5,000 to spend on rack gear.

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wes480

wes480

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ok, that is my budget. I am in bad need of pres....i have none right now. I am also in bad need of compressors...something like a lexicon reverb would be nice, but pres and compressors are my biggest issues. here is the rack gear I currently have.

1 RNC
1 Avalon U5

I am almost certainly going to get an RNP. That will be two good preamp channels.

I was also considering one of the API Averil preamps perhaps? Or something else Averil. Possibly something Focusrite (the new voicemaster?)- I am not sure.

My goal would be to have between 6 and 8 channels of high quality preamps. I don't think it would be wise in this budget to get something like a Great River...that could come later.

For now I think that I should focus on getting stuff that could always be useful, but isn't neccessarily "world class". Get a good variety of coloration from pres. Please reccomend. Maybe 3,000 of the budget is for preamps.

As far as compressors...i need guidance here. It would be easy to spend it all on 1 or 2 compressors....with the $2,000. I'd be happy if I could get 3.

I have the RNC - at this point I am looking for more "coloration", I think. Also something that will work better than the RNC for peak limiting. Distressor would be cool...but, so expensive..

What is that Drawmer that people reccomend a lot...that is around 600 bucks? If there are some gyms in that price range, that would be excellent.

The goal here is bang for the buck...but, not at the expense of pretty good quality. Things like the RNP, API and Drawmer...could easily be useful in any "pro studio". Help me spend my money guys.
 
by the way - if a unit has a compressor built in...that is fine too...as long as the quality is up to par.

Also, Studio Projects VTB1 - hmm, wonder if it has a place in this budget.

I have a Rode NTK, an SP C1, an EV Re-20, sm57, sm58, rode nt3s...

those are the majority of my mics. I am giving mics a rest for a while becuase I am feeling really limited with my rack gear supporting them.
 
c7 - yeah...good point.

Right now I have a rack rider thing, but, I work at Best Buy...I can get 50% off Monster Power stuff through the vendor accomidation.

Maybe I should throw down for one of those.
 
I would certainly benifit from a computer battery backup systym, Ive allready have dedicated power going to the studio and a RackRider.

Based on the goal being 8 channels of preamps Id try 4 RNPs, and 4 RNCs for compression, You will have enough left to get the 950 dollar Great River MP1NV for vocals. with about 2000.00 left over to upgrade mics, treat the room, take music lessons etc.....
 
hmm, yeah i think I am looking for more versatility than 4 rnps and 4 rncs.

the great river isn't a bad idea though, the 1 channel...

I just got a used Drawmer DL240 for $400, in perfect shape. Very happy about that.

So in combination with that I was thinking maybe 1 RNP, 1 Grace 201, 1 Averill API and 1 Focusrite of some kind...

That would give me 6-7 channels (depending on the focusrite)...

of preamps.

then the RNC and the Drawmer..

what do you think?
 
Wes, can you explain exactly what you are trying to do. What kind of music are you recording ? Why do you need 8 channels of mic pre ?

I am a big believer in versatility and having a wide color palette to choose from. But, buying a bunch of different $200-$400 mic pres may not get you where you want to be.

Unless you really need to use 8 channels at the same time (doing drums) buy the Great River NV and live with that for a month. If after that you want to buy a handful of mic pres then go for it.

I predict your view of the gear you need to buy next will be different after this.

Lee
 
I have an 8 channel pre for using all 8 inputs on my Akai DPS16. and a good color pre right now. but I am in the market for a color pre like the MP1NV. I also hear that Toft audio may be marketing a 2 channel eminating the same Neve design for the same price and that may be ready for the winter namm show. Which is fine with me because I dont think Ill be able to swing either before winter namm anyhow.
 
20db - yeah i hear what you are saying...

only that I am not really trying to buy "budget" pres but...at the same time maybe not spend quite as much as the Great River.

For instance, the API, 1 channel for about $750...

the RNP of course just becuase it is "hyped", but I am gonna wait and see how it ends up being, I hear it would be good with dynamics though...

I guess instead of the grace + focusrite I could get the Great River...just the 1 channel version though.

I just do rock music, I could probably get by with 4 channels of pres...of course, I could always use the Soundcraft Spirit pres if I needed more.
 
So, are you saying you have a Spirit board in addition to the Avalon?

If you only need 4 pre channels, are you looking for clean or coloring? How do you want to use them?

For clean, I've heard raves about the Sytek 4aii or whatever, but I don't know if that's a drastic improvement over the Spirit board or not, because I haven't heard either, let alone side by side. It's supposed to be a nice bang-for-buck clean pre.

As for color, kinda depends on what you plan to use it for, I'd think. If you're just recording yourself and not making money back in by recording clients, you can be very specific. What do you like using the Avalon for? What would you use that in conjunction with another color pre for? Then, what kind of color would you want the other pre to impart?

As for compression, how many inputs do you really need to compress simultaneously going in? Would just a couple nice compressors suffice for mixing, etc? And how much/little coloring do you want from your compressors anyway (I think less'd be cheaper, then you could get RNCs and let the pres and mics do the character shaping)?

Just some questions I'd ask myself before plunking down a huge wad of cash on a non-commercial studio.
 
After playing with the drawmer...I think that might be enough for me compression wise...becuase I don't really need to compress more than 2 channels at a time...

and, for now...I don't know enough about compression to get into too many "colors" yet. This works well as a peak limiter, as well.

Between the Drawmer and the RNC I think i will be happy with compression options for tracking and mixing...for now.

As for mic pres...yeah, my goal was to get some different colors and such...

I just bought an SP VTB1 - kind of an impulse buy, at that price I don't think i can go wrong, and hopefully it will come in handy for some things.

I am going to get an RNP as soon as they are readily avail, and use that with my dynamics, and for stereo recording in general.

By the time I am ready to cut the real vocals for my album, I think I will go with the advice in this thread and get the 1 channel Great River Neve pre, and go from there...

Thanks for the help guys.
 
Wes, you're not complete without at least 1, and preferably 2 channels of Joemeek. twinQcs would be a good complement. Its onboard optical compression is a very different tool than the RNC, and for a very different sound, you can turn it off and compress the twinQ with an RNC as an insert. Works for me- Richie
 
Richard Monroe said:
Wes, you're not complete without at least 1, and preferably 2 channels of Joemeek...
Click to expand...

Richie, I'm not saying Wes should or shouldn't get any Meek gear, and I'm not implying that you haven't gotten excellent results with that brand, but I've seen plenty of studios (both high end and budget) without a hint of green to be seen anywhere in their racks. So I guess I'm just a bit uncomfortable with the implication that a studio without Meek is somehow inferior or incomplete.

There's an awfully wide variety of gear choices these days. If you had to pick one piece or brand of "indispensable" gear to have a complete rack, I can think of a whole bunch I'd put ahead of Meek: Empirical Labs, Neve, API, Eventide, Avalon, Millenia Media, Lexicon, Universal Audio, Manley, Pultec, etc. And I'd be hard pressed to label any of them as indispensable or without alternative or peer.
 
Well, Littledog, you're right, of course, and I think I am too. Zoe notwithstanding, you're actually a fairly big dog, and I think it's been a while since you thought in terms of a $5000 rack with multiple preamp options. I should have qualified my statement. Of course, if you give me a rack with Neve, Avalon, Great River, et al., I won't need a Joemeek, and I'll trade you anytime. However, I stand by my intended statement that if you are building a rack with 8 assorted preamp channels, FX, and compression for $5000, Joemeek is essential, and I would recommend 2 channels as opposed to 1. It's not the only sound that's needed, but it's a very good sound that can't be had anywhere else in the stated price range. I never meant that Sir George Martin or Al Schmidt, or you, for that matter, can't live without the green monster. However, a $5000 multi-pre rack without one has a hole in it's soul.-Richie
 
Richie, since it's true that my fatal flaw is a complete inability to stay within a gear budget, i will gracefully bow to your expertise in this area!
 
Well, you'll get to hear the ugly tracks soon enough, and we'll see if your good ears and pristine gear can help them at all. I will gracefully bow to your expertise in that area!-Richie
 
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