Building...

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Shout It Out

Shout It Out

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Alright...very newbish of stuff here.

With Graduation on the way, I am recieving a Korg D3200. I have been recording on a Zoom MRS-4 for the past 4 years.

I need some help with what to buy and what will help me out most...
On my previous recordings the master track has an overall Low volume.. So I am going to need a preamp. I need Monitors too... I think i am going to save up some more money for those though so that I do not have to upgrade for a while. I am also planning on buying some studio foam...I dont know if that is the best idea..

So with all of this in mind I made a checklist of things I am looking at. Tell me if you think anything is a waste or if you have any good advice please!

Checklist:
4 channel headphone amp
1-2 mic preamp (for amps, acoustioc guitar, and vocals)
Some studio foam maybe 64 1 foot square pieces
Power Conditioner
Monitors

Also...if my bass has an active pick-up, do I need a direct box??

Sorry for the huge post...
- Keith
 
What you definately need, in this order:

Monitors
Studio traps/absorbers (not foam)
Pres
DI (you might get a pre with a built in DI

headphone amp and power is optional... Depends on your needs

The real question is how much do you have to spend? Once you have that then we can really talk. Also, what mics are you using?

Glad you've joined up, hope you're ready for an expensive habit...

And trust me, that wasn't a huge post...not by a long shot.

Jacob
 
Well the budget is not a concern because I am building up over time... I want to get the quality that my hard work deserves. As for the foam I was just talking about some basic Studio foam for spot treatment in the control room, then eventually add traps and other things.

Any ideas for a decent Preamp?? Or what to look for in a nice pair of monitors?

As for Mics:
For Acoustic and vocals I have One MXL 990 which i like.
For amps i have a SM57
For drums I have a 7 pice Nady kit which i will upgrade with new mics at new times.
 
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I highly recommend sorting out your acoustic space and monitoring first. Foam only covers a very small part of acoustic treatment, your room won't be anywhere near being properly treated with just a few bits of foam up.

You can make some great sounding stuff in a good room with so-so gear. Great gear in a shitty sounding room will still sound shitty.

Get over to the studio building forum and read up, here's some great reading material on acoustics.

http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

Ethan Winer contributes here (mainly in the studio building forum) and he's a highly regarded authority on acoustic treatment.

And here's a goldmine of info on other areas of recording:

http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

I think you might be a bit mistaken on what a preamp does. if you were recording with mics into your zoom unit and you could hear anyhting at all then you were already using mic preamps built into the unit. There's a lot more to getting a louder overall end product but you can learn about that in time. A mic pre simply raises the weedy output of a mic to 'line level'.

Loads of opinions on gear if you try a search here on the forum.
 
Oh I know about the acoustic space thing...This past weekend I had to record a Fender blues tube amp in a laundry room. Such beautiful tube tone ruined by the enviornment...

Thanks for the insight on the preamp...I guess the Zoom's pre-amps jsut aren't that great. They got the job done for me before, but I'm definately looking to take my recordings to the next level.

So are you saying to not use foam at all in my rooms and to go with fiberglass??
 
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Shout It Out said:
Oh I know about the acoustic space thing...This past weekend I had to record a Fender blues tube amp in a laundry room. Such beautiful tube tone ruined by the enviornment...

Thanks for the insight on the preamp...I guess the Zoom's pre-amps jsut aren't that great. They got the job done for me before, but I'm definately looking to take my recordings to the next level.

So are you saying to not use foam at all in my rooms and to go with fiberglass??
Click to expand...
Foam has it's uses but it's only a small part of the equation. Yeah you'll almost certainly benefit from some bass and mid range traps made from rigid fibreglass.

When you get a minute read Ethan's article, it should all become clear, (well perhaps after the 2nd or 3rd time you read it :D ).

One thing to consider with your recorder is whether you can bypass the onboard preamps or not. Does it have line inputs alongisde the mic ins? There's really no benefit to be gained going through a decent pre and then through a crappy pre.
 
So I guess this is what im coming up with..
prolly buy 32 1 foot blocks of foam from auralex and put 8 one each wall of my control room...then add 4 bass traps 1 per each corner and hang a framed thing of the fiberglass 1 per each wall. All of this in about a 12 x 14 room or a 21 x 16 room, haven't decided which yet.

What do ya think????

I'll also have 2 couches which should help a little :).
 
Shout It Out said:
So I guess this is what im coming up with..
prolly buy 32 1 foot blocks of foam from auralex and put 8 one each wall of my control room...then add 4 bass traps 1 per each corner and hang a framed thing of the fiberglass 1 per each wall. All of this in about a 12 x 14 room or a 21 x 16 room, haven't decided which yet.

What do ya think????

I'll also have 2 couches which should help a little :).
Click to expand...
Hard to say because it depends on the exact shape of your room, what other stuff you have in your room and where it's situated, your mixing position etc. Also I'm hardly an expert on this stuff.

I recommend you come up with a rough plan of your room in MS Paint or something and post it in the studio building forum. Better minds than mine shouild be able to give you some pointers on treatment.

It sounds like you're on the right track though.
 
Before you buy any panels, I would look into a monitoring system, and see how everything sounds. It's all relative. Throwing up "eight panels per wall" isn't the key to an exact formula or anything. Actually, since I got my new monitors, my room sounds different enough than with the old ones that I actually went from about 15 pieces of foam and some traps to one single piece of foam and no traps.

I know the foam looks cool in the studio, but who cares what it looks like if what you hear sucks. Buy some monitors.


Pete
 
any help with my last question?? i feel weird asking again.
 
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