Outboard Gear?

[BurnBarfield]

I have run into a problem lately as I revamp my studio.. A lot of potential clients judge the quality of a studio by the big mixing boards, or tons of rack gear.. whether or not it is behringer quality or SSL.. And this led me to wonder if I could benefit from having any outboard gear.. I am currently running two Aardvark Q10s giving me a total of 16 simultaneous tracks in. I have great plugins and effects in my DAW such as the UAD-1, Waves SSL, and the Waves Rennaisance bundle.

Should I pickup any kind of outboard gear, or is it unneccessary to get it?

 

[Track Rat]

There's a lot to be said for "eye candy" for sure with the unwashed masses but the finale product of stuff you've done should be able to seal the deal, if you're good enough.

 

[foreverain4]

start investing in some nice preamps. these add some bling to your racks, not to mention your recordings too. dont waste money with stuff that you will not use. a rack full of nice pres is definately not money wasted...

 

[BurnBarfield]

I understand where you're coming from TrackRat, but I consider my tracks to be easily as good as what other studios offer.. But when it is the same quality either way, I lose some business because of all the pretty lights and all, ha.. though, at the same time, the units they are using probably pale in comparison to the abilitys of some of the plugins I use in the box. Most have very little that I would lust for as far as high grade compressors, preamps, etc...


I guess what would benefit me most, would just be adding an arsenal of mic pres and mics..

 

[tmix]

I used to worry about it more...
I think now I finally have enough clients that think well of my efforts and sound, and THEY are the ones that get others to come so they allready have been won over to a large extent.

I guess it helps now that my place looks more like a studio (rooms and wall treatments) than like a garage!

 

[jonnyc]

I have run into a problem lately as I revamp my studio.. A lot of potential clients judge the quality of a studio by the big mixing boards, or tons of rack gear.. whether or not it is behringer quality or SSL.. And this led me to wonder if I could benefit from having any outboard gear.. I am currently running two Aardvark Q10s giving me a total of 16 simultaneous tracks in. I have great plugins and effects in my DAW such as the UAD-1, Waves SSL, and the Waves Rennaisance bundle.

Should I pickup any kind of outboard gear, or is it unneccessary to get it?

I know exactly what you're saying. I once had some rappers come by to check my place out and the first thing they said was "this aint no studio, you aint got a mixing board". I tried to show them that my "mixer" was digital and actually on my computer screen but they weren't having any of that and left without spending a dime in my place. Also when lot of bands get over to my place I see that look on their face. That "this guy doesn' have any equipment" face, to which I usually smile, and reassure them that they'll be happy with the final product. I've actually considered getting one of those behringer mx9000 and hooking up some outputs to them just so people can watch the meters dance around. Eye candy is important to the kids, but sound is important to the serious musicians.

 

[Ironklad Audio]

find a bunch of broken rack-mount crap around at some pawn shops for like $5...then get a cheap-ass "power conditioner" to run it all into...not really for its ability to power anything, but it'll look rad taking up more space in the rack

 

[Fishmed]

I understand where you're coming from TrackRat, but I consider my tracks to be easily as good as what other studios offer.. But when it is the same quality either way, I lose some business because of all the pretty lights and all, ha.. though, at the same time, the units they are using probably pale in comparison to the abilitys of some of the plugins I use in the box. Most have very little that I would lust for as far as high grade compressors, preamps, etc...


I guess what would benefit me most, would just be adding an arsenal of mic pres and mics..

Yes, Mic Pre's is where you should focus your funds if you are going to buy rack gear for your setup. I agree with foreverain4, it would not be a waste of your money.

If you are working in your computer, you can get some fancy DAW controller that works with your software. That might fake them out long enough to show them your worth.

 

[surfmaster]

problem is that if you buy a dummy behringer board to throw in there, any of your clients that know anything about audio are going to think you're studio is a joke because you have a behri console.

so you basically have to choose between the gullible masses, or the intelligent few.

 

[jonnyc]

problem is that if you buy a dummy behringer board to throw in there, any of your clients that know anything about audio are going to think you're studio is a joke because you have a behri console.

so you basically have to choose between the gullible masses, or the intelligent few.

Nah, remove the blue casing and paint it black or something. Hell I don't know, don't listen to me I'm an idiot.

 

[omtayslick]

You need some of these:
http://www.mercenaryaudio.com/funlog3pipal.html

I have a small home set-up that I use to record myself, family and friends. So I don't seek out clients. Usually when I work with paying clients it's at someone else's place. But I once had a friend refer some of his overflow work to me, and I got some guy whose entire knowledge of the recording industry was he knew the words "Pro-Tools". Nothing I could say to him could convince him that a dececnt recording could be made without "Pro-Tools". I'd sure hate to deal with idiots like that on a daily basis.

BTW, this thread is basically an explanation of Brittney Spears' music career.

 

[Kryptik]

Bands who check gear lists are more likely going to be a pain in your ass to record anyway. If they see a ton of rack gear lying around the studio your going to get a lot of idiots who are going to expect you to fix every little mistake or make them actually sound good.

Use the lost "business" as a filter.

My $2.00

 

[Simman]

I understand where you're coming from TrackRat, but I consider my tracks to be easily as good as what other studios offer.. But when it is the same quality either way, I lose some business because of all the pretty lights and all, ha.. though, at the same time, the units they are using probably pale in comparison to the abilitys of some of the plugins I use in the box. Most have very little that I would lust for as far as high grade compressors, preamps, etc...


I guess what would benefit me most, would just be adding an arsenal of mic pres and mics..

Why bother wasting your money on all those high quality preamps and compressors that cost many thousands of dollars when they will only pale in comparison to everything you've already got

 

[mixmkr]

Personally, I think a pair of Kick Butt speakers or so...some HUGE LCD monitor screens...like 32" or larger for your DAW, and a VERY nice looking control room can do the trick. Not to mention a couple of Atlas SWB32 stands on casters with some high end mics on 'em.

If it looks like a computer (although well stocked) in an extra bedroom or basement, you'll give off that vibe.

Some nice surroundings can do more than some blinking lights.....like looking out over some Colorado mountains while you're sitting at the drum set....

But...if gotta have the "wow" factor... get some older Soundcraft board for a couple grand, as the pres will come in handy and it'll make a nice looking front end.

 

[Dani Pace]

I have to wonder... When will the world (would be recording artists anyway) realize that sound is more important than looks, in a recording studio anyway. Unless a band is also shooting a video of the recording process it shouldn't matter about the eye candy in the studio. Maybe these are the same people who think it takes three truckloads of amps to play a fifty seat club.

 

[Fishmed]

I have to wonder... When will the world (would be recording artists anyway) realize that sound is more important than looks, in a recording studio anyway. Unless a band is also shooting a video of the recording process it shouldn't matter about the eye candy in the studio. Maybe these are the same people who think it takes three truckloads of amps to play a fifty seat club.

When I remodeled my studio to include a drum booth, I immediately upped my rates. I increased them for the sake of the construction, but also for all the extra gear I had to get to record acoustic drums.

I think recording musicians need to take in account, in addition to the engineer's experience, the price of the gear to what they are paying to be recorded. If they are only being charged $15 to $25 per hour, they should not expect the studio to have all the nice high end gear even though they may get great sounding recording with the gear there. At the same time, just because there is high dollar gear in the studio does not guarantee them great sounding recordings.

 

[Mindset]

Because, the mood sets artists off. The atmosphere of the studio should fit the artist. Some artist might be sitting there look at a pail wall trying to write some lyrics, and he's great, but maybe there was things that looked cool in there, and he gets inspired and writes a masterpiece. They may never have that moment again, and a comfy room will help release that energy more frequently.

 

[Fishmed]

Because, the mood sets artists off. The atmosphere of the studio should fit the artist. Some artist might be sitting there look at a pail wall trying to write some lyrics, and he's great, but maybe there was things that looked cool in there, and he gets inspired and writes a masterpiece. They may never have that moment again, and a comfy room will help release that energy more frequently.

I sure hope that he wrote and practiced his song well before entering the studio, but I see your point if you relate it to performance. Since my studio is small it actually works great for "The Feel". It is not a huge overwhelming place, but more of a laid back intimate atmosphere.

 

[Mindset]

I sure hope that he wrote and practiced his song well before entering the studio, but I see your point if you relate it to performance. Since my studio is small it actually works great for "The Feel". It is not a huge overwhelming place, but more of a laid back intimate atmosphere.

Yesterday I was in the studio, and well I had a project for one of our albums to do that I was to be featured on, so anyways, I wrote the song in the morning, hour later hit the studio, and could not drop my lines for crap. I then turned off the lights, and turned on the "moon", and got in the groove and finally hit it right lol.

 

[mikeh]

I think several peope have hit on a key issue of client perception - eye candy involves more than hardware with lots of LED's and knobs.

The studio environment also sets the tone. Is there a decent vocal booth (vs. moving blankets). Is there Aurolex or other treatment on the walls - or old egg crates. Does the control room look like a studio - or is it a corner of a basement that the client has to walk past dirty laundry.

I think it would be relatively easy to sell a client on the fact that in todays world of technology you can have a studio in a computer with plenty of very good software processing, mixing capabilities, etc. If you present that information effectively, you should be able to convince any client to take the time to listen to a couple of mixes (at which point the music will speak for itself).

However, if the recording environment is not comfortable - all the software (or hardware) may not really make a difference.

If I pay mony to someone - I expect them to be a professional at whatever it is they do and I expect them to present themselves in at least a semi professional manner. If I have to cram into their bedroom and sit on their unmade bed -or walk past a pile of dirty laudry to get at the control room (well at that point I'm already having doubts) - now maybe the mix I hear will make me believe that they can get a good sound - but that does not mean I would feel comfortable spending time recording while sitting next to dirty laundry.

I have been in home studios that were filthy (cat crap in the "live room", the afore mentioned dirty landry, a "vocal booth" in a closet, standing in the middle of a pile of clothing, etc. etc. - not an environment that brings out the best in an artist

That all being said, I would not buy hardware unless I would use it (although I think the suggestion to use some decent mic pres may be a valid use of hardware).