What do I need to start recording?

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fldrummer

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I've been wanting to setup a studio in the near future and I'm not sure what to get. I think I'll have a budget of maybe $10,000 but that could go up or down. I was looking at the Mackie 32x8 mixer but I'm not sure. I want to be able to record around 24-32 tracks. I'm starting from sctratch so any info on what I'll need to create a studio well be loads of help. Is Pro Tools the way to go? Tell me what I should get!!! hard drives..pre amps...mixer..computer?
 
um?

10k? how much of the studio are you planning on building? isnt the mackie 7 or 8k? but just for kicks Tascam DM24 24-Channel Digital Mixer $2100 or less, Aark 10 I/0 $799 (hell get 2 of them), 3.2 ghz Pentium 4 $490, not sure about motherboards but get one with 6 pci slots and a 450w power supply, put as many fans in pc case as it can hold, 2 120 gb hard drives, try to find a 21in monitor and a big ass desk to hold it all and theres some more stuff but about that point i would become light headed and pass out
 
I would build a decent acoustic space with proper sound isolation and sound absorption that is large enough to serve your tracking and monitoring needs.
Star at the bottom addressing these fundamental issues before you start laying out money for equipment.
 
I think nice recordings are partially a function of a quality recording space. You can spend 10k on great equipment (and the folks at Digidesign/ProTools will help you spend it) but without proper acoustics it's going to be difficult to track and mix your music. Just a vote for fundamentals that's all!
 
room treatments
Tascam SX-1
Monitors
Budget Mics
Cable/Wires
Lava Lamp


And Call it a day,,,,, You may even have a few bucks left over.


Malcolm
 
What are your goals for this studio? To do you own music or others? Electonica, rock, rap, country?
 
Ok...Myabe I need to refrase that a little bit.
What do I need and whats a ball park cost for a home studio. I'm talking about just the gear. I will do the room treatments also too. I think it will be used for mostly rock funk fusion country. I will prob use for me and recording others because in my area theirs really no studios around here(the only one remotly close has just a 8ch digital yamaha recorder).
 
Ballpark costs

Here is the World Series (go Marlins!) of ballpark estimates for a home recording setup. It's not the best equipment but it's OK. The list reflects roughly what I've spent over the past several years putting together my studio. There are some things that are not completely essential and certainly some things that would not be included if I had the chance to do it again! The list is fairly complete, although I did not include cables which could easily run another $250-500 depending on quality. Also note that the list has a small computer included for mixdown/mastering purposes.

Recording/Monitoring
Fostex VF16 (16 Track Recorder) $799
Sony MDR 7506 Headphones $99
Event PS6 Monitors $529
ART 31-Band EQ $219

Sub Total=1,646

Computer/Mixdown/Mastering
I-Mac 800mhz G4 $1,299
Cubase VST 5.0 $249
Steinberg Mastering Edition Plugin $299
T-Racks Mastering Softare $269
Motu 828 Firewire Interface $699

Sub Total=$2,815

Rack Gear
Aphex 207 2 Channel Preamp $499
DBX 1066 Compressor $399
DBX Patchbay $119
TC Electronic M300 Reverb $249
Focusrite Trackmaster $349
Aphex 109 $299
Line 6 POD $399
Furman PL8 Power Conditioner (2) $238

Sub Total=$2,551

Mics
Shure KSM 27 $299
Shure Sm57 Mic $89
Shure Sm58 $109
Shure SM81 $329
AT 4050 $479

Sub Total $1,305

Furniture
Quiklok Monitor Stand (2) $119
QuikLok Modular Rack (2)$200
Desk $199
Chair $69

Sub Total=$587
Grand Total=$8904
 
I'd pass on the 800mhz Mac G4 for $1300.... :D

couldn't resist
 
Why? Not a Mac fan? Looking for a computer with more noise? It's not your parent's I-mac! They look cool and with an extra Ram chip or two they do a decent job of processing audio. Now, it would not be my first choice to use in some type of all computer recording setup. Here, I would shoot for a new G5, especially if I had $2,500-$3,000. On the other hand, it's good for working with two-channel recordings, making modest mastering-type improvements in programs like cubase, and burning CD's with the internal cd burner. I do admit that it could use more hard drive space. Anyway, if you need a Mac (and some do) and your on a budget its a reasonable choice.
 
In no one was I trying to insult your recommendation for him to get a G4. :) I have nothing but respect for the time you took to type out that list of gear and pricing.

I have used both Mac and PC for years (only hand built PC's) and it has just been from my experience that I've found you can get a better bang for the buck with a properly spec'd PC. Building a PC is incredibly easy and for under $1000, he could build one that would literally destroy an $800 mhz G4. And are you serious about you're comment about noise?!? I'm not sure running a vaccuum cleaner while tracking would be any noisier than a G4! :D:D

A quick solid PC recommendation:
Asus A7N8X deluxe (NForce 2 chipset)
Athlon Barton core 2500+
1 Gig of RAM
120 gig Western Digital HD
Win XP

He could base his entire recording setup around this... and I would suggest Sonar 3 for recording. Incredible bang for the buck.

But IMHO, I think it would be foolish for anyone to spend $10,000 on a studio that hasn't been completely thought out. I not sure fldrummer has an understanding of the learning curve he's up against. I would suggest he buys a computer first and some audio software with a decent multiple channel audiocard (if that's what he wants) and learn from there. Everything (as far as what additional gear he needs) will slowly fall into place from there.

Generally, I will research any ONE piece of gear for a few weeks before I will purchase it, so to me... spending $10,000 at once seems foolish. I'm almost willing to guarantee you will regret half you're purchases.

At any rate...
I wish you all the luck.
take care
ls
 
I think you are probably correct in saying that the PC route is less expensive in terms of initial costs. If I were a true card-carrying Mac lover, however, I might argue in favor of Apple on the basis of reliability issues, etc. But I'm not going start that debate here or anywhere! My inclusion of the Mac in the above list is not a recommendation; it's simply a report of what I use. In fact, FlDrummer might not even need a computer in his studio. The marketplace seems to be going that direction and ProTools seems logical. However, there are plenty of options using a traditional mixer and stand-alone hard drive recorder. A stand-alone system would certainly make purchasing decisions easier, since there would be no Mac-PC issue, no need for an interface, and no need to slog through the current glut of sequencer software options and plugins.
 
Right now for my everyday computer I'm using a P4 2.66GHz 480mb of ram Sony

I have a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum EX Sound card which I have been playing around with in cool edit but for some reason it wont record at the moment. I've contacted Creative Labs and they didnt help.

I was thinking when I start the studio I'd get a G5. I've just always noticed when looking at studios or even people in graphic design their always running mac.

I don't think I would go buy everything out new though. I've been looking on eBay at some of this stuff. Is it bad buying used recording stuff?

I really want to go check out some studios and see how tey run everything. I don't feel like spending 10 grad and don't even how work work the stuff. I think I'm going to buy one thing at a time and work my way up.

Is Sonar 3 really alot better?

Thanks everybody!
 
fldrummer said:
I don't think I would go buy everything out new though. I've been looking on eBay at some of this stuff. Is it bad buying used recording stuff?
Click to expand...
Some people say yes but it depends on what your buying.
I bought a used Shure mic for 180. It cost over 300 new. Thats a mic I can use for the rest of my life. I also got an analog 2 track for 75 dollars... that cost several thousand dollars new.
A word of warning though; I found out that this recording thing is not easy. It takes along time to figure out what the hell your doing. Take head; you will be pelted with a few hundred problems. All in all its fun and it somehow makes life better.
good luck.
 
A word of advise fldrummer.... take you're (as you call it) everyday computer and use it for an audio rig!!! What you have is plenty to work with!! Buy a software application for your recording and a decent front end. (mic to preamp to soundcard and anything in between). I really think you'd be crazy not to use your current PC, especially since you've stated that you don't even know how to record yet. You might find that you don't even need an upgrade for quite a while using your current system.
Also, if you're a windows user.... I wouldn't think it would be your best interest to switch to Mac as you're going to have a big enough learning curve to conquer as it is without introducing another one. (OS X)

I only suggested Sonar 3 because I've happily used Cakewalk products since proaudio 9. I also have alot of experience with Samplitude (another great app, just lacks some MIDI luster), Cubase, Nuendo, and Logic. I would say any app you buy today that's geared toward the professional market would be more than enough for you. I've just personally had very good experiences with Sonar and feel it might be the easiest to learn out of the box. But in all reality... you can't really go wrong today on the software side of things. Companies are really making some great product! (as much as we all bitch and complain :D)

But remember.... You gotta crawl before you walk!

good luck
ls
 
I was looking at the firewire thing and it's only 8 channels. Is their a way to record to my computer having 24 or more seperate channels? Would that Aark 10 I/0 work?
 
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