Improving home setup, recommendations needed..!

  • Thread starter Thread starter AngeloG.
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A

AngeloG.

New member
So, I have a very powerful computer, Reason, Cubase, Nuedo, FL Studio and many more. I have a couple of VST's and planning to get more. I am interested in recording at home, and I try to get the best out of it. I use EZ Drummer loops for drums, I play the guitars, the bass, the keyboards, and do the vocals. Main genre is Black Metal. The channels I use simultaneously are 2, though If I had more I could use them.

My setup consists of
A) An AKG Mic, in the range of 50$
B) An USB card, Lexicon Alpha.
C) A pair of oldie Hi-Fi speakers (Though they are a pretty good cheap monitor solution, they are very neutral.)
D) A MIDI Keyboard, Studiologic (Fatar) VMK 88.
E) A couple of guitars (Ibanez,BC Rich), a bass (ESP).
F) A Room with no particular insulating, but very little ambient noise thanks to small modifications.

My question is pretty clear, what would you buy with 320$ to improve this setup?
Note: I am not currently interested in buying something over that budget! :)

Thank you!
 
Not really, but the house is not mine, and small, so not much I can do.
 
Why isn't there much you can do? Small rooms NEED treatment. I say build some bass traps and mount them on the vall (via picture hangers so you don't eff up the walls. You will be suprised on the difference you will hear

Drew
 
Yup, treatment is not a permanent installation
and the room is 80% of your sound.
 
I love how newbs always respond to room treatment like you just asked them to down a bottle of Buckley's. The most important thing, but they will find any excuse to not do it. I don't know, is it because it's not shiny like a new piece of equipment (that will likely sound like shit in an un-treated room anyway)?
 
@RAMI
I like how some responders are so smug about knowing everything.
 
Re-tox_stl said:
Smug, no. Truthful, yes.
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Yeah, ditto that. It may seem attitudey but when you've heard the same lame excuses a thousand times it's hard not to be. Some people don't like honest answers to their questions. In time they may come to appreciate them.


lou
 
...besides the fact that we're in the "Studio Build" forum.....and the name of this thread is "Improving home setup, recommendations needed..!" :rolleyes:

So, if I hurt anyone's feeling with the truth, well then.....



Live with it. :)
 
RAMI said:
I love how newbs always respond to room treatment like you just asked them to down a bottle of Buckley's. The most important thing, but they will find any excuse to not do it. I don't know, is it because it's not shiny like a new piece of equipment (that will likely sound like shit in an un-treated room anyway)?
Click to expand...
I think it's at least partly because it's the last thing one expects to hear on a home recording forum. I think alot of newcomers have the idea that with X piece of gear put through Y bit of kit one will get the pristine results they're looking for and will even extend to hearing about mic placements etc, but few bargain for "make this item and put it there" or what seems like 'construction' because it's the last thing many think of in terms of making music. So when they ask how to improve, looking for some technical or instrumental deep secret, it comes as a big shock to be told something that is, in newbie terms, totally left field ! It's almost the equivalent of going out with a hot lady and just when you're getting down to 'biD~ness', she tells you she was born "Malcolm" !
Also, I think that when one is starting out, it's hard to see what difference a room may actually have on tracking and particularly, mixing. That often doesn't come until later. When we read about all the great recordings that may have inspired us and the way they were recorded, very rarely does one hear anything about the treatment of the studio itself. An artist may remark that they 'recorded at a great studio' but rarely on the actual properties of the room itself.
The bar is set pretty high on HR.com, which is hard to deal with initially, but actually is a really good thing, especially when one takes into account that we're often trying to do in our homes amongst normal everyday living what others do in dedicated, million $$$/£££, thought out, designed facilities that have left nothing to chance and that have evolved over the best part of at least a century.

To AngeloG ~ sometimes, there is an edge to the replies of some the more experienced members. But you need to understand the backdrop. Look at some of their start dates and when you see that people have been answering the same question from hundreds of people for 3, 6, 7, 10 years you can understand a little irritation creeping in. But, and this is important, it hasn't prevented them from still answering the questions. I don't like the name calling that sometimes ensues, but almost as often as not, it's sorted out when the involved parties have cooled off a bit. The annoyance some guys feel is at the very least understandable if not felt to be justifiable and it's that understanding that's important. It's pretty clear you can't start hacking up a house that you don't own, which is why portable treatments have evolved. At the very least, look into it.
 
grimtraveller said:
people have been answering the same question from hundreds of people for 3, 6, 7, 10 years you can understand a little irritation creeping in.
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Your whole post was very well put (I almost read the whole thing! :) ). But the part I quoted is right on. I must point out, though, that the irritation isn't because of the original question. The irritation comes when you answer the question, and then their response shows that they just don't want to hear it. Because you KNOW that one of 2 things will eventually happen:

1) They'll finally get it one day and realize that you really were giving them the best advice you could possibly give them.

OR

B) They'll never get it and give up, thinking that there's some "secret" that the pro's are refusing to share with them.
 
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RAMI said:
I must point out, though, that the irritation isn't because of the original question. The irritation comes when you answer the question, and then their response shows that they just don't want to hear it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I meant to put that in !
I can sort of understand why a newbie will argue the point rather than ask questions to further their current understanding. It's like those people that just don't want to hear how hard pop stars work. One may hate their stuff, one may think they're pappy sellouts with looks and no talent. But they work hard ! Few want to hear it though. There's not much one can do if you give someone info or advice when they've asked for it and they don't want to hear it.
 
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