Help with new studio setup....<<noob>>

  • Thread starter Thread starter stepXinXtheXmix
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stepXinXtheXmix

stepXinXtheXmix

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Hey everyone, this is my first post, hopefully I don't screw it up!

OK first of all let me say for the past 3 months I've been doing a lot research and soul searching to try and choose the best studio set up for me. I've come up with a pretty solid setup, just to get me started. Just a little quick background on me, I've never own a "complete" studio. At the most I've had is a small mixer, some mics and a pirated version of Adobe Audition (have mercy). BUT! I've been able to learn a ton of crap with that crap. I've done some recording of just myself, check them out @ myspace dot com foward-slash Stephenbillingsleymusic(it would let me put the link cause i'm a noob to this site). Those songs are using Fruity Loops, adobe audition, a Behringer 8 channel mixer, and a Marshall TSL Stack. Nothing fancy. But I think I'm ready to take the next step.

OK so here's the list of equipment I'm looking to purchase:

Computer: Apple Mac Pro 2.8GHz 8-Core
Mixer/Interface/Controller: Yamaha n12
DAW: Undecided....help
Monitors: MAudio BX8's and a BX10 Sub, undecided on headphones
Mics: (1) AKG c 214, (1) Sennheiser e906, (1)AKG D 112 and (1)Shure DMK57-52 Drum mic package
Misc: Presonus Monitor Station and of course needed cables, pop filter and mic stands

I do have some concerns though. One being that I won't have enough analog inputs, the mixer has (8) XLR inputs and (4) .25"'s making 12 possible ins. . I also have my eye on the Tascam DM3200. But for the amount of money I'm wanting to spend, this seems like the most realistic for now

Concern number two...the whole Pro Tools movement....am I still able to use Pro Tools as a DAW or if not, will my files be useless to someone i'm collaborating with that uses P.T.'s?

Concern number three...Am I forgetting anything or does anything conflict with anything else.

I appreciate all of you taking the time to help. Another peice of info. This will probably be setup in a bedroom of my house for a while till I get the balls and skill to build my own studio. Thanks again
 
stepXinXtheXmix said:
Hey everyone, this is my first post, hopefully I don't screw it up!

OK first of all let me say for the past 3 months I've been doing a lot research and soul searching to try and choose the best studio set up for me. I've come up with a pretty solid setup, just to get me started. Just a little quick background on me, I've never own a "complete" studio. At the most I've had is a small mixer, some mics and a pirated version of Adobe Audition (have mercy). BUT! I've been able to learn a ton of crap with that crap. I've done some recording of just myself, check them out @ myspace dot com foward-slash Stephenbillingsleymusic(it would let me put the link cause i'm a noob to this site). Those songs are using Fruity Loops, adobe audition, a Behringer 8 channel mixer, and a Marshall TSL Stack. Nothing fancy. But I think I'm ready to take the next step.

OK so here's the list of equipment I'm looking to purchase:

Computer: Apple Mac Pro 2.8GHz 8-Core
Mixer/Interface/Controller: Yamaha n12
DAW: Undecided....help
Monitors: MAudio BX8's and a BX10 Sub, undecided on headphones
Mics: (1) AKG c 214, (1) Sennheiser e906, (1)AKG D 112 and (1)Shure DMK57-52 Drum mic package
Misc: Presonus Monitor Station and of course needed cables, pop filter and mic stands

I do have some concerns though. One being that I won't have enough analog inputs, the mixer has (8) XLR inputs and (4) .25"'s making 12 possible ins. . I also have my eye on the Tascam DM3200. But for the amount of money I'm wanting to spend, this seems like the most realistic for now

Concern number two...the whole Pro Tools movement....am I still able to use Pro Tools as a DAW or if not, will my files be useless to someone i'm collaborating with that uses P.T.'s?

Concern number three...Am I forgetting anything or does anything conflict with anything else.

I appreciate all of you taking the time to help. Another peice of info. This will probably be setup in a bedroom of my house for a while till I get the balls and skill to build my own studio. Thanks again
Click to expand...
For DAW, check out cockos reaper. There are two licences, $50 personal and $225 commercial, for the same thing. Really cheap and compares really well with all other top DAWs

I doubt you need a sub with BX8's. Why not save on the sub and get better monitors.

Why not use an Alesis multimix 16 firewire?
 
For DAW, check out cockos reaper. There are two licences, $50 personal and $225 commercial, for the same thing. Really cheap and compares really well with all other top DAWs
Click to expand...

+1 you can't go wrong with Reaper. Very easy to use.
 
Thanks for the advice....I'll check out the DAW. Why wouldn't I need to have a sub, do the 8's have that much low end response? The mixer look nice especially to get started and the price.....kudos
 
Do you use Reaper to mix or just recording tracks?
 
Why wouldn't I need to have a sub, do the 8's have that much low end response?
Click to expand...

My suggestion is to try out the monitors and see how you like the sound you get from the 8"s. If after a while you still think you need some more low end then you can go out and get a sub.

You might find that you may not need a sub, and then you can take that extra cash and invest in something else.
 
awesome...thanks for the input....KEEP IT COMING! The more suggestions the better!
 
I would hold off on a sub as well. 8's should give you a pretty good low end. Definitely better then dealing with 5's or even 6's.
 
Id agree with holding off on the sub. I own a pair of BX8's and they are pretty bass heavy. Also take into account what kind of room treatment you are looking into. More bass may actually make things sound worse.
 
In terms of monitoring, you'd be better holding off on the sub and taking a step up in fidelity by buying better monitors...
 
Having a Mac and using REAPER is like having a Formula 1 car and pushing it down the road... Get LOGIC - either Express or the full Pro Studio - trust me - Been on Macs for years. I have a PC too but recording is ALWAYS done on my Mac (OS X 10.5.6).
 
stepXinXtheXmix said:
Thanks for the advice....I'll check out the DAW. Why wouldn't I need to have a sub, do the 8's have that much low end response? The mixer look nice especially to get started and the price.....kudos
Click to expand...
8" woofers should have a decent low-end, so you don't need a sub imo. A lot of people get by with just 6" woofers without a sub.
 
strangedogs said:
Having a Mac and using REAPER is like having a Formula 1 car and pushing it down the road... Get LOGIC - either Express or the full Pro Studio - trust me - Been on Macs for years. I have a PC too but recording is ALWAYS done on my Mac (OS X 10.5.6).
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GREAT! Thats what I'm talking about. I'm wanting to get the full potential out of what I'm buying. I'll def check out Logic. Do you ever have trouble with latency?
 
strangedogs said:
Having a Mac and using REAPER is like having a Formula 1 car and pushing it down the road... Get LOGIC - either Express or the full Pro Studio - trust me - Been on Macs for years. I have a PC too but recording is ALWAYS done on my Mac (OS X 10.5.6).
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What's wrong with reaper?
 
strangedogs said:
trust me - Been on Macs for years.
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I quite like that as a quote. I don't think its up to you to decide who trusts you, and I certainly don't trust anyone who uses the analogy of a Formula 1 car to try and big-up a computer brand.

Logic is certainly very good and a step up from Reaper, but that doesn't automatically make Reaper bad or limiting in any outstanding ways. I've heard many great recordings on this forum done on Reaper, and also many awful ones done on Logic.
 
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strangedogs said:
Having a Mac and using REAPER is like having a Formula 1 car and pushing it down the road... Get LOGIC - either Express or the full Pro Studio - trust me - Been on Macs for years. I have a PC too but recording is ALWAYS done on my Mac (OS X 10.5.6).
Click to expand...

Why is that?

I think it's more of preference kind of thing, right?

I think you will find that more often than not you will have people praising Reaper no matter what system they're running. It looks like you're happy with what you use, but that doesn't mean the rest out there are inferior.

I myself have used or demoed a few different DAW's and multiple PC's/Macs and my conclusion was that I chose what worked best for "me". I think all have their +/-'s.

The fact that Reaper only cost me $50 and it gives me just as much as the $500+ options out there really helped in the decision.:D

Not knockin you Strangedogs we all do have our opinions.
 
It's definately nothing to start arguing over.....not that you are but could get to that point, just want to cut that off up front. It's definately a matter of opinion. I just want to get the most out of what I'm getting. But since we're talking about this what are some pros and cons of both Reaper and Logic?
 
stepXinXtheXmix said:
H BUT! I've been able to learn a ton of crap with that crap.
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:D Good one.

I my opinion, the crap that you know makes FAR more difference than the crap that you use.;) In other words, knowledge and ability is more important than equipment. Some great recordings were made in the past using gear that was hopelessly primitive even by today's home recording standards.

I have both PCs and a big glossy iMac, both of which have Cubase on. My friend and teacher has a very fancy studio running ProTools. So If we're working on something together we either use Garage Band (because we both have it), or save tracks as wav files and drop them in either of the others. We don't think it's a big deal. But for us, the important thing is playing the music. We both enjoy a bit of fiddling with the technical side of things, but playing the music is number one.

If you're a bit of a techno-geek then all the fine detail of one piece of software or equipment versus another can be quite big deal, because you find it interesting and you actually can use it to make some kind of difference. But, in my experience, provided you don't buy rubbish, the limiting factor for most people isn't so much the gear it's not knowing how to use it properly (and the more powerful the software the longer and snarlier the learning curve usually is...). But the biggest limiting factor of all usually seems to be not having the musical talent to put anything good on it in the first place.

Good luck with it, it's all fun.
 
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