My home recording set up...what's next?

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thehymns

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I'm very new to home recording, but I want to make a career out of audio engineerings. I just graduatated high school and to save money, I'm taking core classes at a community college before heading to Belmont University next fall. Here is my equipment:

Digi002 Rack (Belmont uses Pro Tools, and while LE is very basic I wanted to get my feet wet with the program)
Sytek MPX-4Aii (Burr-Brown in channel 3 and 4...anything good enough for Steve Albini is good enough for me)
Event TR6 Monitors
Shure KSM32
Shure SM57
Rode NT5
Sennheiser MD421
SansAmp Bass Driver DI (I'm not much of a bass player, so I bought this instead of a bass amp...sounds pretty good)
Sony MDR-7506 Headphones
Steadman Pop Filter

I'll probably buy a bass drum mic (I need something verstal...suggestions?) or maybe another small condensor or two to put on a hi-hat for time to time (considering a pair of Oktava MK012 (Russian made model with removable caps) depending on how cheap I can get them or an AT4041). Maybe I should buy a compressor...but I can do all that in Pro Tools (probably doesn't sound as good). I just don't know.
 
thehymns said:
I'll probably buy a bass drum mic (I need something verstal...suggestions?)
Click to expand...

A versatile kick mic would be something like an SM7, Beyer M88 . . . or the MD421 you already have :) If you want a dedicated kick mic, that's the B52 or D112, so . . .

or maybe another small condensor or two to put on a hi-hat for time to time (considering a pair of Oktava MK012 (Russian made model with removable caps)
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I'd go for a pair of SDCs.
 
EV RE20 is another very versatile mic that is a classic on kick drum.
 
Do you think the Oktava's are a good choice, or should I go for the Studio Projects C4...or something else.

As for the EV RE20, what else can they be used for? All I hear about is how they are great for broadcasting mics. I know the band Wilco used a Shure SM7B for vocals on their lastest album, would the EV RE20 have a similar effect (kind of dull, very sad)?
 
i'd personally go with the Oktava's.

that's because you don't have any sdc's and you don't have a stereo pair. You could use those for overheads, acoustic guitar etc. And together with your sm57 and md421 that's all you need to make some nice drum recordings.
 
SureShotStudio said:
i'd personally go with the Oktava's.

that's because you don't have any sdc's and you don't have a stereo pair.
Click to expand...

The Rode NT5s are a matched pair small-diaphragm condensors :)
 
thehymns said:
As for the EV RE20, what else can they be used for? All I hear about is how they are great for broadcasting mics. I know the band Wilco used a Shure SM7B for vocals on their lastest album, would the EV RE20 have a similar effect (kind of dull, very sad)?
Click to expand...

I think they are somewhat similar mics, although I don't own an SM7. My impression is that the SM7 is probably slightly better on vocals (though it will vary with the voice), while the RE20 is probably better on kick. The RE20 is great for miking guitar & bass amps as well. Probably gooc on toms (though I haven't tried) and will even work for acoustic guitar (for a chunky sound) with a good preamp.
 
thehymns said:
Here is my equipment:

Digi002 Rack (Belmont uses Pro Tools, and while LE is very basic I wanted to get my feet wet with the program)
Click to expand...

ProTools LE is very powerful. While it does not support "all" plugins, if you can't find one to fit your needs, then you are in a league where money would not be an issue.
If the limit of 32 tracks "voices" , and 256 virtual tracks presents issues for you, again, you are in a league where money would not be an issue.
ALL THE OTHER THINGS THAT MAKE ProTools SO POWERFUL ARE THERE.
I have the Digi002 Rack, and I have not found any limitations with it. It is exptremely powerful.
I wished to have more channels, so I got a Dual Channel Aphex 207d Tube Mic Pre (about $400.00) with S/PDIF out, and then a Behringer ADA8000 ($229.00) 8 Channel Mic Pre with optical out.
Now, I have 18 Channels and can easily record our 7 peice band and the drums live in our studio, and have channels to spare.
It is all racked so I take it on the road and record our band, or I hire out to record other bands live at gigs around town, or in their space.

I could not be happier with it.
:)
 
Dr. Zin said:
I wished to have more channels, so I got a Dual Channel Aphex 207d Tube Mic Pre (about $400.00) with S/PDIF out, and then a Behringer ADA8000 ($229.00) 8 Channel Mic Pre with optical out.
Now, I have 18 Channels and can easily record our 7 peice band and the drums live in our studio, and have channels to spare.
It is all racked so I take it on the road and record our band, or I hire out to record other bands live at gigs around town, or in their space.

I could not be happier with it.
:)
Click to expand...

I originally bought an MBOX, but within a week returned it and bought the rack. The Sytek Unit allows me to have 8 channels, and the APHEX unit is very tempting because it supports SPDIF. However, where I am now 8 channels is more then enough (hell, I still only have 4 quality mic cables because that's all I need).
 
thehymns said:
I originally bought an MBOX, but within a week returned it and bought the rack. The Sytek Unit allows me to have 8 channels, and the APHEX unit is very tempting because it supports SPDIF. However, where I am now 8 channels is more then enough (hell, I still only have 4 quality mic cables because that's all I need).
Click to expand...

Yes, I had an MBox too, and found the two channels limiting when recording our band live, since while I was playing I could not also monitor the mix.
The Aphex is very nice.

Oh, and the SansAmp Bass DI is awesome.
I play bass and it is the best DI I have found.
 
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