learning the basics of mixing, plus it has great system and plugin support from Steinberg, which I’d almost expect since they created the first VSTs.
Power Conditioner - Furman M-10x E
The electrical wiring isn’t exactly the best in my house (the lights often flicker whenever someone uses the microwave or hoover), so figure a power conditioner would be good to manage fluctuations and reduce the cheap interface’s inevitable transients.
MIDI Controller - M-Audio Keystation 88 MkII
I tried out my friend’s M-Audio Keystation and was surprised by how good the quality was for such a low price, so thought I’d get the same one. Online reviews seem to agree that its of very good quality for its price range.
DI Box - BSS AR133
Gonna be recording guitar straight into my interface using amp sims until I can get a better amp and a mic, and heard DI boxes are important for bringing guitar output signals up to line level. I’ve seen this particular model used at pretty much every gig I’ve ever been to so I’m guessing it’s an industry standard?
Headphones - Audio-Technica ATH-M50 X, Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro
My current living situation doesn’t permit me to use monitors (especially since I have a habit of recording at night when people are sleeping), so I’m just going to be using headphones for the time being. I’ve heard that closed-back and open-back headphones both have their own purposes when mixing so I’ve decided to get a pair of each, but one thing I’m unsure of is how important is the impedance of the headphones? If the phones maximum output level of the UR242 is 40 ohms does that limit the usefulness of the 250 ohm DT-990s?
One more thing I’m not sure about is whether I should get an external preamp for recording guitar, or would the UR242’s preamps be sufficient enough? I’ve often heard a “tinny” sound quality being attributed to the cheap interfaces, so not sure if an external preamp would improve the recording quality or if it’s something that won’t be remedied until I get a better interface in the future.
I don’t sing or anything so won’t be needing a mic until I get that amp or get good enough at violin to actually record something with it, and so won’t be needing any acoustic treatment either for a good while.
Is what I have listed sufficient enough for a full initial setup or is there anything critical that I’m missing, or should any of the mentioned equipment be replaced with something else? Thanks for reading through, answers much appreciated.
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