10,000 to spend

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OldGeezer

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Hey, I am just starting to record digital, I am a retired citizen, and in my young ages recorded using all analog, but, that has been quite a while ago. I have been wanting to do this for years now. I have set aside 10,000 dollars. I have a computer running P4 3.2 Gig. 1024 RAM and 400 GB worth of harddrive, which I just bought. All I have bought so far, because I know I want to use these software programs, Sonar 3 Producer, and a PSP Vintage Warmer, hopefully going to buy a set of Waves plugins to go with it. This will turn into my job. I have three rooms. All of which sound great acoustically. So only equiptment wise, excluding software, how is this setup for a home studio, which will hopefully get a lot of business. One MAJOR part of my setup, is I HAVE to be able to mix hands on, I will have no other way. Thank you in advance.

2 Blue Baby Bottle Microphone

1 R0DE Matched Pair of NT5 Mics

2 Sennheiser E609 Silver Dynamic Guitar Mic

1 R0DE K2 Variable-Pattern Tube Mic

4 Shure SM57 Instrument/Vocal Mic

4 Sennheiser MD421 MKII U4 Mic

2 Shure SM81 Condenser Mic

1 AKG D112 Kick Drum Mic

3 AKG K240DF Studio Headphones

1 Vic Firth SIH1 Isolation Headphones

3 On-Stage Stands Mic Stand Package

1 dbx 166XL Dual Compressor Limiter

1 Furman HDS-6/HR-6 Headphone Distribution Amp System

1 M-Audio BX8 Studiophile Powered Monitor Pair

1 Yamaha MG32/14FX Mixer

3 M-Audio Delta 1010 PCI Digital Audio System

2 Marshall MXL603s

2 Marshall MXL990s

2 Oktava Mk-012

Then, assorted cables and odd ends.
 
I wouldn't be jealous, I've been putting pennies in the since I was about twenty :D Now, thirty years later, here I am!
 
I would add a couple of UAD-1s and skip the Waves plug in package unless you plan on doing mastering. Much better sounding and closer to real hardware than Waves.

I don't see any dedicated preamps which you will need for a more professional sound. The Yamaha mixer just won't cut it for vocals, snare, kick or bass. You really need at least one top notch API or Neve sounding preamp preferably one of each. Maybe a Voicemaster Pro, Sytek, Great River, John Hardy or, if you are handy with a soldering iron, I would go for the Seventh Circle preamps or a Hamptone. These can really enhance your sound.

Your 160XL is a good choice for track limiting and compression I would get another 2 however for drum tracking. Any of the 160 series X, XT, XL are the best values out there for pro sounding compression and cheap.

Skip the BX8s and go right to the new Precision 8s from Event. You will thank me later. They are twice the price but get one less UAD-1 card for now and you can afford the best monitors around $1200 money can buy. These are just stunning sounding monitors, very 3 Dimensional and they allow you to make extremely translatable mixes.

Another thing, you won't need 3 of the 1010s. You can only track at most about 8 things at once without going bonkers i.e. 5 drum mics, bass, rythmn and a scratch vocal. This of course unless you are recording live. The rest of your convertors would be setting idle and taking up valuable dollars. I would recommend 2 of the Lynx A Cards for 8 in and 8 out of some of the best ADDA conversion available inside a computer. The Lynx compare in sound to Apogees and Lucids which are what the big boys use. The 1010s won't come close to the sound of the Lynx cards.

Last, think about a smaller channel board but maybe higher in quality. You will rarely need 32 channels unless you are mixing live. A good project studio, unless you are mixing to tape can use software to manage all of the tracks. Sonar can easilly handle your 32 tracks with better results.

Well, you asked for some input, there's mine. Everything else on your list looks fine.
 
Middleman said:
I would add a couple of UAD-1s and skip the Waves plug in package unless you plan on doing mastering. Much better sounding and closer to real hardware than Waves.
Click to expand...

Hey now, amost all I DO is mastering and I hardly ever TOUCH my Waves plugs anymore since I installed the UAD setup...

Granted, I'm "normally" using moslty analog gear in the shaping, but I certainly wouldn't miss the Waves if I wasn't. The UAD setup is just superior IMHO.

(In other words, definitely get the UAD Studio Pak or whatever they call it now) :D
 
I'd go RME or MOTU instead of M-audio. It's always better to go with one interface that can handle lots of IO, rather than having multiple interfaces. much easier to implement and troubleshoot.

I personally like the Dynaudio BM6As, if you can devote some more to your monitors.

I also think you need more dynamic choices, especially a large dynamic like the Shure SM7 and other things lik the SM57, like the Audix OM2 and the Sennheiser E825 or 835. I'd also take out one of those Baby Bottles and check out something like the CAD M179 or M9 or VSM (frontendaudio.com) and the Audio Technica 4033 and 4050. You can never have enough choices in multi-purpose LDCs. That Rode K2 is a very fine mic, definitely a keeper. Also, if you've got the money, try getting complete matched sets of capsules for the Oktavas.

I'd also get somemore kick drum choices. I like the CAD E-100 and the Audix D6.

All that through a Yamaha MG board? I like the yamaha, but it is a tier lower than something like a Soundcraft, which really isn't all that much more.

Oh, and check out some of Harvey Gerst's More-Me headphones.
 
Middleman said:
I would add a couple of UAD-1s and skip the Waves plug in package unless you plan on doing mastering. Much better sounding and closer to real hardware than Waves.
Click to expand...

How "in particular" is waves the lesser to Uad-1?
better how??
better why??
Not a judgement question.
Just a Im uninformed question.
 
Middleman said:
Another thing, you won't need 3 of the 1010s. You can only track at most about 8 things at once without going bonkers i.e. 5 drum mics, bass, rythmn and a scratch vocal. This of course unless you are recording live. The rest of your convertors would be setting idle and taking up valuable dollars. I would recommend 2 of the Lynx A Cards for 8 in and 8 out of some of the best ADDA conversion available inside a computer. The Lynx compare in sound to Apogees and Lucids which are what the big boys use. The 1010s won't come close to the sound of the Lynx cards.

Last, think about a smaller channel board but maybe higher in quality. You will rarely need 32 channels unless you are mixing live. A good project studio, unless you are mixing to tape can use software to manage all of the tracks. Sonar can easilly handle your 32 tracks with better results.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing he's planning on using the 24 outs from 3 1010s to mix on the Yamaha.

An alternative to this is to get a higher end soundcard & a smaller better mixer like Middleman suggests for recording purposes, and hook up a control surface to Sonar for mixing duties
 
Mostly it would be personal preference of the ears that are doing the judging.
If one or the other sounds good to you .... then .... it is good to you.
The UAD-1 does sound quite good to my ears, yet so do the Waves. :cool:
The nice thing about the UAD-1 is it's ability to process within it's self whereas Waves and all the other VTS\DX's require the computers CPU exclusively.
Different strokes for different ...
 
crankz1 said:
Mostly it would be personal preference of the ears that are doing the judging.
If one or the other sounds good to you .... then .... it is good to you.
The UAD-1 does sound quite good to my ears, yet so do the Waves. :cool:
The nice thing about the UAD-1 is it's ability to process within it's self whereas Waves and all the other VTSDX's require the computers CPU exclusively.
Different strokes for different ...
Click to expand...

Guess ill just have to buy the UAD1 and see for myself huh?
I heard the PULTEC is so sweet youll weep over it.
 
xfinsterx said:
How "in particular" is waves the lesser to Uad-1?
better how??
better why??
Not a judgement question.
Just a Im uninformed question.
Click to expand...

The UAD emulates tried, and greatly used, hardware that has been on almost every recording in the last 40 years. LA2A is a vocal staple, 1176 for drums, bass or any high transient source. The Fairchild was on most of the Beatles tracks not to mention numerous things even today. The Pultec, well think Elton John's piano sound in the 70s. The 1176 is a staple on most wall-of-guitar albums today by the way.

The Waves, as pointed out, is going to eat up significant CPU cycles. The UAD has its own processor. What is waves emulating by the way? Their design was part of the initial approach to plug ins, now over 5 years old, that supplied very good, in fact excellent sounds but they are a little dated and if you match any of their similar plugs to the UAD stuff, you will hear the difference yourself.

The only place the Waves plugs kicked butt was their L2 limiter for mastering but UAD just released the Precision Limiter which is in a word stunning and richer/tighter in the low end than the Waves L2.

I am a proponent of not buying something on someone elses word unless I know their ears and experience somewhat. In this case, unless you buy the UAD, you can't. However, go to either of the following two sites and you will find hoards of UAD proponents, just so you know it's not just me ranting.

http://www.chrismilne.com/uadforums/index.php?sid=21f4b847073853781844f1323db8649f

http://gearslutz.com/board/index.php3?
 
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