Forces needed!

[Bloodbought]

Im sayin, i been learnin a lot without askin questions, but at this point the more i read the more its a circle, know im sayin? the mic forum spit out mad mics and the hottest ones for rap seemed like sm7s, rodent1, u87 and sm58. I got some studio catz up here in a music store helpin me too. they are mainly jazz, rock, metal.. there cool peoplez tho and been good for me. At this point i know what im a do for software, soundcard, and kind of know on the mic tip, but dog its a lot out there. A lot of catz is askin for cheap stuff, yet claim to be serious. It seems to me that in this game seriousness = patience, especially on the money tip. ???I know thats trivial when it comes to mics, but on a preamp? Im tryin to make moves and I really need help on the preamp. Most of the advice is given for cheap ones. I need some prices on some top of da line stuff u know? Something real u know? Can yall just push me some real stuff as far as soundcard and preamps. The mics I understand will be a process for me...but I need some tips on soundcards and preamps that are guarnateed to do what needed. Thanx.

 

[c9-2001]

Soundcards and preamps..
well number one how much money are you trying to spend?

soundcards:
Motu HD192
Motu 896
Motu 2408MKIII
Delta 1010
Aardvard Q10
RME Multiface
Echo layla24
digi001

thats all i can think of off top.. all these card are under $1500 and they all will render a great quality...

after those you have stuff like Creamware,Lucid,Lynx, Apogee and HD Pro tools systems

as far as mic pres...there are to many hi quality pres to list.. i don't know your budget yet so i'll try to stay under $2000

Avalon VT-737sp(there's a VT-737SM mercenary edition too)
Langevin Dual Vocal Combo
Manley mono-pre
Great river MP-2MH
John hardy M-1 / M-2
Grove tubes Vipre (its a little more, but my partner just got one for 1900.. it sounds great wih our hiphop and r&b artist. )

TC Electronic Gold Channel
TLAudio VP-1 and pa-1

its only 8am i can't think of anything else i've been up all night making beats and wiring new stuff.. i'm goin to sleep

 

[therage!]

What's your budget?

 

[Bloodbought]

my budget

Tough Question
At this point this is what i have.
Soundcard - Lexicon Core 2 (not compatible with Win xp)
Preamp - 386 dbx
Mic - akg c3000b
Software - Vegas Pro 1.0
Keeping in mind that I am SERIOUS about putting out "shelf" quality music, with my limited knowledge on expense ill take a shot at building this type of studio with a max of 10,000.00 (business loan). This must include mics, preamps, stands, software, hardware, sound proof room etc.. basically everything. Hope u can help with this. thanx

 

[therage!]

Re: my budget

Tough Question
At this point this is what i have.
Soundcard - Lexicon Core 2 (not compatible with Win xp)
Preamp - 386 dbx
Mic - akg c3000b
Software - Vegas Pro 1.0
Keeping in mind that I am SERIOUS about putting out "shelf" quality music, with my limited knowledge on expense ill take a shot at building this type of studio with a max of 10,000.00 (business loan). This must include mics, preamps, stands, software, hardware, sound proof room etc.. basically everything. Hope u can help with this. thanx

There's guys in the MP3 mixing clinic that are putting our some great sounding material on a lot less (not including musical instruments) than 10K. No matter which angle you take it's going to take some serious time spent in learning this craft so I would bve careful in the decisions you make.

You already have a sound card but your using XP so you can't use the Lexicon? If your replacing it yoiu need to figure out how many inputs/outputs you need. Many can get by with just a couple inputs or they are using a mixing console that gives them a lot more routing flexibility. But I imagine in your case your going to want at least an MAudio 2496 or an Echo MIA, MIA does not have MIDI though. You already have a preamp but the 386 is not that good, but it will do the job. I really don't think you need to run out and spend 10K right away. Use what you have and start refining your skills. As you develop start posting material in the MP3 clinic and those guys will really help you a lot with mixing and stuff. I hate to single any of those guys out but one guy named Sluice has about $2,000 in recording gear and is doing some damn fine material with that setup. As you get better at recording you will start to find out what kind of gear you really like and want. Preamps are a good example, You can run out and by a $2,500 Avalon but may find for dong vocals a preamp that cost quite a bit less. Some preamps are more transparent than others and that's good IF that's what your looking for. But how can you really know what your looking for without some experience?

Good luck, and get busy!