Building a small studio. What next??

[MOFO Pro]

Hi Solo,
I'm on record as being a soundblaster basher, un-apologetically, but I think Creative has been doing it long enough now that even they can't screw it up that badly now days. So if this is just for your ears, and it sounds OK to your ears, and it gets along fine with your software, then maybe that's not the first thing you need to upgrade.......but keep it on the list.

I've been biting my tongue on this one... because I would generally recommend staying away from SB... but as Robert states... they've come quite a ways since I purchased my first 8 bit card from them (twenty something years ago)... the most striking improvements following Creative labs acquisition of E-MU...

There's a lot of room for improvement in other areas which will be more pronounced if you bypass the SB preamp with a quality budget unit...

 

[mwthompson]

I've been biting my tongue on this one... because I would generally recommend staying away from SB... but as Robert states... they've come quite a ways since I purchased my first 8 bit card from them (twenty something years ago)...

I also read a good reply the other day about "being better than your current equipment" (to paraphrase).

Basically, the poster saw no need to upgrade until his skill level exceeded the capabilities of his hardware. This is something I haven't been thinking about and it made me pause for a moment and realize I didn't want to spend any more money until I maximize my current investment. Without experience, my mixes will still suck on even the top of the line equipment.

So, if an SB card works for now and can provide a learning experience, why not?

 

[Robert D]

So, if an SB card works for now and can provide a learning experience, why not?

With the Caveat that it's an SB card you already have. Going out and buying one to record with is another thing, and in most cases doesn't make sense.

 

[mwthompson]

With the Caveat that it's an SB card you already have. Going out and buying one to record with is another thing, and in most cases doesn't make sense.

Oh yes, definitely! If you're starting from scratch and M-Audio Delta 24/96 is a decent deal at $100.

 

[solo2racr]

OK.....back to the original question. The first few and the last few post have been more along the lines of what I am looking for in an answer. I KNOW What I have now is crap but I wasn't asking if it was any good or not. So, for the time being, I'm going to shoot down the firewire and preamp thing. The mixer and card I have now serve me just fine at the moment.

I guess what would have been a better question would have been about prioritizing the things that I can use and keep using when I upgrade what I have now.

Treating the room applies no matter what equipment you have to use. Mics. are the same thing. I'm sure there are SM57's in $1000.00 studios as well as multi million $$$ studios.

Regardless of what some of the closed minded people may say, that formed opinions about them years ago, the newer X-Fi Soundblaster cards are nothing like the older cards they put out. I know. I have had 4 SB cards over the course of 15 years. I also know that they are consumer/gamer cards. Either way, the acquisition of E-mu has helped them.

So................. Where we are is treat the room( in progress right now),and another mic that's newer than 20 years old and of better quality than the old Peavey PBH I have. Albert mentioned the AT2020. I did some looking around about it and it seems like a good choice for both electric geetar and for vocals.

After the room is done and I get another mic or 2, Maybe a reverb or a compressor? All of that should keep me busy for a while till the budget allows for UPGRADES to what I have now.

Any of the above mentioned goodies (mics,verb,comp.) should also be good enough to use with better equipment than the SB card and such.

 

[SonicAlbert]

Don't blow off the ADK Vienna just yet, it retails at $299 so you should be able to get it for less than that. So it is still in the ballpark.

As far as the firewire boxes, I'm not trying to push this, but do consider that they come with preamps built in. My understanding of soundblaster cards is that they are line level inputs only, operating at -10. Correct me if I'm wrong. So you'll need to buy a preamp nevertheless and the levels won't really be matched since most preamps put out +4.

So it seems cost effective to replace the SB card with a firewire box and get preamps in the bargain, sort of killing two birds with one stone. I know people seem to be very protective of their SB cards around here--but I'm just sayin'.

 

[solo2racr]

As far as the firewire boxes, I'm not trying to push this, but do consider that they come with preamps built in. My understanding of soundblaster cards is that they are line level inputs only, operating at -10. Correct me if I'm wrong. So you'll need to buy a preamp nevertheless and the levels won't really be matched since most preamps put out +4.

So, If I am understanding this correctly, one of the bigger advantages to going with the firewire box is to be able to get the level up to +4 instead being limited to the SB -10? Which translates into more headroom, correct? If I'm getting this right, I can see the advantage. The idea would be to take the mains from my mixer out to the firewire box and then to the puker? Or just bypass the mixer altogether if I don't need that many inputs.

 

[SonicAlbert]

Bypass the mixer entirely. The shorter and more high quality the recording signal chain, the better.

 

[solo2racr]

Well, I have gotten 2 of the traps done and just need to hang them on the wall/ceiling.

The ADK Vienna retail is $600.00 and market price seems be in the $300.00 range Albert mentioned. I Couldn't find any cheaper than about $280.00. Almost 3x the price of the AT2020. I still think the AT2020 will be my choice for versatility and price. Just can't spring for much more than that on a mic right now.

After reading everything in this topic and others, I am inclined to build a PC just as a DAW. And do it with the firewire boxes in mind. Basically, start from scratch. I already have a case and hard drives here so all I need are the expensive things. Motherboard, ram, & firewire card (may find the firewire built onto the MB). As opposed to Win XP, I was going to use Win '98 for a OS and keep using Reaper for an editor. Not NEAR as much BS with '98 compared to XP. And no, I don't want to go to Mac or Linux.

The case will be fun as I am building it as a 4u rack mount. Just can't decide on a smoke plexi or a brushed aluminum face

 

[Robert D]

After reading everything in this topic and others, I am inclined to build a PC just as a DAW. And do it with the firewire boxes in mind.

Great idea!

As opposed to Win XP, I was going to use Win '98 for a OS and keep using Reaper for an editor. Not NEAR as much BS with '98 compared to XP.

Not such a great idea, IMO. Good driver support for Win 98 is going to go away in short order on most things, and already is very secondary effort to XP drivers. XP is a perfectly good OS for recording so long as you turn off the bells and whistles, which was true for 98 also. You can always upgrade later if you have to, but if you can, I'd recommend going straight to XP.

 

[solo2racr]

Good point about Win '98. Hadn't thought of that. Both ver. of Win I have are NOT oem but retail ver. Meaning no extra software, just the OS.