Im losing my budgeting mind here ppl! Help!!!!

[Killah_Trakz]

Ok here's the deal i had an investor (Friend) who wanted to invest in my setup say bout $3500. Ok last week $1000 were spent on (2) 20 inch lcdtv's (they have a reason for being tv's plus insurance so u know!) ok! bout $500 on an Rode NTK<<<< Not a bad mic and he fell in love with those damn Mackie Hr824's so thats another ummm $1200( employee discount). So now theirs about 1k-1,500 left. If you can tell by the sig.... i wanted to try mixing out the box but i know that mixng in the box has its advantages. I have to use protools cuz its like killed or be killed on my end! but i love nuendo the most. So i got digi001 card ( i know guys but it wuz free). So i have 2 choices, seen a Panasonic da7 used 4 $1200 and mix out the box or buy a mackie controller and mix inside. i need help cuz im trying to up my sound clarity a notch up. Genre of choice here are for rap n r&b vocals. Which would be a better decision n what addition can i add for that $1,500 left. Thanks

 

[Supercreep]

You have to use protools or someone will kill you?


How about a nice standalone pre - something to actually improve your signal chain? I don't understand how a couple of TV's are going to help you, but that shows you what I know about rap. Teleprompters maybe?

Sorry I can't be more helpful

 

[TGB]

I'm a Nuendo user, and have to ue SlowTools sometimes, too. I can mix inside or outside, but prefer outside. A mixer w/ decent pre's comes in handy -- do the level mixing on the board, and automation in the DAW.

HR824s do a pretty good job at translating -- so you're okay there. Rodent mics work, but I'd have probably spent elsewhere on that. Done now -- so no worries. ;-)

$1500 ya say?? My thing would probably be to scout eBay for a $1800-2000 used d8b and get it. Barring that, get a good analog mixer and get going.

Best,

TGB

 

[ryanformato]

Why not get a single mic pre such as a great river/API/John Hardy, a U87 or another standard high end mic, or better converters.

 

[gordone]

Blowing $1000 of a $3500 budget on big fancy LCD screens doesn't sound very smart to me, but what do I know, I only record folky acoustic music

What is your recording space like? If the acoustics suck, high-end equipment will just record a very accurate picture of how much the acoustics suck (been there, done that!)

 

[chessrock]

Blowing $1000 of a $3500 budget on big fancy LCD screens doesn't sound very smart to me ...

I actually think it was a smart move. Big LCD screens pack a major "wow" factor. I mean if you can't afford a giant automated console, then big, fancy screens are about the next best thing.

 

[formerlyfzfile]

I own a DA-7 for my home project studio and it sounds pretty damn good.

Automation and midi control and plenty of channels and you can set up ADAT lightpipe or TDIF I/O.
Library settings and scenes.

BUT only 4 mix scenes at a time and if (for instance) you use two ADAT cards with an ADDA card for inserting the busses to outboard gear..... you have to route 8 tracks (in a 24 track set up) to analog I/O (one more conversion step) and the conversion in the ADDA cards are 20 bit and not 24.

It does run 48Khz but wont do 96.
Has digital REC OUT switchable from AESBU or SPDIF from a single XLR output but only one SPDIF AUX buss (stereo).

You may know all this already.

Its NOT the most intuitive unit (for me anyway).

But for what you can do with a DA-7 for $1K - 1.5K, they are pretty nice consoles.

Does the DA-7 your looking at have a meter bridge and any cards???
ADAT cards and especially ADDA cards are getting more and more scarce.
For $1200 I would make sure it had a many options as possible.

If not I MIGHT be willing to part with mine (bridge, 3 ADAT, 1 ADDA, and 1 TDIF card, with manual) ......

..... the more I am getting away from the computer (in general) and the less I'm flipping channels and scrolling through menus and libraries (i.e. the more I use the board like a staight analog board) the more I enjoy mixing, and for me its just more "musical" feeling and sounding, and so am considering going with an analog board..... but damn!! automation sure is nice.


On a different note ...... sounds like you have some of the equipment already but as stated before ..... do you have a good couple of input channels and what are you monitoring with???

 

[tkingen]

Have you put any money into room treatment? That might boost the quality of your recording and mixing.

Terry

 

[Killah_Trakz]

this is me now

P4 2.0 ghz, Nuendo 2 build35, ProFools 6.4, Delta 44 (sold), Digi 001, 512mb, 20gb o.s., 80gb Audio, 80gb Ex. Storage, WinXp Pro, Radeon Triple Vga Setup. <<<<<<< this is my current setup. new additions r mackie control, the lcd's, the hr824, ntk, a dps2<<<< modded, and the samson control matrix. I've come to realize that i get some darn good mixes from nuendo and say the hell with all that stuff. good news is i've had a home purchased by my uncle<<< how sweet for my studio. its one of those fixer uppers but it'll be beatiful in by 3 months. i'll post pics real soon.