Ok, here's the gear I plan to buy...

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nicolaad30

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I'm planning on purchasing all of these rack units in adition to the mixer and multitrack PC interface.

The main reason I rather these units than others is its price and also 'couse I've tried some of them in a studio close to my city, but I'd Like to hear some opinions from the experts before spending all these bills...

*Behringer MX3282A Eurodesk

*Carvin XP4

*Alesis 3630 Dual-Channel Compressor/Limiter with Gate

*Behringer Powerplay PRO-8 HA-8000 Headphone Amp

*Nady GEQ231 Dual 31 Band Graphic Equalizer

*Furman Performance Series RP-8 Power Conditioner

*BBE 482i Sonic Maximizer

*Digi 001, or C-Port 2000

*M-Audio Studiophile BX5 Powered Studio Monitors

Plus the PC, which would be a PIV 22GHz, 256 RAM, etc...



So, is all of it worth it or should I think about some of them??..
 
Instead of the Alesis 3630 get an RNP compressor, made by FMR. It's about the same price but much better quality. Skip the BBE, skip the Nady 31 band graphic.

I don't know what a Carvin XP4 is, so I won't comment on that.

You definitely need more than 256 megs of RAM for your computer. 750 megs to 1 gig would be best.
 
and what about the digi 001... is it woth it to get this unit or better de C-port for about 350$ less...


by the way the XP4 is a 4 channel effects unit made by carvin.


What EQ should I use...I rather a 31 1/3 oct. EQ... I will mainly use it for acoustic treatment...to flaten digitaly the control room...I know there is a Behringer processor that does this...but I cant get to find it...
 
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I'm not familiar with the C-Port, but I use the Digi001. Pick one up used and you won't regret it.
 
It sounds like you are setting up an entire recording studio from scratch and you are looking for a mixing board, rack units, a computer interface, and a computer. It also appears that you have a fairly tight budget. My first, thought was whether or not you really need the mixer. If you are planning to record multiple mics at once, an interface with multiple inputs might do the trick for less. If you just need a mixer to organize your rack equipment, would a patchbay accomplish the job? And could you get a nicer preamp than those found in the Behringer board by purchasing a stand-alone preamp? (The other issue, of course, is Behringer. A lot of people hate Behringer! I've never used any of their equipment; I only know that its everywhere, its cheap and it elicits strong opinions.) Finally, it looks like you will be recording to the computer and I assume that your softare (Cubase, Cakewalk, ProTools LE, Logic, etc.) will have an adequate software-based mixer.

Other thoughts: (1) Buy as much RAM and disk space as you can afford. (2) Work on getting the front end right and "sonic maximize" later if you really feel the need! (3) Look at some parametric EQ's rather than the Nady 31-band Grapic EQ. (4) Check out the FMR RNP and RNC (FMR audio, Really Nice Preamp, Really Nice Compressor). (4) Save your Carvin for Thanksgiving; (5) Don't try to buy everything at once; think long-term and try buying the best you can afford. (6) Buy your monitors after you have setup your room and figured out solutions to any potential accoustic issues. Track with headphones to start (I like the Sony MDR-7506) and concentrate on mixing when your room is properly configured.
 
the mixer would do more harm than good. i would look and the RNP and other standalone pre's instead of using the behinger's. the pre's on behinger's gear is about the worst you can get, and you can mix in your software.

i would also have to second BradD: get the 001. you get protools le with the unit, and that alone is worth the price. PTLE is a great program and you wont regret it.

good luck
 
Just a comment . . .

I'm seeing names like Carvin, Alesis, Behringer, and Nady . . .

and I'm thinking "crap, crap, crap, and yet even more crap."

Come to think of it, I can't imagine a system with any more crap in it . . . unless you were to throw a Soundblaster card in to the fold (thank god not).


Don't get me wrong, here. This isn't about gear-snobbery. There's plenty out there for right around the same price range that would serve you much better. How about Symetrix? That's a good name. Rane is yet another. Used Symetrix and Rane gear, in particular, is probably going to be 100 X more reliable than anything with a Behringer logo on it.

Then there's FMR. Very inexpensive, but unbelievable quality for the price. Here's another one for ya: M-Audio. Except for their monitors. :D On an absolute ground-level poverty budget, I'd be looking at Haflers. If you can squeeze just a little more out, then definitely the Yorkvilles are a no-brainer.

And Soundcraft mixers . . . definitely check some of those out. Some very inexpensive models out there . . . and like someone already said, if it's too rich for your blood, then go mixer-less. And ditch that sonic maximizer idea. Yeeeesh.
 
Thanks guys, I really apreciate your opinions.

Actually, there are just two studios in the city I live; the University's one, and the one I worked at.

In the one I worked at, I found some of the things I mentioned to work very good, well, actually I just tryed teh alesis comp/gt/lim. and digi 001, but I know how all of the gear there were coupled together trough the mixer. If I own a digi 001, I would need at least 4 busses and 4 auxiliars, so that I can get the most of it.

I thought about the Eurodesk E*32... 'couse it's got 8 busses plus several aux outputs... What can I do with a Digi 001 if I dont have a mixer to set levels, EQ, Effects, among others...??

I havent seen a nice rack effects unit...I'm wide open to hear opinions and recomendations on this too...

Well, yeah...I wont buy everything at once...step by step...I've thought the mixing surface is first ....
 
do some more research

"at can I do with a Digi 001 if I dont have a mixer to set levels, EQ, Effects, among others...??"

You can do all of this "inside the box" with whatever software you choose. You really don't need the rack effects either if your going to be using a DAW, there are plenty of plugins to be had. That would save you some cash since your on a tight budget as well.
 
I forget how many preamps are in the Digi001.....2 maybe?

I would skip ALL the stuff you mentioned and get a good computer with all the ram and hardrive space, and then get a mackie mixer or something like that. Then you have good pres and the mixer too. Monitor with headphone for awhile until you can get good monitors (I am just assuming they are on par with the b and n words that covery everyting else)

Compression can be handled with FREE plugins for the time being. Along with all the other crap too.
 
Behringer DDX3216
with a
Behringer ADT1616 installed,

that would interface to the DAW via a

RME Hammerfall Multiface w/PCI card bundle

using a

Kurzweil Mangler for effects

and a

Toft Audio Designs ATC-2 for dual channel microphone preamp/compressor/EQ

For monitoring use Yorkville YSM1P studio monitors

and for headphone a Furman HDS6 headphone distribution system with as many
Furman HR-6 personal headphone mixers as you need.

For power integrity use a
APC SmartUPS 1000VA 670watts 2U rackmount UPS

You DAW, if possible, should be a 800mhz P4 3ghz processor with 512MB of RAM, and two 80GB 7,200rpm 8mb cache HDD running WinXP Pro.

Just my $.02 worth.
 
OK there is a missing point...what will I do with the channels on the Digi 001 that do not have pre-amps.???. I mean, If I'm spending 800 $ just for using 2 channels, I rather not spending money at all and use the motherboard sound card...

That's why I'm talking about a mixer with 8 busses...for using all the channels plus adding effects, and other processors...

For now, I sat and thought just about the Digi 001 (or the ST. audio C-port, which has not 8 but 10 channels for 450$) and a mixing board. A begining...the I may add the EQ, compressor, ettc.

For monitors I'll wait 'til I can afford the Yorkville YSM1P (though the M-Audio ones are pretty nice option...I guess) and the effects untill I find a unit that is worth it...

By the way thanks for the opinions...they have been really useful.
 
nicolaad30 said:
For monitors I'll wait 'til I can afford the Yorkville YSM1P (though the M-Audio ones are pretty nice option...
Click to expand...

The Yorkville's are selling for $430 a pair, the M-Audio BX5 are $299 a pair, and the M-Audio BX8 Studiophile are $479.00 a pair.

I think the Yorkvilles are very competitive.
 
nicolaad30 said:
I'm planning on purchasing all of these rack units in adition to the mixer and multitrack PC interface.

The main reason I rather these units than others is its price and also 'couse I've tried some of them in a studio close to my city, but I'd Like to hear some opinions from the experts before spending all these bills...

*Behringer MX3282A Eurodesk

*Carvin XP4

*Alesis 3630 Dual-Channel Compressor/Limiter with Gate

*Behringer Powerplay PRO-8 HA-8000 Headphone Amp

*Nady GEQ231 Dual 31 Band Graphic Equalizer

*Furman Performance Series RP-8 Power Conditioner

*BBE 482i Sonic Maximizer

*Digi 001, or C-Port 2000

*M-Audio Studiophile BX5 Powered Studio Monitors

Plus the PC, which would be a PIV 22GHz, 256 RAM, etc...



So, is all of it worth it or should I think about some of them??..
Click to expand...
Humm, it looks to me like your buying is biased on price rather than anything else... and your trying to buy the cheapest crap you can find?
 
Yes I'm basing my gear not only in price but also in functionality and cuality. If you lived where I live, then you'll see that even Behringer is insanely expensive...because of currency differences. That's why I ask you guys that have worked with that best gear out there...to have recomendations...

Now I know I should buy step by step.


Whatervr...

For those of you that have seen or tryed the ST - Audio C-port... what do you think about it... its got 10 in 10 out... 2 more than the Digi 001 for 350 $ less....

Also there is the Edirol DA2496 8x8 and the MAudio Audio Delta 1010 ; which seem to work fine as well...
 
the digi 001 is your best option. here's why...

you can maximize it to 18 inputs and outputs in the future via SPDIF and Adat Optical inputs and outputs (I/Os), you can bus and route auxes out of all of those I/Os to use outboard equipment when you buy it. And with this expandibility you can buy top notch converters from Apogee, Swissonic, Benchmark, Lucid, Mytek and other notable companies and it will sound amazing. Also, if you choose to go this route and you expand, don't forget a clock for your system, the Lucid Genx96 is great for the money, and can sync to Word or SuperClock. Also Apogee makes the Big Ben and Rosendahl makes their Sync series.

And with the 001 you get the PT software which in my opinion is amazing for the price, 32 tracks of audio and 16 busses in the box, with unlimited MIDI... there are also 5 inserts per channel for dynamics, and 5 sends (A - E) which are bussable all over the place, giving you more flexability than most small consoles dream of for the price. And also the internal summing in PT along with other budget DAWs like Sonar and Cubase is getting better with every upgrade.

Don't buy an outboard mixer, you don't need it, spend money on stand alone preamps, you can get several different kinds giving you different characteristics in each. And trust everyone when they say buy the FMR stuff, it is rock solid for the price especially the RNC, I'll put it up against my entire rack anyday! I plan on buying at least a pair (probably more) when I open my studio in March.

The Yorkvilles are great for the money, I can't stand the M-Audio monitors, but that's just my opinion.

So I guess the point is, think expandable, which the 001 can give you. The C-Port doesn't have the ability to expand beyond the 10, plus a pair of SPDIF optical. Giving you only 12 channels in the end.

Watch out for Beringher gear, it gets you nowhere, and it gets you there FAST... I promise that you will be much happier waiting, saving and buying gear that is maybe 50% more money, but 400% better quality.

So yeah, that's all :)

Later,
musik
 
nicolaad30 said:
Yes I'm basing my gear not only in price but also in functionality and cuality. If you lived where I live, then you'll see that even Behringer is insanely expensive...because of currency differences. That's why I ask you guys that have worked with that best gear out there...to have recomendations...

Now I know I should buy step by step.


Whatervr...

For those of you that have seen or tryed the ST - Audio C-port... what do you think about it... its got 10 in 10 out... 2 more than the Digi 001 for 350 $ less....

Also there is the Edirol DA2496 8x8 and the MAudio Audio Delta 1010 ; which seem to work fine as well...
Click to expand...

Have you ever mixed or recorded before? You might want to scale down things a bit until you're sure that you even enjoy it. If you're going to do PC based recording, I would start with a good PC first and work your way out. Upgrade gear as you go along or when you can. Buying everything at once will make it difficult because you'll have to get used to so much new gear at the same time. I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't jump into something like this head first unless you've truly done some recording before and know what you really want.
 
Yes of course I have recorded before, as I said I worked at a studio in my city and I enjoyed it. I really like this thing about recording....

Perhaps, when I finish my mechanical engineering career, I'll start an Audio Engineering career also... but i wnat to start in my studio with something small...that's why I don't want to spend all tha money in the Digi 001.... maybe the edirol stuff or the ST audio thing may work as well...
 
2 big realizations:

You would have no problem going mixerless.

I use an Aardvark Q10 - which has 8 XLR preamps/inputs (simultaneous of course) that are much better than the pres you'll get out of a Behringer board...more on line with a Mackie board. (In my opinion, for a clean signal, as good as the SP VTB1). Plus you don't have as many steps in between your signal and your DAW - bad cables, more A/D conversions possibly, etc. And, if you ever got an amazing preamp to use instead of the built in ones - or if you got a GOOD mixer....you can of course do that, and you still have an 8 in 24/96 soundcard of high quality.

I actually own a Soundcraft Spirit M12 - but I rarely use it. It's cool because if I feel like being all retro and cool and mixing analog, I can send 8 tracks out to it, and then back into the card.

But the point is, for home/project studios...there are plenty of hardware/software options that make living without a mixer easy and in some ways beneficial.

The second realization, is that as you know 75% of the stuff you listed to buy is pretty crappy. Every one of those processors you run it through is going to degrade your signal more (and god forbid if you ran a stereo mix through some of it, jesus).

Don't doubt what your computer can do. This may be a little off base...but, it's true from my experience in working with gear like what you've mentioned (i've had a behringer something or other compressor...and limiter...etc).

The built in plugins in any program like Cool Edit or Cakewalk or esp. one of the higher end programs like Sonar - stuff like reverbs, compressors (though that does you no good for tracking) basic FX, are going to be better in the end than the behringer stuff.

I am usnig Sonar 3 for my stuff now, which is fantastic by the way, and not that expensive - you can do real time effects, where they are processed as you play th track - so you can play with al kinds of reverbs etc, and not have to apply anything to your original track until you are SURE.

Anyways...on a budget, forget the mixer, forget the loads of rack gear.

An Aardvark Q10, and RNC (though again, I don't find that compressor particularly useful for tracking)...or another system like that - that's a much better system than what you were building. Much cleaner and easier to work with too.

Roland has a new thing out that has 8 XLR ins etc. as well, but it has a control surface mix board of its own...I don't know much about it or the quality of it, check out Rolands site and you'll see it...it's around 800 bucks or so, same as the Aardvark.
 
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