Can I call this a pro recording studio??

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metal mike

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Can I call this a (Professional?) recording studio: PC with Duron 800, soundcard Creative Soundblaster Live, 196MB Ram, software Vegas Pro or Cool Edit Pro 1.2 ,and monitors Roland????
I record guitars with Shure SM57 run through a Tascam mixer, bass guitar with Direct Box,
drums from a drum machine, and vocals with Shure SM7 .
When it comes to mix my songs I save the mix in the PC using the Recorder feature from Soundblaster Live:simply I play all the tracks and record what I hear in the computer, creating another Wav.file which is “The Mix” .Finally the Mix sounds pretty good,but I don`t have
clarity between the guitars, the guitars and the vocal, the bass and the drums… I use EQ tips&tricks and mixing rules that I’ve found on this Site or other Sites.In conclusion it doesn`t
sound like professionals’ mixes.What do I do wrong?Please ,someone can tell me?
 
Get proper software that can record at different bit rates and sample rates for one. Also get a slightly better audio card. You don't need anything fancy but your setup at the moment is a bit too basic to probably achieve anything which is noticably better.
 
I'd suggest a preamp (Audiobuddy seems to have a good rep around here) to get the sound into the PC, bypassing the mixer, and a decent condenser mic to supplement the 57 (studio projects, Audio Technica - check the Mic forum for the opinions of others who know better than me) for recording vocals and acoustic instruments.
 
You cannot call that a pro studio.

A pro studio needs pro-gear. Roland monitors hardly qualify for that. A soundblaster doesn't. You need decent micpre's, a bigger collection of mics, maybe a few sets of monitors, a acoustically treated room, a acoustically treated tracking room, ..........

But that doesn't mean you cannot get good results with less...

The soundblaster has got to go. I guess. Decent micpre's are the first step up. Then a decent soundcard.

BTW... Alot of the sound depends on the dude playing with the knobs. I know guys with alot more gear that don't get the results I get with my VS1880. Sadly I know other guys that would get alot more out of my gear. Although that might include selling it and getting something else in place. :D

There are no "mixing rules". It's all in the ear and knowing the gear. You gotta train to hear what's wrong, and know the gear to know what and how you can do something about it... That's about it...
 
Yeah, like Roel says. i thought you were joking about the pro recording studio thing!

No way. Your gear is very low end to be honest. You need a:

proper recording soundcard
good software tracking and sequencing software (like Cubase VST, Logic Audio or Sonar)

This will get you to low amatuer level but you really need way, way better gear and far more knowledge and experience before you could call it a proper pro recording studio.

Hardly anyone in this forums bar a few regulars have anything near a 'pro' setup.
 
Man I just answered this thread at the recording techniques part.


Don't want to whine, but crossposting is very irritating so please don't do it again.
 
It hard to say what you are doing wrong from just a description. Make an mp3 and post it in the MP3 clinic, and people will love to help you!

You won't be able to make professional sounding recordings with that setup, but you should be able to make decent sounding demos. It's not a bad starting point at all.
 
heck i started out with a awh 64 card and a old hi fi tape recorder set in record mute then i moved to anart tube mp and 1000s mic lol i thought i was somethin then now i have a 001 a few decent mics pres outboard effects etc take it one step at a time dude not a bad start
 
kind of, like, the lower end of hobby. If that. But its true.. most of us started with less! Mine was a cyrix 266!

xoxo
 
You can call anything you want a Pro Studio, provided you can convince people to pay you money to use it.

You can call yourself a successful Pro Studio if the clients are happy enough with the end result that they recommend your studio to others, and you generate enough business to make a profit and support yourself.
 
The answer was no the minute you said the brand name Creativ. In English that means gamer. If you're going to record digitally, pro quality begins with pro conversion of analog to digital. You won't get that with a gamer card.
-kent
 
the lowest level in "Pro Studio" in my opinion is the FULL Blown PTHD wit all the bells and whistles...thats about 30,000+

u ain't close...i think MOST of us would be stretchin callin our setup pro(meaning we can track and mix then bring it to the Master Engineer to be released for Commercial use)

Do an A/B test of ur CD vs. ur commercial fave to date...ur's may sound good at 1st listen but when u start switchin off between them u'll hear the difference..
 
Thank you guys, for the answers.O.K I`ll NEVER cross-post in future... I just didn`t know.
But which are the differences between Vegas Pro and Cubase or Sonar?? Anyway…
Today I`ve found something very interesting on the Internet :Bob Katz( Digital Domain),wrote a few articles and said that you cannot have a good sound working only with the PC.To have a good sound you must run your tracks through an analog mixer(better using analog effects) and save the mix on1/2” reel to reel tape recorder(that thing with ½” tape recorder I`ve heard it many times before) . Using only the PC , even if you have the best software , your sound will be lifeless and without warmth. And another thing: is better to use for recording a dedicated machine for that purpose like 24 or 32 tracks ADAT Hdd or tape
recorder.That`s what he said…But where is the truth?Honestly I didn`t see a professional studio
working only with the PC,and a software. Check it out at www.digido.com/cdmastering.html
 
Bob Katz seem to say a alot of things. He's probably in the analog camp of the religious wars. :-)

It's a fact that many, if not most, of the hit music you hear today is recorded exclusively in Protools. Do none of these sound good to you?

You can make warm lively recordings in pure digital and you can make clear and sparkling recordings in analog. The top gear in both domains are so good that the sonic differences between them are completely inaudible unless you are trying to find them.
 
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Bob Katz is obviously on one side of the analogue/digital divide.

It is generally accepted that analogue tape gives a warmer sound. I believe this is true. However, this doesn't mean you have to transfer you digital recording onto analogue tape! Hell no. Now you can get some truly excellent plugins that do that same job. PSP's Mix Saturater does this beautifully imo.
 
metal mike said:
Can I call this a (Professional?) recording studio?
Click to expand...
Of course you can......!

(but calling it a professional studio, doesn't make it a professional studio!)
 
regebro said:
Bob Katz seem to say a alot of things. He's probably in the analog camp of the religious wars. :-)

It's a fact that many, if not most, of the hit music you hear today is recorded exclusively in Protools. Do none of these sound good to you?

You can make warm lively recordings in pure digital and you can make clear and sparkling recordings in analog. The top gear in both domains are so good that the sonic differences between them are completely inaudible unless you are trying to find them.
Click to expand...

they don't use it xclusively they usually track it through an analog mixer like a Neve or SSLwith a 3rd party front end...and some will even mix through them to to use the outboard gear.. using protools as a tape machine and editor only..thats how MOST of the recordings are done...
 
Some of the Katz articles are getting old so he is talking about some of the earlier digital gear (He keeps referring to using 24 and 32 bit in the future).

But he is also right. It's safe to say that very few pro releases were mixed entirely in ProTools and they were tracked with high end pres and DAC's.
 
Expanding on what Little Dog said:

Anything recorded and sold for profit can be considered a "professional mix."

And if it makes it in to the top 100 or so on any country's charts or gets significant radio play, then I suppose you could call it a successful pro mix.

And there have been wildly successful recordings that have been done with less than what Metal Mike's got at his disposal. So the answer to Metal's question: it depends .
 
While what Chessrock said is true, and I'll stay out of the analog/digital debate, your "pro" studio lacks the most essential piece of equipment- a professional recording engineer. I guarantee if Littledog or Blue Bear, et. al., walk into your studio and record with your gear, and you record with theirs, I'll buy their CD! You are a man with no medical training who just bought a first aid kit and asked, "Can I call this an operating room?"-Richie
 
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