"decent" home studio based around a computer, please read

  • Thread starter Thread starter ambi
  • Start date Start date
A

ambi

New member
Ok, ive been thinking for a while of what is completely necissary for my small home recording area. Most of the work, processing, sampling, recording and everything will be based around the computer, with logic audio 5, waves gold plugins, and sound forge.
Ok, so heres what i have so far, this stuff i think is pretty good, not super cheap crap i'll want to replace really soon, but not super good stuff that couldn't be replaced.

-Soundcraft Spirit m 12
-high end pc with dual monitors
-delta 1010
-event 20/20 BAS
-few mics (haven't decided yet, probably an sm57 and a few decent condensors, plus i have a sm58 already)
-2 technics 1200 turn tables-
-vestax 05 pro with focus fader
(those are top of the line hip hop dj style turn tables)
-cheap roland midi keyboard
-logic audio platinum 5.0
-waves gold plugins
-sound forge

even with just those things it comes out to about 11,000 canadian. Anything i should add or change? By the way, the style is sorta like hip hop, with rap style vocals, but sometimes they're more like humming singing than rapping, i don't like the term rap, just just say i can't really sing well so i make up for it with other styles. But the music isn't standard hip hop, more like a cross between trip hop, jazz and a bunch of other stuff. I just make what sounds enchanting and good. So most of the time i'll just be recording from one source at a time. But i want the inputs/outputs of the delta and the soundcraft for mixing down, and incase i need to use it for recording many inputs at once, such as for drums eventually, or a friends band or something. Mind you those are the necesities i've found i will need to get started, and there would be a lot of other things that would be useful. Could anyone else add to or change my list? Things that i cannot live without
 
Last edited:
hmm

yea, true, as i see it anythign else will be an extra that i don't really need. Like expensive outboard effects units, that i can do with softwear for cheaper. The outboard being better, but not worth it for me. And that sorta thing.
 
A good drum machine is always nice. Roland just came out with their TD-6. It looks interesting.
 
Didn't Apple just buy Logic Audio? As I understand it they are going to stop making software for PC's and dedicate solely to the Mac format. Bad news for PC owners.

I ended up going to a stand alone Tascam 788 recorder nearly two years ago but I really liked Logic.
 
Re: hmm

ambi said:
yea, true, as i see it anythign else will be an extra that i don't really need. Like expensive outboard effects units, that i can do with softwear for cheaper. The outboard being better, but not worth it for me. And that sorta thing.
Click to expand...

You might have a look at the UAD plugins. I've heard from reliable sources that they are very good, and close the gap between software and hardware considerably.
 
hmm, UAD? ok i'll look into it. The timeworks plugins, and the waves gold bundle are suposuldy really relaly good.
Would a drum machine be good for me? couldn't i just do that all with fruity loops and other programs like that? I will most likely be either recording drums in the future, or finding my own samples to load in and make beats with. I could be recording old record to computer, or ripping form songs, or whatever, and chopping them up for the sound s and building my beats in fruity. Would a drum machine still be really useful if i didn't use the built in sounds? I like realy sounding, kinda gritty beats, underground hip hop, jazzy, kinda style. not cheesy kinda tecnho style beats.
 
Unless you just like being crapped on, I'd forget Logic. Apple has decided that "if ya can't beat 'em, EAT 'em" In a couple of months, Logic will cease to exist for PC. If you want the nearest equivalent to Logic, including MIDI sequencing, virtual synths, and usable Digital Audio, then Sonar XL or Cubase SX would be worth a look. If you don't care about MIDI, but want the best possible Digital Audio recorder for your money, get Samplitude Producer. I've used Samplitude for sound, Cakewalk for MIDI, synced internally to each other, for several years.

If you can only afford one main program, and that "high end PC" means a Pentium 4, I would stay away from Steinberg or Logic completely. Right now, there is a compatibility problem between Pentium 4's and USB - I haven't heard about a fix just yet, but both Steinberg and Logic use USB "dongles" for copy protection, where Sonar uses NONE. Having fought several PC's into submission for use as DAW's, I would NEVER knowingly add another compatibility problem to the list of reasons to hate computers. Optimizing a DAW for audio use requires several careful "tweaks" to get it right. The less un-necessary things you have installed/enabled, the better the system will run, the more tracks/plug-ins you can run.

Also, for a dual monitor system, I would recommend staying away from "gamer" type cards. Matrox G550 cards have stable drivers and less CPU drain, and are used by virtually ALL serious DAW users for multi-monitor support. They are NOT as fast at the things that make games more enjoyable, so if you have NO CHOICE but to use your machine for games too, then you'll probably want to look at the Radeon cards. Also, remember that more than one Video card requires that you use a PCI slot for the second card, and that will slow down your disk access and cost you tracks. Stick with an AGP multi-monitor card ONLY, and you'll be glad you did.

When you get to the point of actually buying the computer, post your plans and I'll try to help you avoid as many pitfalls as possible... Steve
 
One small thing to add to your list:

Propellerheads Reason 2. Especially if your making hip hopish type stuff. Reason has pretty much everything you need to start the grooves off, including a pretty smokey built in sampler. if you struggle with sounds in it, you can always start pulling back out of it and using your other gear, but theres nothing quicker to get the songs off the ground.


Peace.
 
get a decent mic preamp...even if you can't sing , someone else that's redording in your studio might want to :)...unless you're using your pres from the souncraft...U r planning on a few condensors so having a mic pre wouldnt be a bad idea
 
yea, i was considering that. I thought the pres on the soundcraft, or mackie, were pretty good so i was just gonna use them for a while until i decided i needed something better. But what would you recomend for a new pre?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top