Help building a home studio

[McParadigm]

I'm looking into equipment for a basement studio setup. Here's what I was thinking so far:

Aardvark Aark24 (with Cubase)
ART Tube Pac Mic Preamp
Sure drum 6 mic package
MXL 990/MXL 991 mic package
SM Pro Audio OC8 Compressor

There are some things I'm confused about, though. For example, am I actually going to be able to plug 6 microphones in with that setup? Is there something I'm not thinking about that I'll need?

I thought about the Mark of the Unicorn 828MKII 24/96 instead of the Aardvark, but I wasn't sure what kind of benefits each one offers.

Any tips?

 

[buryher17]

I'm looking into equipment for a basement studio setup. Here's what I was thinking so far:

Aardvark Aark24 (with Cubase)
ART Tube Pac Mic Preamp
Sure drum 6 mic package
MXL 990/MXL 991 mic package
SM Pro Audio OC8 Compressor

There are some things I'm confused about, though. For example, am I actually going to be able to plug 6 microphones in with that setup? Is there something I'm not thinking about that I'll need?

I thought about the Mark of the Unicorn 828MKII 24/96 instead of the Aardvark, but I wasn't sure what kind of benefits each one offers.

Any tips?

well my sugestion, dont go with the mxl mic's. i never personally liked them

the pre amp is good, and the cubase thing idk much about but form what i heard is good. about the durm mic's, dont even bother spending soo much with the shure kit, so with a samson 5 peice kit and get 2 at2020 mic's [which cna also be used for vocals] OR get a cad 4 or 7 peice drum mic kit [both under $200! and amazing sound]

and the compressor isn't bad. i have an alesis 3630 and im unhappy i got that btu it fits the needs i need for now.


art and tc electronics are great name brands. i suggets you stick with those names, and peremetric items for studio. be careful on what kind of rack things you buy because some are made for live and some for studio. i made that mistake and bought a lot of live performance things which dont record as well as the studio based processors.

 

[McParadigm]

Alright. Thanks for the tip...I like the idea of cutting $300 of the cost of drum mics!

A question about the mxls...I had heard they were good for both vocals and acoustic guitar. What would be better for recording acoustic?

Also, like I said before, am I actually going to be able to USE that many mics at one time with that setup?

 

[buryher17]

Alright. Thanks for the tip...I like the idea of cutting $300 of the cost of drum mics!

A question about the mxls...I had heard they were good for both vocals and acoustic guitar. What would be better for recording acoustic?

alright, me personally, i have 2 mxl 990's, one i bought,t hen i got one for free wiht my sound card. i tried doing vocals witht hem it seems too tangy and not to my taste. and also with it, you need a pre amp,, then it would ahve to ru through effects [which i have but still]

i know it works well with acustic's though. but my suggestion, get the audio tehcnica at2020's. there very multi verstile condensor mics. you can sue them as drum mic overhead's, a great vocal mic AND acustics

and yea, the $300 drop in cost is amazing haha. i had the same idea to buy a 6 peice shure, but then i decided to go with a few reviews, and i bought a 5 peice samson kit, and bought 2 at2020's for over hangs,a nd use a sm57 ont he hi hat [when i record metal bands i sue the sm 57] and it came out perfect.

you'd be suprised hwo good those new cheap 5/7 peice sets are.

the cad mic's got amazing reveiws. the 7 peice is only $200 and it got a 2 page reveiw about syaing hwo well constructed they are, and hwo much kick the kick mic has, and the toms/snare sound great and event he pencil condensors work well. i never got a chance to tyr them ymself, btu i bet they are just as amazing if not mroe better than the samson kit i got.

my bets sugestion is stick with the at2020's. best thing to do for a small studio, there just like sm 57's, you can use them in so many ways

 

[buryher17]

and about the "is there enough room" i dont know anything about the mixer/consol. send em a link where ot find it, i cant find it anywhere. i can tell you if there will be room.


another suggestion you could do is, get a behringer mixer [8-10 line] and you'll be set. you can hook up to how ever many mic can fit in. i have a 16 line behringer and am thrilled wiht it. and almost all behringer mixers have built in standard pre amps which help out later with drums using condensor overhangs.

how big is your set?? 4 or 5 peice?

 

[McParadigm]

If I got a mixer with preamps, would I then need to buy the standalone preamps? I assume not?

 

[buryher17]

If I got a mixer with preamps, would I then need to buy the standalone preamps? I assume not?

technically no of course not

but after time you become bored with your projects and feel the need for more color to the mix. built in pre amps are never half or 1/4 of the quality as a standalone.

i ahve a studio projects vtb1. its a 1 input mic preamp, and its amazing. i got it for an even $100. but the onyl problem is, all dealers are sold out! they have a bakc order on them and have for months, i had to get mien through ebay [which was better in the end with shipping being free]

 

[McParadigm]

i ahve a studio projects vtb1. its a 1 input mic preamp, and its amazing. i got it for an even $100. but the onyl problem is, all dealers are sold out! they have a bakc order on them and have for months, i had to get mien through ebay [which was better in the end with shipping being free]

With a one-input preamp, though, what use is a 4-mic drum setup? This is where I get confused.

 

[buryher17]

With a one-input preamp, though, what use is a 4-mic drum setup? This is where I get confused.

preamps are only needed for "condensor cardiod" mics. its provides phontom power and/or gain and clairty to it.

the only use i use the pre amps for is phantom power and nice sound with a condensor mic

what i do is...

i have the 5 peice durm kit on the 3 toms/snare/kick drum all connected to my 16 line mixer. then i have an sm 57 on the hi hat connected ot the mixer.

THEN the overhangs i have a preamp for each condensor mic which is then also connected into the mixer. using the pre amps on the condensor mics add's a lot of flavor to the sound for the cymbals.

BUT! if you said you have built in phantom power, than no worries, just plug in the condensor mics straight to the mixer and your set. you'll have approximately 7 mic cables plugged to the mixer which is sent through to your PC.

 

[McParadigm]

Alright. Thanks! I'll go with the CAD 4 piece and the AT2020's....is there anything else I might want to have?

Oh, and the Behringer mixer....that throws me. Does that connect to the computer along with the Aardvark Aark24, or does one plug in to the other, or what?

 

[buryher17]

Alright. Thanks! I'll go with the CAD 4 piece and the AT2020's....is there anything else I might want to have?

Oh, and the Behringer mixer....that throws me. Does that connect to the computer along with the Aardvark Aark24, or does one plug in to the other, or what?

sweet good choice wiht the mics


alright i have 0 clue what the aardvark is, i tried finding it online but couldnt.

what i do is i have a nice sound card so i just plug in my mixer with xlr cables in/out to the sound acrd, but all behringer mixer have a 1/4" plug where you can plug it into your cpu sound card into the "mic" input thing in the back, its the bottom hole on your sound card.

and by doing either of those ways it reads all the information going through the mixer to your cubase.

i have to go to work, so ill be bakc tonight to answer anything else you may want to know. if anything else you need to know, i have a myspace for my studio, add me if you have a myspace or w/e

its

myspace.com/brokenknucklesstudio

 

[travelin travis]

the ardvark interface has 8 analog inputs so yes, you'll be able to record with 6 mics at one time. the art tube pack is a single mic preamp (so is the vtb1) and you will need a mic preamp for each mic used at the same time: mic > preamp > interface input. if you want to record using 6 mics, you need 6 preamps. a mixer would be an economical way to get a bunch of mic preamps.

as far as the benefits of each interface, different interfaces have different d/a and a/d converters, sometimes a few different options, some have better drivers than others, etc. it's pretty much up to you to figure out which will best suit your needs within your budget.

for acoustic guitar mics, i'd try to dig up some oktava mk012's. i ended up getting a used pair early this year for $100 and i love them. they're supposed to make pretty good drum overhead mics too. i also have the mxl 603 and and joe meek jm27's. i'd take the mk012's over either of those because they have the most natural sound of the three and just plain sound better.

 

[McParadigm]

Thanks for all the help! I'll probably be back to ask more when I start getting this stuff set up.