gear advice for recording newbie

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zimmy

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I need some advice for buying some decent recording gear. I have been playing for years and even recorded an album but have no clues on recording what so ever!

I was looking at the Boss Br-1600 as it seems easy to work with and and has build in drums, bass effects etc.

I need it for recording acoustics tracks as well as recording good sounding demoes with 4 .5 piece bands.

I was thinking about getting a decent microphone for recording vocals and acoustic guitar - Joe meek JM 47 and a Joe Meek VC1 pre amp-

Is this a decent setup or any better recomandations without getting too expensive?
 
thanx for relpying!

well for a good sounding demo -

what would I need as a minimun for something in a quality good enough for selling


(other than good skills of course)
 
I have never messed with the Boss series but i know the Roland VS series are def worth investing in. I owned the VS-1680, VS-1824, and now I have the VS-2000 that should be here Friday or Saturday and i get good sounding music.
 
I own a BR1180 Which,....there are some huge differences, but anyway, the 1600 is a good unit, The Cosm effects are actually pretty good, I use them quite a bit. Not sure how electronically inept you are but the drum machine takes some getting used to. Don't get me wrong, it's simple but a tad limited. Can't help ya with the mics..I have three (SM57, and two pencil mics) and rarely use them. The pencil mics are Phantom powered and are really nice. Not sure if that helped but if your looking for no-brainer recording, the BR is the ticket.
 
How is your opinions on the need for an external preamp for vocals etc?

do I need it?
 
zimmy, you don't need anything, but it's all relative to how professional you wanna make your tunes sound...

nothing's going to sound as good as renting a good studio with a good engineer.

after that, you'll have to spend, to hear differences.

sounds like you're not there..

so, on the low end, having a decent mic preamp, and a digital convertor, and going into one of these roland vs machines digitally, is always going to sound better than using the stock preamps and convertors.

they didn't blow the bank on the convertors, if you know what i mean.

there's so much gear out there, available for every price range, you just have to do your homework, and look for reviews, set yourself a price range, and a plan, and start.

i just finished a brand new album, release on Planet Records, using a VS-1880 for the entire thing.

it was professionally mastered.

you can check it out through the link below...

there is always a way to sound better...
it all boils down to money.

to demos, you can't go wrong with either a used VS series (1680 and up), or a new Boss recorder....

i had a 880ex, that was a great 20 bit machine, i sold for $300 2 years ago.
i bought my 1880 for $600.

there are deals out there, if you're willing to shop.

i think my 24 bit 1880 sounds better than the Boss units, but it's still compressed with proprietary roland RDAC software......

still, it sounds good.

as good as a protools setup, no.

but, then again, sometimes, all the gear in the world wont make a shit project sound good, and a million dollars worth of gear in the wrong engineer's hands is no good either.
 
I know people are getting quite negative about E-bay, (wonder why!) but I bought my 1180 off of there...that three mics and a full speaker set up for PA for under 1000.00. Thats when the 1180CD just came out. As far as quality of sound. True, your not gona dupe a professional grade recording. But thats all relative. I mean, are you gona demo this out? Is it purely for enjoyment? Man, I think "bang for the buck" you can't lose with these Boss units, or any PC recording program. My recorded stuff is crystal clear. True, sonically my Bass my not be up there with my rhythm, and my drums are maybe a shy dry and way back in the mix, but guess what.....I"m the frigin producer for my albums!! It all depends on your wallet, and your heart. I think easily you can make great quality DEMOs from something like a BR unit.
 
Zimmy, I have a BR1180, and used properly it makes fine demos. The 1600 would be even better.
 
thanx for all the answers ... I think Ill go bye the thing very soon :-)
 
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