Digital Studio

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Skitch

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Alright, I am a college student with quite a bit of graduation money to spend. I have been recording for a couple years with a basic digital setup of a Lexicon interface, a couple sm57s, and a cheap pair of mxl condenser mics all in a room that I've slowly been sound-treating. I use Cubase as well as Adobe Audition with select plugins and I prefer the latter. My computer has over a gig of ram, a 3ghz processor, and room to upgrade.

I've been getting some o.k. sounding recordings and i'm feeling quite comfortable with the software and mixing (though i'm still very much a beginner).

Basically I'm looking to upgrade my setup to have more options availible and achieve great sounding recordings. I know that a large deal of sound quality has to do with a great room, great instruments, and great musicians. These are variables I can handle myself. What I'm asking for is what kind of equipment should I invest in for quality recording? I will mostly be recording live drums, guitars, bass, piano...the usualls.

Should I get a new interface? I've been looking at the Firepod because it has more inputs availible and I like the daisy-chain option. Or, should I get a good sound card and a good mixer? I'm mostly thinking about the drums which I plan record stereo with a full mic setup.

What mics should I get? I especially want a quality vocal mic that is very versitile and can be used for most voice-types (but would sound great for a tenor), and nice overheads for the drums. I also want a good mic for guitar cabs and amps. (I usually D/I the bass and piano).

I've been reading a lot but it's all come down to asking for expierenced opinions. I'm not in college for recording, it is just my side hobby (obsession) that I am willing to spend extra money on and possibly one day turn into a part of my career. Help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Oh yes, my starting budget is about $4,000.
 
When you talk mics a $4000 budget can only get you so far. I like the TLM 103 for vox and it's just about $1000. Other than that I can list some drum mics that I usually use:

On kick - Sennheiser 421 or CAD KBM 412

On Snare - SM57, Audix i5

Toms - Sennheiser 421

Overheads - Small condesers (AKG 451, MXL 603s, Ribbon mics)

Some other mics that are good options and more importantly affordable are the studio projects B3, T3, and LSD2 (a pretty good stereo mic).

As for hardware goes, I've heard bad things about the firepod. There are many options out there for hardware. Your soundcard has no bearing on your recordings unless you are connecting a mic directly to your computer. Depending on how many inputs you have on your lexicon you might want to go the route of outboard preamps (they add a bit of character to digital recordings). If that's not an option than you may want to look at the Mackie Onyx line, they have firewire connection and multiple pres that are pretty good.

Hope this rambling helps
 
If I had $4,000 to spend (sweet freaking graduation btw, all I got was $10,000 in student loan debt and a beer belly), I'd probably go with this:


http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ProjectMixIO/ M-Audio Project Mix

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PTMP M-Powered Protools

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Octane/ * Channel Preamp with ADAT out

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MPToolkitLE Expansion Pack for Protools.

That's got you up to about $2200 or so. The rest, I'd spend on software plugins, monitors, mics, and etc.

Just my opinion. There are cheaper routes that don't use Protools. For what its worth you can use the M-Audio gear with the stuff you already have and not even get into Protools. I like it, doesn't mean its for everyone though.

6
 
I'd avoid M-Powered Pro Tools, it's slow, not well suited for recording audio. At least get LE with the 002
 
I own a firepod and it's worked flawlessly for me.

However if I had $4000 to start with, I'd probably aim a little higher like maybe a MOTU 896 or RME Fireface, although the Project Mix looks like a nice unit.

I'd also reserve some loot for a UAD-1 card. They have some great sounding plugs
 
Tizzo said:
I'd avoid M-Powered Pro Tools, it's slow, not well suited for recording audio. At least get LE with the 002
Click to expand...


How do you figure that Tizzo? Slow and not well suited for audiowork???

I'd love to hear an explanation of that.

6
 
Just ordered my firepod today, so I'll let you know. Tizzo, im gonna have to echo the ???? about a no go on Pro Tools M-powered. The PCI card is going to give you zero latency and Pro Tools is......Pro Tools! Either way, if I had $4000 bucks, I'd say screw the studio and blow it on coke and hookers. :D Probably why I never have $4K, lol :rolleyes:
Congrats, keep us posted as to what you decide on!
 
sixways said:
How do you figure that Tizzo? Slow and not well suited for audiowork???

I'd love to hear an explanation of that.

6
Click to expand...

I suppose I should have been more specific with M powerd PT. I was refering to the M-box with USB connection.
 
Well, the M-Box isn't M-Powered, its LE. M-Powered is for working with M-Audio compatible devices and most connect via Firewire now. LE hardware only works with LE software. I will agree with you about the upper scale LE devices (002, 002r) being the better choice for serious audio work but many people have the MBox and Mbox 2 and are making very good recordings with it.

6
 
Oh yeah, no doubt about quality. Just latency and lack of channels.
 
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