Just Getting Started- Home Rig- Help

[jordo]

hello all,

im looking to set up a small rig in my bedoom for demoing purposes mostly. i have very minimal knowledge of gear ,what to aquire for just starting out ect...basically im starting from the very begginning. i have some experience with cubase, and that is the program im looking for, just everything else that comes with setting up a little home rig is where im lost. haha.

besides a laptop computer which i plan to get asap , i basically have a px4 pandoras box (which i would use instead of a pod) , and a doctor ryhthm drum machine. i need to know everything else i would need, if im looking for a standard setup, and what are your recommendations for what u think is suitable for me, something easy as possible, haha.

 

[pipelineaudio]

Sounds like you got everything you need, maybe get an SM57 or SM58 whatever is cheaper and easier to find and some way to hear what you are doing

Don't get caught up in the marketing nonsense

 

[Treeline]

If you're going to do a lot of this, you'll fill up a laptop's drive pretty quickly as the data files tend to get big and multiply. A standard way to handle / manage data is to segregate one exterior drive to record the track and to keep all the software on the interior drive. Added benefits are that you don't encounter conflicts where the drive head is seeking in order to implement a software command and at the same time is recording to lay down a track. Two drives make each work much less intensively. Plus, most laptops have 5400 RPM drives - not really fast enough to do a great job of recording multiple tracks. Standard external drives run at 7200 RPM - a significant difference.

So - Keep the software in the computer and direct all data to be recorded on an external drive. You'll be happier in the long run. I like LaCie drives, but there are all kinds available. This one is $177.

LaCie Drives at newegg

You'll need a microphone - start with a Shure SM58 and a stand. $ 100 for the mic and about $20 for a stand or boom.

And you'll need an interface. Think about either a USB mixer (includes preamps) or something like this:

Emu 0404 USB $ 200.

Get a decent set of headphones (AKGs, about $50 will do fine) and a pair of studio monitors. You will hear the low end better with a larger pair. For starters you'll do fine with a set of Behringer Truth powered monitors. Go for the 8" woofers.

B2031A Truth Active 8" Monitors $340.

And steer clear of the laptop's sound circuitry entirely. There is nothing about it that will come close to delivering what you need. The Emu interface unit will let you run headphones out and allows for monitor out connections as well.

So far you're at about $ 900 plus the laptop. That's pretty much the price of admission, but the good news is you'll have good bang for the buck and the weak link in the chain will be lack of experience - which time will fix!

 

[jordo]

thanks for all the help. much appreciated.

treeline - regarding computers , im even more an idiot, haha. is the lacie drive an important neccesity? is it a seperate drive u use to save your finished product? once again, i apologize for my ignorance towards everything, i will learn the further i go.

 

[Treeline]

thanks for all the help. much appreciated.

treeline - regarding computers , im even more an idiot, haha. is the lacie drive an important neccesity? is it a seperate drive u use to save your finished product? once again, i apologize for my ignorance towards everything, i will learn the further i go.

No, it's not a necessity, but is a good idea.

You can manage with the computer's drive only, but two things will happen. First, the response will be slow. Second, the drive will fill up pretty quickly.

If you keep all your data on a second drive, it is easier to manage. And as external drives are pretty fast and pretty cheap, you will be able to handle larger files more easily.

 

[generalchaos316]

If you keep all your data on a second drive, it is easier to manage. And as external drives are pretty fast and pretty cheap, you will be able to handle larger files more easily.

Not to mention you can copy the files for the songs you are actively working on over to the laptop drive when you go to bed (or pass out at your desk)

That way, if either your external drive or laptop hard drive decides to take a dump in the middle of the night, you will "only" lose a day's worth of work at most. Quoting a recent article I read in EQ Mag that talked about digital data:

"If it doesn't exist in two places, it doesn't exist."