What I will get with my $300

K

kikling

New member
Let me explain my situation, Im a 14 year old kid who records with cool edit pro on a 550 mhz 128 mg, 10 gig computer. i got myself a little behringer 802a and a sm57, drumset, fender strat, tiny frontman amp and $300 to blow on musical equipment. Where you guys come in is helping me on what to spend it on. I'll tell you what im deciding over

1.Delta 44 or 66- delta 66 $300 44-$250 (Bayview.com)
2.Event 20/20s- $300 zzounds.com (hey, are they powered monitors? Also what do u guys think about the Fostex PS3 Powered Monitors, only $200 a steal or do they suck?)
3. A rode nt3 or nt1 plus a sm57 or 58 (total of $300 or roughly $270)
Now let me analyize the pros and cons of each.
This is the pros and cons of me gettting the delta 66 or 44,
pros: Multiple inputs, strong signaled, better than regular soundcard.
cons: I got a behringer 802a with stereo outs, so multiple inputs wouldnt be needed for me (unless the deltas got preamps, which i think they dont), and i got no seperate preamps

EVENT 20/20s
pro: clear sound, better than my cheap computer speakers
cons: dont know if there powered (hopefully they do because i got no other place to power them)
THE MICS
pros: Mics are important. the sure sm57 will be a good all around mic and the rode wil give me clear and deep sound.
cons:the condensor might not be that special sounding going through my cheap mixer preamps.

Thanks alot. Please answer with any advice you have.

-JACK

[Edited by kikling on 11-29-2000 at 20:34]
 
Hi Jack,

Have you see the special number of "Electronic Musician" - "Personal Studio 2001 Buyer's Guide"?

I bought it, and, I found a lot of good information for me.

Also, by the same magazine, the publish in last september à special "build a mic cabinet on any budget"

No, I do not have any connection/commission with them! But the information I've got their was pretty cool.

Good luck

Pierre
Montreal, Canada
 
what about:

- nano compressor
- zoom rfx300 (mic simulator!)
- nady 30 band eq

all above is $99! each.

or
behringer procomp (with gate) and a fx procesor like the zoom rfx1000 (because it has mic simulation; dynamic to condensor, mmm its just another coloration of sound but its cool, also, it has a compressor, and you can get another thing...)
http://www.samsontech.com/zoom/multipedals.html
$150 each.

or
a REALLY nice set of headphones, lets say $100, an fx procesor for your guitar (what about the zoom 505II with the expression pedal??) and the nano compressor.
http://www.samsontech.com/zoom/multipedals.html

but, because the buy cheap buy twice,
or you get for what you pay...

first think exactly what you want to do, and if you only want to do a GREAT demo of your music and learn more about recording, buy all the "little brothers" instruments to know how they work.

also check out the guillemot ISIS soundcard...
I think it will work GREAT with your computer...
http://us.guillemot.com/products/index.php3

¡SALUDOS DESDE MéXICO! :D
 
You and I are in VERY similar situations. In fact I could probably ask your same question.

I guess I'll just tell you where I'm at and maybe it'll help you figure out what you want to do.

The last time I spent $300 I bought a POD 2.0. The POD, if you haven't heard, is a pretty killer direct recording box for guitar. It models 32 different amps and has some average effects. It's not the end of the road, but it's cheaper and easier than buying a bunch of nice amplifiers.

The time I spent 300 bucks prior to that, I actually bought 3 things (over a short period). I bought a bass guitar from a pawn shop for $100. Then I bought a SansAmp Bass Driver DI box for $100. Finally I bought an ART Tube microphone preamp for $100. I of course bought the first two items to get some bass into my mixes, and I bought the ART Tube MP for my microphone. However, it turns out that the combination of the Sansamp and the Tube MP is 100% better than just the Sansamp alone, so I use them both for getting a good bass sound.

Now that I've got "the basic setup", which is very very similar to yours...a PC, cheap soundcard, SM57, cheap mic pre... I've found that everything else costs at least 300 bucks. It's almost like 300 is the magic number in this game. Here's what I'm "saving" for now (in order of priority):

1) A good 24bit 8 input 8 output soundcard. I had hoped to get a Wave824 (~$300 if you shop or buy used) from GadgetLabs but they just recently went under. DAMNIT. I tell you what, after you start recording a little bit and you get over the whole, "wow, it doesn't sound that bad" thing, you're going to start hearing your cheap soundcard, and it'll drive you nuts. The sound that you hear when your monitoring your live signal will not be even close to the sound that you get on disk. A soundcard with good converters is really the key. I've been told by a couple people with good ears to avoid the Delta cards because they have sub par ADA converters. The gadgetlabs cards were highly recommended...but...bummer. I'm now thinking about something from Echo. I might have to settle for fewer inputs as I'd like to keep my budget at 300 bucks.

2) An Audio Technica AT4033. This seems like the god of cheap microphones. If you happen to read the dorky recording mags you'll be suprised at how often the 4033 is used professionally...even when its more expensive competitors are available. Several folks around here recommend it highly as well. In fact sonusman recently showed us all what it's capable of. You can pick up a new 4033 for right at $300, and it would be a very worthwhile investment.

3) Event 20/20 monitors. The current "right price" favorites it would seem. They can be had for $300 but are NOT amp'ed. The step up to biamped monitors will add another 200 to 400 bucks to that price. When I get some I'm going to run them from my little NAD integrated amp until I can afford #4.

4) This one is more expensive. Either a Hafler P1500 75W x 2 reference amplifier which can be had for $300 to $400 or a Hafler P3000 150W x 2 reference amplifier which can be had for $500 - $600. The P3000 seems like it would be a perfect match for most small reference monitors like the 2020's.

5) A dual channel ART Tube mic preamp or two...these can be had for $200 and are rackmountable (unlike the single channel which can be had for $99). I'm going to do all my mixing on the PC until I strike it rich and can afford a real mixer with real pres. Plus they won't be throw-aways when that time comes.

6) Random mics...a pair of drum overheads, a few more SM57's, whatever.

7) A Really Nice Compressor (RNC). Decent quality compressor that can be done for what, $200? I think 200.

That's my list. I don't think there's a single thing on it that would be considered temporary. In otherwords, it can all stay with me as I upgrade over the years...and I think that's really important.

Slackmaster 2000
 
You just need to build up gradually. If you wait prices come down too. I suggest buying some of the things you might need more now, and buying the stuff that could wait a little while later.
I started out with my shitty computer soundcard, the shitty computer speakers, and shitty mics (radio shack-esque).
I am only 15, but I've been working up my equipment for the past 2 years. All in all I've spent a little over $1300. My most recent purchase was a pair of Pro Audio 2012's for monitoring. They are passive but I power them with a high end JVC stereo amp 'til I get a reference amp. I picked up the pair for $250, and they generally sell for $1200 each. I also just bought the Guillemont ISIS card someone else on this thread recommended. That thing is great. Now I can do all my drum tracks on seperate channels. Every drum has its own channel. That Behringer Mixer you have, I believe I have the one right above it. I'm not totally sure, but mine has 4 mic pres.
I can max it out to a total of 5 seperate mono outs. If yours has the Alt 3-4 Bus you can do that too. Just pan one channel hard right, and one hard left. Send them to the main mix and use the main R-L outs as 2 seperate ones. Then send to other channels to the bus, one hard left and one hard right. Use the ALT outs R-L to get 2 more. Then just use the Pre-Post selectable AUX send selected to pre and send a channel to that with the slider all the way down. Use the send knob and the send knob on the channel to control it's volume. If you don't have the bus it'd cost you probably $100-$150 to upgrade to the one that does.

The condensor mic is a really good investment, and they sound OK through the Behringer preamps, but I'd highly suggest the ART tube mic pres. They are like $100 and sound WAY better. The NT-1 I've used, and it sounds great on vocals (the singer on this track used one -
), but I had trouble using it as a overhead on drums. I use the Nady one that they sell out of Musicians Friend in the clearance section for $150 for vocals, I think it sounds awesome.
I suggest getting the powered monitors, although passive ones powered with a stereo amp give MUCH better sound then computer speakers. The Event PS5's aren't too hard hitting at $500, but it's out of your $300 limit. They are biamped, and sound awesome though.
57's and 58's are always good to have around.
Also most of this stuff besides the mixer could move up with you as you got better equipment.
The Guillemont soundcard is kinda odd since it has 8 ins and 4 outs, but it works great. If you want to do your mixdowns through your mixer it isn't so great, but for recording it is good stuff.
Just keep building up your equipment slowly.
Jake
 
Hmmm....

Kikling, good luck in your quest, the pod would be excellent, as would a rodent1, or a new sound card, it just depends on what direction you wanna go.
whats the weak link? would it be better to 1st get a better sound card, then get the monitors? what sound card are you using now?.
An art preamp would likely benifit you,in combo with a rode etc.
I was also lookin at the delta 10/10, and the layla 24, now Slack sez that the delta cards have subpar ad/da converters, and i have also heard that they run very hot and have some component that is prone to frying.. craparama.
I also read this about LAYLA 24 [on the site?-pdf manual?] that there was some kind of compatibility issue with 3COM us robotics 56k modems? what the crap, I,m ready to get a decent soundcard, then this info comes to light, I guess it's better to know this stuff now than after the fact.
Anyone care to comment on either of these cards or the modem thing?.
any way good luck man
 
Hey thanks a lot guys. hey jrlemonz, where do u live man. im thinking me and u could get together and record. Your the only 15 year old guy i know whos in to this music recording. It be cool for us to get to together and start a teenage studio. cool.
everyone thanks. I think im going to start with an nt3, get a art tube preamp and then maybe go for some monitors (passive ones if i could power them, hey can i power them with my fender frontman and still use the amp for my guitar?)
And then maybe a zoom multi-fx pedal, or some sm57s, or maybe a sound card (that ISIS one, how $$? They dont have preamps on them do they? if they dont i could forget about it cause i would need a mixer with seperate outputs. damn. well from what i wrote it seems like im still lost, but im getting closer. Again thanks,
and dont stop replying
-jack

p.s hey jrlemonz, my emails kikling@mail.com
 
14? wow I don't have that kind of stuff and I'm over twice your age!! Maybe you should put it into an ivestment account young laddy!. That way it will help you get through college..;)
 
Im surprised to see how many young audio recorders are on here.

My recommendation to you, is to get the Delta 44-66. I own the Delta 44 which i spent $300 for. I see alot of low prices on alot of sound equipment. Since i am low on cash myself its good to find that kind of stuff, but, i would rather spend an extra $50 and get all the over the phone help i need from pros who will give you all the info you need. The company i am sticking to at the moment is Sweetwater. If i have any questions or need some help recording i can call up my personal sales engineer. He helps me with everything i need to know and will help me until im done. http://www.sweetwater.com

anyway. The Delta 44 sounds great, i have not had any complaints yet on it. Always remember this rule, your recordings will only be as good as your weakest equipment. If you happened to get your Rode NT1, they mic should sound fine until it gets through your soundcard. True some cheap sound cards sound pretty good, but your also faced with high self static, non-balanced lines, etc. I have done some decent recordings with a plain SM58. If you would like me to send you a MP3 i did with a SM58, let me know.

Still, all this depends on what you need or want to do. The only disadvantage with this setup, is you need some decent speakers besides your computers speakers to listen to the music.

I think i was in your shoes when i first started. I feel i made the right choice when i chose the Delta 44 first.

Let me know what you decide, and i hope i helped yah out.

Darnold
 
Hmmm...

I am also interested to know what I can do with a limited budget....
If I get the pod 2.0, does it act as a preamp for the guitar and microphone?

Pier.
 
Ok.. lemme list what I have.....

A Computer with
10Gig, 64MB ram, 433 Celeron processor, AWE64 sound card.
A semi-acoustic guitar.
A crummy pc microphone..

I like to record my song into the computer, and I guess I need a better mic than the pc one.... (it causes soft hissing in the background).
And I have absolutely no idea of what I am supposed to get next.... some have told me though, that I need some kind of pre-amp for a good mic(shure?).
Thanks.

Pier.
 
Hi KIKLING
Don't worry I was only kidding around!
Welcome aboard!And watchout for hixmix he likes to give people a hard time.Well me anyway!
I hope you get what you want for your 300 bucks.And don't be afraid to ask questions around here ,it is a well of knowledge!!:)I can't help ya with your choices coz I'm in OZ and things are priced very differently!
Cheers Peter:):)
 
I got an nt3 and a mic cable!!. Still need $40 some odd dollars to get the zoom rfx. Thanks for ur replys.
-jack
 
Sounds good. But may ask something? How are you gonna power the NT3??? (or does the NT3 take 9V Batteries??)
 
Sounds good. But may ask something? How are you gonna power the NT3??? (or does the NT3 take 9V Batteries??) [/B][/QUOTE]

It take battery!!also phantom
 
hey peter, i stuck the nt3 in my bass drum, sounded like shit. i tried changing the eqs on my mixer, didnt help. what to do?
 
I was miss informed!! try overhead. er sorry bout that.
Stick it in front of a cranked up guitar amp and let me know how it sounds:)
 
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