Starting A New Studio

[denniearmour]

Christmas is rolling around the corner and my boyfriend is amazing at making beats and amazing at rapping to them..
but i want to get him equipment for Christmas but im just not sure what to get him.... please help!! All he has is a bad microphone and the program on his laptop..

 

[ralpheo]

Start Here

A budget would be helpful, But I would seriously look at this: http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=2009

It's portable, meaning he could do his thing anywhere (comes with a wall wart, but can be operated with batteries). It can be used either stand-alone or as a usb control surface for operating his favorite software. He can drag-and-drop the wav file into the computer and mix them using the control surface or record them into the DAW as the are bening mixed.

It has 16 XLR/ 1/4" inputs so expanding to more instruments is no problem. It records to SD media cards, so media is available everywhere. And, to top it off: It's affordable---- $399!

As far as the microphone is concerned: You can find a lot of widely varied opinion on this forum. Check out the mic forum on this site. Here's one thread to help: https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=53878

Lastly: Tell him to join this board. Tons of information to be gleaned just by reading and lot's of knowledgeable people here. Also have him sign up with the board at futureproducers.com. The focus there is on hiphop and rap.
Good Luck

 

[TeyshaBlue]

A budget would be helpful, But I would seriously look at this: http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=2009

It's portable, meaning he could do his thing anywhere (comes with a wall wart, but can be operated with batteries). It can be used either stand-alone or as a usb control surface for operating his favorite software. He can drag-and-drop the wav file into the computer and mix them using the control surface or record them into the DAW as the are bening mixed.

It has 16 XLR/ 1/4" inputs so expanding to more instruments is no problem. It records to SD media cards, so media is available everywhere. And, to top it off: It's affordable---- $399!

As far as the microphone is concerned: You can find a lot of widely varied opinion on this forum. Check out the mic forum on this site. Here's one thread to help: https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=53878

Lastly: Tell him to join this board. Tons of information to be gleaned just by reading and lot's of knowledgeable people here. Also have him sign up with the board at futureproducers.com. The focus there is on hiphop and rap.
Good Luck

The Zoom is a nice choice as it gives him quite a bit of flexibility. It's a standalone recorder or, if he wants go DAW with his computer, it's a nice interface. It does, however, only have 8 XLR inputs.

 

[denniearmour]

thanks so much.
but he is literally starting from nothing so i need to know what he needs.
i know nothing about any of it and he told me he ordered a mic and somethin else but i dont remember what....
if this was you what would you want??

 

[ralpheo]

oops

It does, however, only have 8 XLR inputs.

My fault. TeyshaBlue is right. Only 8 ins, but that should be plenty to work with.
If your boyfriend posted on here after you did yesterday, he wrote about a micrphone and a preamp. He's going to need an audio interface to connect between the microphone and his computer.
They all have some kind of preamp onboard, although some are not very good. They can be bypassed in some way, in favor of an outboard preamp.
The Zoom r16 is not an interface (per se), but can be used in place of one. It is both a multi-track digital recording device and a Digital Audio Workstation control surface. It has a Digital Audio Converter which literally converts the analog audio signal into a digital signal to be transferred to his computer or media (SD Media card in this case). The signal is then retranslated into analog audio so we can hear it.
Other options you might consider are usb audio or audio/midi interfaces (some as low as $100).
But I have to state here that for the abilities and features the Zoom has, and anticipating the need for expansion people in the home recording industry encounter. And at $399 there is nothing that compares.

 

[TeyshaBlue]

My fault. TeyshaBlue is right. Only 8 ins, but that should be plenty to work with.
If your boyfriend posted on here after you did yesterday, he wrote about a micrphone and a preamp. He's going to need an audio interface to connect between the microphone and his computer.
They all have some kind of preamp onboard, although some are not very good. They can be bypassed in some way, in favor of an outboard preamp.
The Zoom r16 is not an interface (per se), but can be used in place of one. It is both a multi-track digital recording device and a Digital Audio Workstation control surface. It has a Digital Audio Converter which literally converts the analog audio signal into a digital signal to be transferred to his computer or media (SD Media card in this case). The signal is then retranslated into analog audio so we can hear it.
Other options you might consider are usb audio or audio/midi interfaces (some as low as $100).
But I have to state here that for the abilities and features the Zoom has, and anticipating the need for expansion people in the home recording industry encounter. And at $399 there is nothing that compares.

It works very well as an 8x8 USB interface, and I've used it to track 8 tracks simultaneously into Sonar. Works like a charm with the caveat that it must be no higher than 48/24 in order to move 8 tracks. I actually bought it for the 8x8 functionality...everything else was just gravy.

It will do 24/96 @ 2 channels.

 

[TheChikenMaster]

I wouldn't be surprised if he could do it all with the zoom h4n. Its only 300. And it can do everything he can ask for. Especially those times when he is away and he wants to record his new hit its all there!