stuff to improve mixes $1000 budget

[doulos24]

ok guys I need to spend 1,000 dollars at like zzsounds or americanmusical to polish off my itb mixing setup. What I currently have for mixing is waves plugins not the fancy ones the ones i PAID for native pack. A digi 001 a tascam dm24 a behringer dual tube eq a presonus compressor. A seperate daw laptop with reaper and acid 4.0 and a crap load of loops and samples and vti's.

I was thinking of the uad laptop card for 499 or a liquid mix a simple 2 channel interface and the rest for a good reverb any ideas? the room is being taken care of this is simply for gear and my monitors are mackie hr 624s and I have sennhiser hd600s for monitoring the low end should i just get both the uad card and liquid mix and call it a day?

if i stick with reaper i have cakewalk direct x plugins some old sonic foundry plugins a lot more eqs compressors and the cakewalk room reverb plugin if i loose pro tools i just lose dverb and the basic plugins with ptle

 

[mamm7215]

Well you've pretty much got it licked for a great mid-end studio with the DM24 alone! That and the Waves Native and Reaper I don't really know what else is keeping you back from making as good a recording as you're able. The only thing I can think of is you didn't list your mics. $1000.00 gets a pretty good mic these days...

 

[doulos24]

thats cause I"m wanting to just mix tracks i have some ok mics but right now im wanting to improve my mixing and get some warmth in the mixes

 

[Gherkin]

Whooops... Didn't read the first post properly.

 

[Toker41]

Maybe some classes?

It doesn't sound like you really "need" anymore equipment. More like you simply want more to the point of not even knowing what you want.

It's not about what you have. It's about what you can do with it.


BTW....the "classes" thing wasn't a shot. A few sound engineering classes is good advice for anyone. Even the best can always learn something new.

 

[d.bop]

I agree with Toker41. More/better gear doesn't get you a good mix. Using your ears and learning the tools that you already have will do much more! The only thing better gear will most likely get you is a cleaner signal path and maybe a couple of new features.

I say get a book, check out some classes, or even just sit in on a studio session with a local engineer.

Practice makes perfect

 

[doulos24]

classes right I don't even know what I want? I know exactly what I want and exactly what I'm missing. I don't know the best gear for my budget to get me there. I'm using ptle and surgical eqs. I have 1 decent reverb and like 2 compressor plugins. the dm24 has a decent eq and compresor per channel and a decent reverb so make that 2 decent reverbs. what I want is warmth in the mix and character. I don't want everything to sound like a steril itb pro tools mix. I've used a few good things that will do what I'm looking for even the focusrite plugins for protools had a semi warm eq and compressor d2 or something. Waves basic stuff does not and i can only run a few reverbs on a track and the whole thing crashes, so im looking for hardware dsp. So yes I have a good idea what I'm lacking. Eq's and compressors that add warmth character to a mix and alternative 2 buss compreson to the l1 maximizer for getting the overal level up to a decent volume

 

[mixmkr]

Without a doubt, spend the $1000 and treat your listening room. You don't need more equipment, you need to hear what you're mixing, which will translate MUCH better in other places.

 

[doulos24]

sighs I have recenty added 240 dollars in fiberglass to my studio thats 6 rolls floor to celing that asorbs down to 100hz. I'm re learning my monitors and my room. I'm starting to notice the mixes sounding diffrent not better yet just diffrent cause I'm hearing more low end and much more mid range, so this is not about acoustics that's a work in progress just gear. I'm wanting to mix for other people so here is a short list of things I know I need that no one has mentioned. drum replacer cause I won't be able to retrack for someone else not an option. Vocal tuning cause some people are bound to be pitchy and some kind of tape emulation or console 2 bus compressor plugin now suggest from there thanks

 

[mixmkr]

Understand about re-learning your monitors.

You might think about upgrading your recording software program from Reaper.
Personally I like SonarPE and it has V-vocal for your pitch problems, some linear phase plugs (EQ and multiband and more...not to mention their "vintage channel") for your two buss outs for "mastering" and I think the Sonitus plugs (which are better than the normal Cake plugs) along with some good IR and the convolution reverb included in Sonar (perfect space) gets you pretty close to "all" you might need.

For your drums, there's stuff like Drumagog, etc.

 

[NinthHour]

Room treatment or, if ya want something shiny i would look into getting a summing amp, dangerous music has one for around 1300 or there is a nice one from sm pro audio that would get you there, gives you a more robust mix on the treatment side go homebrew and get some knauf board from ebay around 10 bucks per 4 inch thick sheet i just placed my order and i'm stoked!

 

[doulos24]

gives you a more robust mix

passive summing is pretty much pointless unless you have enough outboard gear that can make the tracks sound better

 

[mamm7215]

Well for ITB mixing, maybe something like PSP Vintage Warmer plugin? How about the Waves SSL4000 set? Those VW and SSL4000 get you pretty close to analog goo in the digital realm...

 

[doulos24]

the psp vintage warmer and waves ssl pack are posibilites I just now got my laptop back up after a nasty crash but i may download a demo and see how things go thanks for that advice

 

[shortedaman]

you want warmth, go analog.

here is what i do to get that analog warmth from my digital setup. i have a boss br1200-cd i use it to its fullest. after the tracks are laid down, i mix it till im satisfied everything is sitting in the right place. after that, i run the line outs into two analog eq's and two analog cassette decks. i use Maxell Professional Industrial C90 tapes. i play the recording back through the first eq ( set flat,) and into the first recording tape deck. then i take the recording on that first cassette (of the already mixed song,) and run the line outs of the first tape deck to the second. record again. now i have two tapes of the song. were now seeing alot of analog warmth. then i run the line outs of the second deck through the second eq ( adjust eq too taste,) and back into the line inputs of my boss br1200. that's it. really simple and adds a whole lot of that old school analog warmth and vibe. then after all is said and done i can master in my br1200 or ill export to protools for mastering, and use my choice of mastering plug-ins. im a knobs and buttons kind of guy. as the others have said ITS NOT WHAT YOU HAVE BUT WHAT YOU DO WITH WHAT YOU HAVE.

the eq's are 1. 1980's marantz 7 band stereo eq
2. early 90's Mitsubishi 7 band stereo eq

the tape decks are 1. a 1980's marantz dual tape deck
2. a 90's Mitsubishi dual tape deck


also, please let me know what you all think of this type of setup. it has done wonders for me.


go to tapeop.com for a free subscription to one of the best recording magazines on the planet. i live on that mag and it doesnt cost me anything. great for budget conscious producers.

 

[The549]

sighs I have recenty added 240 dollars in fiberglass to my studio thats 6 rolls floor to celing that asorbs down to 100hz. I'm re learning my monitors and my room. I'm starting to notice the mixes sounding diffrent not better yet just diffrent cause I'm hearing more low end and much more mid range, so this is not about acoustics that's a work in progress just gear. I'm wanting to mix for other people so here is a short list of things I know I need that no one has mentioned. drum replacer cause I won't be able to retrack for someone else not an option. Vocal tuning cause some people are bound to be pitchy and some kind of tape emulation or console 2 bus compressor plugin now suggest from there thanks

Have you tried the free reaper vocal tuner? Easy and very effective...recently used it sparingly to really fix a bad chorus of people.

 

[d.bop]

gsnap is an amazing (free) real-time pitch corrector. You can tune it to be pretty much undetectable, or you can push it hard for the electronic style vocals.

Honestly, it's comparable to the commercial ones out there (minus the manual editing)

You might think about upgrading your recording software program from Reaper.

I used SONAR PE v6, 7, and 8 before switching to REAPER and it is in no way a step down. All of the editing tools are there, they're mostly just named differently (which is true for all DAW software.)

Anyway, here are some AWESOME plugins that could help.

http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/

epicverb is simply amazing.

Otherwise for stereo compression, I use GComp. Actually, all of the GVST plugins are great.

Tape emulation: Ferox from Jeroen Breebaart

Drum replacer: MDA makes a great one called "BeatBox" (although you can't change the samples)

Though on the reaper forums, there is a plugin called ReaDrum that someone made.

Hope that helps some. I know these are "free" plugins, but they're all quality made. I use them on my clients' mixes all the time and no one can tell the difference (ok, maybe some of the top engineers could if they really listened closely..)

All in all, if it sounds good, it is good.

 

[Crash80]

One of the biggest eye openers I did was build some bass traps. I have 11 of them in my place and I think I spent around 1k. Makes the room look good too. Here is a pic of some right after I built them.

I bought the frames http://www.readyacoustics.com/index.php?go=products.chameleon-acoustic-frame and sourced everything else locally. It really tightens up a mix space. While it is not as sexy as a new preamp or high end mic, it really is a great investment in your acoustic space that pays back everytime you listen critically in your studio.

 

[mamm7215]

One of the biggest eye openers I did was build some bass traps. I have 11 of them in my place and I think I spent around 1k. Makes the room look good too. Here is a pic of some right after I built them.

I bought the frames http://www.readyacoustics.com/index.php?go=products.chameleon-acoustic-frame and sourced everything else locally. It really tightens up a mix space. While it is not as sexy as a new preamp or high end mic, it really is a great investment in your acoustic space that pays back everytime you listen critically in your studio.

+1 for room treatment as well! You can't mix what you can't hear...

 

[doulos24]

I know 11 of those sounds like alot but I have traps from floor to celing in the 4 corners and working on my side reflections this week room treatment is a must without a doubt