Question about rack gear!

[sjaguar13]

I'm starting to get more and morem equipment to do some quality recording. I've been looking at pictures of studios to see what they have, and everyone one has a huge rack full of something. I got 3. Two drum modules and my sound card's interface box. What do they have? As far as I can figure out, every rack thing is either a pre amp, compression/limiter/gate, or reverb. I also see the POD Pro. Some studios have a lot. Do they have more than one of everything? I want to record local bands and do live sound. What kind of rack gear would I need?

 

[sjjohnston]

Hmm. Well, some things I have racked that you haven't listed are:

patchbays
synth modules
MIDI patchbay/router
cassette deck
standalone CD recorder
A/D converter
outboard EQs
tape deck synchronizer
power strip

Real, professional studios would definitely have more than one of the the things you've listed (preamps, compressors, reverbs), and a bunch of other non-rack stuff to boot. Mics come to mind.

What you need in order to do what you want is kind of an open-ended question. One way to absorb some information might be to do a quick web search for studios. Their websites typically list the equipment they have. You might try to find ones that are in your area (or an area that seems similar). Maybe you've already done that. The list is probably more informative than pictures, unless they're really big pictures and you've got a sharp eye.

 

[sjaguar13]

I've looked at pictures of studios and that's how I seen the wall of racks. Pictures were never big enough to see what they had, though. I looked a equipment lists, but they always list model numbers which never tell me what it does. I looked up a few of them and they turned out to be reverb or some kind of effect. Wouldn't the people I'm recording have the effects they want? I kind of want the POD Pro, but don't see why I would need a couple more effect processors. I am also thinking about a reverb, and a compressor/limiter/gate thing. Probably some preamps, too. I don't think I would have enough effects to need a patchbay. What does the A/D Converter do?