Help putting together a budget bedroom studio! $1000 to allocate

[spaceyeti]

Hi guys,

Last summer I got my feet a little bit wet in the world of recording and bought a sm57 and a cheap audio interface (M-Audio Fast Track). I?ve been saving up and I?m looking to put together a budget bedroom studio for recording electric and acoustic guitar, male and female vocals, a little bit of bass, and potentially some grand piano. I won?t be recording more than one instrument at a time. My maximum budget is $1,000 and I?m looking for some advice on how I should allocate it.

Right now I just have the M-Audio Fast Track, the M-Powered essential version of protools that came with it, a sm57 and my laptop (windows). I?m thinking I need a mic for recording vocals and acoustic guitar, a preamp for the mic, possibly a better audio interface, and a pair of monitors.

For the mic I was looking at a sm7b or a Blue Bluebird. (Both around $300) I?m thinking the Bluebird because I don?t have a condenser mic to record acoustic guitar. I?m assuming the sm7b is mostly just a vocal mic. I'm looking for more of a generic mic that will sound decent on most voices as opposed to a mic that will fit some kind of vocal niche.

Preamp wise I was thinking about one of these: Studio Projects VTB-1, M-Audio DMP3, (both around $150). I don?t know a lot about preamps. I was reading some posts about skipping cheaper preamps and saving up for more expensive stuff, but right now all I have is the preamp built in the Fast Track and I?m not going to be able to drop a ton of money on individual pieces of recording gear anytime soon.

For monitors I was looking at M-Audio Studiophile BX5A?s.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions I would be extremely grateful. Should I spend more a lot more money on something and less on something else? Am I forgetting stuff? If you had my budget what would you buy?

Thanks a ton

 

[wheelema]

For the mic I was looking at a sm7b or a Blue Bluebird. (Both around $300) I’m thinking the Bluebird because I don’t have a condenser mic to record acoustic guitar...

There is a sticky documenting WhiteStrat's superb example of how to record acoustic guitar on this site. Check out www.naiant.com for a pair of excellent and affordable small condenser microphones.

I’m assuming the sm7b is mostly just a vocal mic. I'm looking for more of a generic mic that will sound decent on most voices as opposed to a mic that will fit some kind of vocal niche.

There is no such animal as 'just a yada-yada mic'. While small condensers perform better on instruments that does not somehow invalidate them for vocals. Mics are subjective tools for art. Do not approach them as objective tools for science. The SM7B is a superb dynamic microphone (IMO) that makes me sound amazing but when it comes to your application it's always YMMV and you need to be the judge.

Preamp wise I was thinking about one of these: Studio Projects VTB-1, M-Audio DMP3, (both around $150). I don’t know a lot about preamps. I was reading some posts about skipping cheaper preamps and saving up for more expensive stuff, but right now all I have is the preamp built in the Fast Track and I’m not going to be able to drop a ton of money on individual pieces of recording gear anytime soon.

Keeping in mind that you need one channel of A/D conversion for every microphone you are better off (as always IMO) purchasing an interface that gives you that functionality already paired with a built in preamp. At your price point I'd avoid standalone preamps.

For monitors I was looking at M-Audio Studiophile BX5A’s.

If there is anything that you should drop big bucks on it's the monitors. I'd give serious consideration to world class gear such as the Adam A3X. They're 60% of your budget but you'll know exactly what you're recording and the value of that cannot be understated.

Don't get caught up in mic lust. Multi-platinum hits have been recorded with SM57/58s.

 

[Shadow_7]

I wouldn't get too caught up in monitors. They are good for auditioning mics and keeping some annoyances out of your tracks that you might not otherwise be aware of, but as long as you can capture the tracks, you can always outsource them to be mastered by someone else with better gear (and understanding) than you.

General consensus is buy cheap by twice. But at only $1,000 I'd be skimping on the monitoring end, and getting a better input stage. No level of monitoring is going to make the input stage sound better. But if you want to go there first, Yamaha HS50m's and HW10w is probably good cheap-ish option. HS80m's if you have the budget, power, and space for them. I "had" M-Audio BX8's at one time, but I used them so little after auditioning mic and preamp shootouts, that I ultimately sold them while they still had value. Plus they were too big and drew too much power. Adams are some fine monitors too, but at $1K "EACH", not for everyone.

For only one thing at a time, get a nice preamp. I'd take the DMP3 over the VTB-1. I like my SD MM-1's, but not for everyone either (battery powered). Lots of options, and just enough budget to pursue some of them.

 

[kskill]

General consensus is buy cheap by twice.
nice hit shadow. but maybe you should had put that in bold, italic, quotation marked and underlined so those reading this realize that is gospel in the recording biz.
back to you spacey1,,,, i didnt see anything about the room your in. that is more important than than equipment. lousy room, lousy recording. its pretty much that simple.
as far as mics. if you dont have much money i would recommend a used nt2 by rode. a lot of bang for you buck and very versitile. you could use it for a year and resell it for what you bought it for if you take care of it. i have some serious mics and i still use this on occasion because it performs in a style all its own

 

[Bobbsy]

If it was me, I'd forget about external pre-amps and stick to the Fast Track until such time as you need more than one mic input at a time. (That time will come around when you want to start recording a grand piano.) Put your money into good monitors and a good LDC microphone. Any leftovers can go to a heavy duty mic stand and a pop filter. Do lots of recordings with this setup and you'll gradually learn from experience and listening what you want to make the next expenditure on.

Bob

 

[Shadow_7]

If you're going to stick with the SM57 and if you're going to get the SM7b (or RE-20), then the preamp will matter since they are relatively low output mics that need a fair amount of gain. Which can add a lot of noise/hiss to your tracks on the cheap end of things. Which only a good preamp on those mics can overcome.

 

[moresound]

EV RE20 and a Golden Age Pre73 and don't look back!