Feedback on new studio setup

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thejman

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Hey all...I am just about to build a new home studio and I am shooting for professional level recordings. Was just curious about what your experience has been with similar components/set-ups, and if I was aiming high enough with this design to get pro results.

Old Set-up I use for demo's:
M-audio firewire 410 for input/preamp
Gateway Inspiron Laptop (P4, 512RAM, 60gb HD)
Cakewalk Home Studio
Audio Technica AT3000 Large Diaphram Condensor for vocals

Potential "Pro" Studio
Macintosh Intel Imac (looking at duo 2ghz desktop)
Logic pro 7 (does anybody know the difference between pro and express pro besides the larger price tag)
M-audio 410 for input/preamp
2 decently priced condensers for instrument recording
AT3000 condenser

I suppose the heart of this question is if upgrading my computer and switching from Cakewalk to Logic pro will let me elevate my recordings to a professional product. Also, is there any major piece that I am missing here? Would love some feedback on tihs plan....

Thanks for your help,
Jordan
 
The Intel Macs are brand new to the market and may not even be in stock @ your local Apple store or whatever they call it. They're very expensive, being new and all, and the differences in the clarity and precision of your recordings would be slim to none.

Instead of laying out $2500 for a new computer and $1000 for the full version of Logic, I suggest you concentrate on some quality microphones (or one prize mic) and a high-quality preamp.

These will make a whole lot more difference to your recordings than any software or platform switch, which you might regret immediately.

Cakewalk's Sonar producer edition can be had for around $500 and gives Logic a run for the money in a slightly different way. It's also fun to use once you get to know it!
 
The reason I was contemplating the switch is because I will get a student discount on both the computer and Logic until I graduate next month. I can get a student copy of Logic for $499 and the iMac for around $1200-$1600 depending on options. At $499, the copy of Logic seems to be worth the value just for the production/mixing additions that aren't present in home studio (guitar processing so I can go DI, better qulity sounds, mastering capability). However, in order to take advantage of Logic, I think that I need to get an iMac (i don't think the program eve runs on a windows based interface). I guess a way to recharacterize my question would be....is this deal so good (saving approximately $1400) on this gear be to good of a possibility to pass up on the quest for pro recording products?

And thanks for the welcome...

Jordan
 
You're right when you say Logic is Mac only - that's because Apple bought it a while back and is not about to make it available to Windows users.

Have you tried Logic yet? It's a deep program but with a whole bunch of new concepts and ways of viewing both audio and midi data that other applications don't use.

If you've tried it or want to tackle a new challenge and can get the student discount, then it looks like a pretty fair deal.

Don't expect to hear a big change in basic audio quality. All modern sequencing packages --- even the modestly priced ones --- sound just about the same.
 
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