Okay folks, the bottom line please.

  • Thread starter Thread starter TaxMan88
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TaxMan88

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Here's my plan for a humble but (hopefully) sufficient studio. I can't afford more, so if you have substitutions to offer, please make sure that they are in the same price range. I won't be able to do much in the way of changing the room around, so I'll just have to deal with that when I come to it. I don't have the luxury of being able to audition different equipment, so basically I have to rely on what I hear from all of you guys on here and spec sheets.

I'm just a songwriter who plays piano, with a couple friends who play guitar, so this is for me to lay down my songs in a presentable format. Hopefully I will be able to make some pretty good sounding recordings with this. I will include approximate prices just for reference. Please tell me what you think.

Roland VS-890 ($1500)
AT4033sm ($350)
Art Tube MP ($100)
Lexicon MPX-1 ($800)
Alesis QSR ($500) (I have a Roland digital piano to use as my master controller)
Alesis M1 Active monitors. (500)

Do you guys think this will make for a pretty good studio? Like I said, it's all I can afford. Just want to get a few opinions.

Thanks,
--Tax :D
 
Hey there Taxi. You know if you are going to be recording pretty much right there at home, I would steer you towards saving a few bucks and using your PC and not spending the $1500 on the Roland. For $500 you could have a jam up sound card and take it from there. A year and a half ago I bought a VS880... loved it mind you... but sold it because i could do more with my PC. VS unit, 2gigs. My PC,40. VS required a seperate CD burner. PC, its in there. Roland, a couple hundred effects. you get the picture. But the stand alone vs PC debate will always be a hot one in here. Thats just my two cents.
 
If you DON'T want to go with a computer, then I suggest you check out the Akai DPS-16. It features 16 seperate tracks of uncompressed recording and you can record at 24 bit/96kHz. It has great on-board effects, including a "pitch corrector" to help you out on vocals if you need it. You can pick one up for around $1,700 if you look around a bit.
Believe me when I tell you, you'll soon outgrow that 8-track machine and want 16 tracks anyway. It happens to all of us. ;)
Anyway, the Akai unit is a helluva lot easier to work with than the Roland unit and the manual is very understandable... unlike the confusing Roland manual.

You can check out the Akai DPS-16 right here...

http://www.akaipro.com

If you'd like to hear a recording from that unit, here is one that we did in our studio... (except for the vocals)
Check out the song "Doin' Nothin"

http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/102/smart_apple.html

The AT4033 is a decent choice for your mic.
The Tube MP is ok.
I'm not familiar enough with Lexicon or Alesis products to give you a fair opinion.

BTW, what type of music do you play?
 
My comfort zone

*ducks head and hides behind something to keep from getting hit by flying tomatoes and what not*

I wouldn't want to call it pop because it's not. In the seventies it was called Rock, but now because of bands like Limp Bizkit, etc., it's not called that anymore.

What I write/play is a lot like the early seventies Elton John and Billy Joel stuff. McCartney has been a major influence as well. So if you can mentally mush up all their styles together, you've got me and what I play. ;)

--Tax :D
 
Don't worry about catching flak, Taxman... I was born in '62 , so I know where you're coming from.
I'm serious about the 16 tracks vs. 8 track recorders, though. You'll kick yourself after about 2 months when you realize you need more tracks and hard-drive space than you had originally planned.
Computers are a better value when it comes to putting a nice little studio together, but they are more frustrating to work with and sometimes they crash. It all depends on what your priorities are.

Buck
 
Choices!Choices!Choices!Choices!Choices!Choices!
Ouch! My head hurts.

I have narrowed my choices down to:
Akai 12i
Lexicon MPX-1
Event 20/20bas monitors


I have:
Pod
10 guitars
Various amps
1-wife that sings like a birdy
Lots of dreams and ideas

I have not auditioned any of the above mentioned choices,just going by what I have read here.

Opinions, please
davem
 
hunh?

an art tube mp @ $100 and an mpx 1 @ $800 ???

I would suggest that you get an mpx 500 @ $400
and spend the extra 300 and get a much better preamp.

I PROMISE you that you will have a far better sound.

spend $400 on a joemeek vc6q or $499 on a mindprint envoice, and your recordings will sound so much better than with an art tube mp.

And you can do with a much cheaper reverb box than the mpx-1. the mpx500 recieved numerous awards and just received product of the year or something from a magazine.

other than that, I would not suggest you buy a vs-890 at $1500. As buck62 said, for a little more, you can get much more, and if you stay at the same price range you can still get better equip-even if it is used. I can't make any suggestions , and I would not exactly say to go the computer route(even though that is what I would personally do). FOr example, the new Alesis? ADAT is coming out with 24 tracks and 24 bit , 96khz capabilites and should have a street price of $2000. And it is a much more formidable machine than the vs-890.

THe AT4033 is a winner,
so is the Alesis qsr
and the m1s are ok at that price IF you cna't find a used pair of event 20/20 at the same price.


peace.
 
ADAT

Cyan,

The problem I have with computer recording is that I need some portability, so that's out. I don't wanna lug my comp around all over the place.

The problem with the ADAT is that I don't have a mixer. :( So I need a recorder with sliders and at least SOME EQ. I KNOW my recordings will not come out as good without a good mixer, but I am on a VERY limited budget and if I have to decide b/w great recorder AND a mixer or a good recorder WITH a mixer, I have to go with the good one because it'll undoubtedly be cheaper.

Thanks for the tip about the pres and the verb box, though. What kind of other stuff does the 500 have on it? I'll need some different (special) effects every now and then. That's why I was looking at the MPX-1.

--Taxola :D
 
hi taxman,

the mpx 500 is like the little brother to the mpx-1. it has all(i believe ) the effects that the mpx-1 has and also has spdif i/o. It is a multi-effects box.

It is a 24 bit machine while the mpx-1 is 2o bit. But they both sound great and will do the job.

I see what you mean about integrated mixer recorder. right now, either 8thstreet.com or marsmusic.com has a demo vs1680 that you can snag for $1400.
 
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