Getting the right equipment for my needs...

[OrganistAnthony]

Hi guys, I'm new the the forum and I'm trying to start a more professional home studio. I'll be doing a lot of recording of my church praise team and choir. So I'd really like to be able to record up to 4 vocalists at once and have each singer come up on a different track, and then edit mistakes for each singer, rather than having all of us sing around one mic... I've come up with a list of studio gear and I'd really like some advice as to whether I'm heading in the right direction or not.

If you've ever heard a choral demonstration before of a Christian song or even a pop song, that's the kind of sound I'm looking for, kind of a commercial, even a bit cheesy, (like radio jingle ensembles) but it's really acceptable for the kind of music I'd like to record. Will this gear do it? Please feel free to tell me what I need to add/remove or suggested products.

USB Mixer with 8-12ish channels (at least 4 XLR)
Small set of Studio monitors
Headphone Distribution device and headphones for the singers
4 Condenser Mics with pop filters
Logic Studio

 

[dementedchord]

2 things....

1st. whats with the friggin tripple post??? your gonna make enemies like that... nuf said...

2nd. i'ld think about a firewire rather than a usb mixer... usb's only send a 2 trk to the computer... a FW generally sends individual trks... the advantage if not obvious to you now ... will certainly make sense down the line...

 

[SonicAlbert]

It looks good to me except for the USB mixer. The issue with that is that most USB mixers only send a stereo feed to the computer, as far as I know anyway. In your case I would expect you'd want to send each mic to the computer separately so that you can mix them later in greater detail.

So because of that I'd recommend getting an audio interface instead of the mixer. Something with at least four XLR mic inputs.

 

[Dogbreath]

Yup...definitely an interface.
And what's your budget?

For the headphones, check out the "MoreMe" cans. I use the Sennheiser HD280 Pros and dig em but have the moreme's on my short list. Bout $100 a set for the 280's and I think the MM's are around $30. And then a headphone amp that'll do 4-6 cans at once. Do a search. They'll run from $50 to several hundred.

As far as the mics.....alot depends on budget. Also male vs female singer. In the cheaper line, I've found the AT 4050, AT3035 and V67G do pretty well for some of the vocalists I deal with. You might also check out a Shure SM58. Like I said, if $$$'s tight, check em out. If you've got money to burn...I have no idea.
I'm married with kids so I'm broke.

Good luck man...

 

[SonicAlbert]

I agree about firewire, if your computer takes that. Much better than USB for audio in my experience.