T
thegau
New member
Hi,
I've been doing a lot of reading on this forum and around the web. I have reached the point where I think I have a plan for my rack setup, and would love a sanity check from you guys on this plan.
I am equipping a newly built basement studio. This is a big upgrade from my previous setup, which was basically my computer and a Firestudio. The main uses of the studio will be: (1) recording full band demos, at least 16 tracks at a time, (2) production-quality individual tracking of guitars, bass, keys, (3) some vocal work -- backup vox, overdubs, etc.
For lead vox, I will probably go to a studio equipped with better mics, depending on the situation. For "real" drum tracking (not demos), same deal -- at least until I get a better drum kit in here and some better drum mics.
I will do some mixing at the computer, especially for demos, but will probably farm out final mixing (and definitely mastering) to somewhere better equipped.
When recording live bands, I'd like at least 5 different live monitor mixes for headphones.
Here's what I currently have:
- I am running Logic 8 Pro on Mac.
- Presonus Firestudio Project
- GT Brick preamp
- Really nice guitar gear. Savage amps, Melancon & Gretsch guitars, etc.
- Mics: Sennheiser e906 for cabs, Blue Bluebird for acoustics and vox. Audix drum mics, various vocal mics (Beta 57, EV676, some SM58s).
- Tech21 Bass DI
- JBL powered monitors, I forget what model.
Here's what I'm thinking:
- Mackie 1640 Onyx mixer w/ Firewire option for full band recording. Should be able to get 6 monitor mixes from the auxes.
- Sell the Firestudio Project. Can't be expanded through ADAT, and I won't need it if I get the Onyx.
- RNP for individual tracking.
- RNC or RNLA -- (which one?)
- Frontier AlphaTrack control surface for mixing / DAW work
- Presonus HP60 headphone amp / mixer
Some open questions:
- Is the RNP a big enough step up over the Onyx pres to justify the expense? Is it necessary? Should I be looking at a more "colorful" pre to complement the Onyx?
- Are the A/D converters on the Onyx good enough for the outboard preamp?
- Will I want to compress / pad the drums going into the board? If so, what should I use here?
- I'll need to figure out how to add a few basic effects (reverb / comp) for monitoring, but I'm planning that recordings will not use outboard effects.
- What should I use for tracking MIDI, if I ditch the Firestudio? Generic MIDI box?
Hopefully I'm not overlooking anything major. Thanks for any input you guys might have!!
I've been doing a lot of reading on this forum and around the web. I have reached the point where I think I have a plan for my rack setup, and would love a sanity check from you guys on this plan.
I am equipping a newly built basement studio. This is a big upgrade from my previous setup, which was basically my computer and a Firestudio. The main uses of the studio will be: (1) recording full band demos, at least 16 tracks at a time, (2) production-quality individual tracking of guitars, bass, keys, (3) some vocal work -- backup vox, overdubs, etc.
For lead vox, I will probably go to a studio equipped with better mics, depending on the situation. For "real" drum tracking (not demos), same deal -- at least until I get a better drum kit in here and some better drum mics.
I will do some mixing at the computer, especially for demos, but will probably farm out final mixing (and definitely mastering) to somewhere better equipped.
When recording live bands, I'd like at least 5 different live monitor mixes for headphones.
Here's what I currently have:
- I am running Logic 8 Pro on Mac.
- Presonus Firestudio Project
- GT Brick preamp
- Really nice guitar gear. Savage amps, Melancon & Gretsch guitars, etc.
- Mics: Sennheiser e906 for cabs, Blue Bluebird for acoustics and vox. Audix drum mics, various vocal mics (Beta 57, EV676, some SM58s).
- Tech21 Bass DI
- JBL powered monitors, I forget what model.
Here's what I'm thinking:
- Mackie 1640 Onyx mixer w/ Firewire option for full band recording. Should be able to get 6 monitor mixes from the auxes.
- Sell the Firestudio Project. Can't be expanded through ADAT, and I won't need it if I get the Onyx.
- RNP for individual tracking.
- RNC or RNLA -- (which one?)
- Frontier AlphaTrack control surface for mixing / DAW work
- Presonus HP60 headphone amp / mixer
Some open questions:
- Is the RNP a big enough step up over the Onyx pres to justify the expense? Is it necessary? Should I be looking at a more "colorful" pre to complement the Onyx?
- Are the A/D converters on the Onyx good enough for the outboard preamp?
- Will I want to compress / pad the drums going into the board? If so, what should I use here?
- I'll need to figure out how to add a few basic effects (reverb / comp) for monitoring, but I'm planning that recordings will not use outboard effects.
- What should I use for tracking MIDI, if I ditch the Firestudio? Generic MIDI box?
Hopefully I'm not overlooking anything major. Thanks for any input you guys might have!!