Suggestions on newbie gear options?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Oysterman
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Oysterman

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Hi all! While I've been lurking around this forum for some time, this is my first post, so please be nice to the newbie. :)

I am about to assemble a home studio, my first. I already have a suitable DAW (PIII computer and a good recording sound card with multitrack software), but now it's time for all the other things to be bought. Although I have read a lot about a variety of gear here, I'm still not sure of what to get... it's a jungle out there. Any comments on my options are most welcome.

What I have considered (prices in my currency shown... FYI, SEK 1 kr = ca USD $.1):

Nearfields:
Tannoy Reveal passive (3200 kr / pair)
Tannoy Reveal active (7200 kr)
Yorkville YSM-1 passive (<3000 kr)
Yamaha MSP5 active (5000 kr)
Fostex NF-1A active (haven't found any quote yet... are they sold here at all? Hmm...)

I guess I would prefer active monitors, but they seem to cost more than a typical passive + amp setup. Everyone seem to like Tannoys and Yorkvilles, but what about the other?

Amps for eventual passive monitors:
Samson Servo 120 (more expensive than I want it to be (2500 kr) still seems to be the cheapest out of the non-crappy bunch? I know it's good to have the most power you can get, but I can't crank the amp anyway (darn neighbours), so would 120 watts do?)

Mic:
I want a good, multi-purpose mic, mainly for micing guitar cabs and some vocals (no up-front lead vocals though, I'm not good enough singer for that :)).. I thought Shure SM57? Or are there any cheaper and/or better alternatives? (IOW, have the hype made me blind?)

Mic-pre (looking for a pretty clean and transparent 2-channel amp, going to run bass direct through it as well):
Behringer Ultragain Pro (yeah right) MIC2200 (2300 kr)
Presonus Blue Tube (not very transparent at all? 2900 kr)
Line Audio Design DP-1 (made in Sweden, 3100 kr)

I was thinking about getting the Yorkville/Samson/Shure SM57/Behringer setup. Would that be good enough for anything? I want to spend as little money as possible for the best gear possible (who doesn't?), and I'd really like to keep it all under 10,000 kr ($1,000), including cables and mic stand. :)

Again, any comments are the most welcome!
 
Stay away from behringer..(my opinion, others may vary)... go mackie....

Joe
 
Actually. while people here seem to generally revile the Behringer mixers, I have heard many good things about theire compressors and other rack gear...

I have heard very nice things about the Presonus preamps.

The Shure SM-57 is an excellent choice for your stated needs.

I would really recommend the powered monitors over the amp + monitors approach. The Tannoys are supposed to be very good. There are also some models by Event in the $500-1000 range (American dollars, sorry I don't know the exchange rate). I have the Alesis M1 Actives and they are very good for my purposes, but then Alesis just filed for bankruptcy so...
 
A lot of people are talking about new active Yorkville YSM1 monitors. It might be worth checking them out.

I agree also. You can't go wrong with Shure SM-57.
 
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