What Rack gear you suggest??????

  • Thread starter Thread starter xmortumx
  • Start date Start date
yaknski said:
Now tell me, you've never bought POS gear? I know I have. Like the those three UAD-1's in my rig (great plug-ins, crappy drivers/compatibility). BTW, they're working the best they ever have at the current moment, I'm not changing a thing.
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The correct analogy to use here in this thread, after seeing what the guy says he has would be this:

At the Indianapolis 500 Race a guy walks up and says " I own the best pit crew in the world, and I also have this 30 million dollar car, which requires a pretty serious license to even OWN...now, should I put water instead of nitromethane in my gas tank?"

I think I got suckered, as others have pointed out, so Im a bit miffed
 
xmortumx said:
-My budget is about 500 at the moment just need to get my feet of the ground and start recording bands$(for racks,mixers, or w/e i need only to improve my recordings.)
-Well i just need 8 sources and thanks to the firepod i have them just enough to record drums.
-Yea ima need mics i hav an SM57... but i need to get a drum mic kit i was thinking about a Nady mic drum set of 7 mics that i saw in musicianfriend for 200$( i know not the best mics but they have good reviews i dont have 350 for a shure mic set of only 4 mic)
-At the moment i have a Comp16 which im selling soon. I just started so that why im asking for help so i can invest in more useful equipment.
-Im using Nuendo 3 with Mostly all waves plug ins and a couple of more.

My PC specs are.
Windows xp
AMD 64x2
Ram: 2 gigs
two 200gb hard drives

-Right now im looking for good Active monitors around the 250$ (pair)


aren't the firepod preamps good??? if not are Art tupe good.. since im on a low budget.

Get back to me as soon as possible Thanks!
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xmortumx,

Alright, this could be fun suggesting how to spend your $500. You've got a good start with your PC rig, DAW, Plugins, Firepod and the SM 57 (so you've already got a snare mic, guitar cabinet mic). As you'll see (or soon will) you can spend a little money and buy crap or barely workable gear and spend a fortune as well. Soon you'll be plagued with Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) like many others. With recording gear, most of the time you get what you pay for. You constantly upgrade your studio (read -SPEND MORE $)

With a $500 budget you'll have to get by for now with the 8 pre's in your Firepod. As I see it from what you've explained the priority is you need at least 2 more mics and some near reference monitors. Initially, you'll be limited by how many sources you can track (record) simultaneously by how much gear you have. For now a bass player can use a direct input on your firepod. If the guitars use an amp/effects modeling unit then they can be directly inputted too. If they use an amp/cabinet they'll obviously need to be mic'd.

I'd like to see you spend twice your budget for just the reference monitors but that won't fit the budget.

For drums you can record them with just 2 mics, thoughtfully positioned. I'd suggest condensor mics for this application.

I'm proposing :

1)Two condensor mics (for drums, vocals, etc).
2)Active near reference monitors.

With this you can then simultaneously track drums (with 2 overheads) / bass by direct input and then 1 guitar cabinet with the SM57. Vocals, more guitars, other instruments would then be tracked on a second pass.

You won't have a headphone system for the musicians except one headphone output on the Firepod.

You could (and should) sell your compressor for some cash for a headphone distribution amp. I believe Pipeline is interested in your compressor. You can get a compressor later. You'll just have to use technique to get by without the compressor plus I'll bet you have some compressor plugins?

So group, what are your suggestions for 2 condensor mics and a pair of active near reference monitors for our budding recordist xmortumx with a budget of $500? I'll post some suggestions later. For now I need to visit some other forums and piss others off too!



Hope I'm making some friends here.
 
forget the BBE

the bbe sonic maximizer is a good unit but it is not worth it. i use one in my live rig to replace what all my rack units suck out but i find it useless in the studio. when recording you rarley ever hear what it does and is not worth it. remember you get what you pay for. it depends if you want to spend the money i would say go for 4 neve channles thoes will give you a greaet sound but it will cost you clost to 7000$us. outboard gear is not as important if you are using a computer because you get most of the effects from plug-ins so outboard effects are useless. a good mic and amp set up will do more than any efects can do for you. if you want that real warm sound use a shure sm57 off axis on the amp grill cloth and some large diaphram mic say a rode NT 1A a few feet away for some of the high end. this will give you a sound that no gear can replicate.
 
drum mics

for get drum mic kits go for two large diphrams for over head. and i use sm57's for the rest if you comp it all right it sounds great if not the samson 7 peice kit is ok
 
thanks for the help guys.... Well im seeing that more rack units is not necessary at the moment but i need mics and monitors as you pint pointed.

Okay well wouldn't i get good drum sounds out of the nady 7 mic kit since i can mic everything to my firepod 8 inputs?? Check it out

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Nady-DMK9095-7Piece-Drum-Package?sku=609026

417624.jpg


and ill use my sm 57 for snare.

Are Plug-ins compressor as effective as real rack compressors??
 
xmortumx,
You should be a sponge now and forever and learn all you can about what you want to do. Here's some articles that have been useful to me to point you in the right direction. Use Google and get yourself learned up!

http://www.studioreviews.com/miccab03.htm

http://johnvestman.com/secrets_of_miking.htm

http://books.google.com/books?id=Em...QCIl8&sig=Ogx3yeMjt6fakqgI1qVlcxTlvNo#PPP1,M1

http://futuremusicmag.com/images/eq1106.pdf

http://www.recordingeq.com/EQ/req1001/mmi.htm

http://www.karmaaudio.com/tips.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMqHqADnREY&feature=related

Forums to check out (be careful when you post or you'll get hammered!)

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/

http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/

http://links.prosoundweb.com/

http://mars.prosoundweb.com/

And finally a place that can help you (go into major debt):

http://www.vintageking.com/
 
xmortumx said:
thanks for the help guys.... Well im seeing that more rack units is not necessary at the moment but i need mics and monitors as you pint pointed.

Okay well wouldn't i get good drum sounds out of the nady 7 mic kit since i can mic everything to my firepod 8 inputs?? Check it out



and ill use my sm 57 for snare.

Are Plug-ins compressor as effective as real rack compressors??
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There's many ways to go, but I think you be better served for now on your budget to get 2 large condensor mics for drum overheads / vocals / mic cabinet / acoustic guitar than seven nady mics. But the decision is yours.

The compressor question is a tougher one and many may have varying opinions. A hardware compressor will effect your source before it goes into your PC. The software compressor obviously effects your source once it's in your PC (in the box). I have some compressor plugins that are awesome. On a $500 budget I think you'd be better served with getting a hard ware compressor later. Right now, you'd really only need a hardware compressor for a musician that can't control his/her instrument very well to control the dynamics to avoid clipping. Yes, compressors can change the sound too. Once you get it into your PC you can go nuts with the software compressor. If you must buy a compressor I'd again suggest the FMR RNC $175, I have 2 of them in the same rack as my expensive Universal Audio 1176LN (which is a pretty famous, well used compressor). http://www.fmraudio.com/RNC1773.HTM

Going back to Pipelines earlier post (which you should read again) you need to understand what a compressor does and why / when you would use one.

Drop the bong and start here little Metal Head :

http://www.tweakheadz.com/compressors.htm

http://recording.songstuff.com/articles.php?selected=128

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_level_compression
 
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yaknski said:
I'll bet you have some compressor plugins?
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I'll bet he does too... came with his free Nuendo and Waves package.

I've got nothing against ignorance... but I just hate stupidity
 
o i see. Well im leaning more for the nady mics cuz i want to have more flexibility as in kick sounds....

But thanks anyways i have a clearer idea on what i should get.
 
MOFO Pro said:
I'll bet he does too... came with his free Nuendo and Waves package.

I've got nothing against ignorance... but I just hate stupidity
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Mofo,
Maybe I'm being ignorant, but who are you saying is stupid?
 
xmortumx said:
o i see. Well im leaning more for the nady mics cuz i want to have more flexibility as in kick sounds....

But thanks anyways i have a clearer idea on what i should get.
Click to expand...

Glad to "help". Good luck and have fun.
 
xmortumx said:
o i see. Well im leaning more for the nady mics cuz i want to have more flexibility as in kick sounds....

But thanks anyways i have a clearer idea on what i should get.
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pipelineaudio said:
I think I got suckered, as others have pointed out, so Im a bit miffed
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Pipeline,
You aren't the only one feeling that way now. I shoulda just kept my big mouth and "helpful" opinions to myself. Time to 6 Feet Under this thread.
 
hey yaknski do u have any page where i can hear the music u hav recorded?

I think ima be spending this week reading the articles found them useful.

by any chance u have any experience working with logic express(mac) program?
Im about to get a macbook for school, and i wanted to know if that Daw was good.
 
yaknski said:
Mofo,
Maybe I'm being ignorant, but who are you saying is stupid?
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Not you yaknski... you're not stupid, not even ignorant, just young, enthusiastic...
...and arrogent.

Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor...

Oh, and welcome to the forum... really, welcome
 
MOFO Pro said:
Not you yaknski... you're not stupid, not even ignorant, just young, enthusiastic...
...and arrogent.

Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor...

Oh, and welcome to the forum... really, welcome
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MOFO,
I'm crushed ........ you didn't mention funny. I like your discretion quote, I'm going to remember that one. TY for the welcome. See ya around?!

Dave T
P.S. Young? 48. Enthusiastic? You bet. Arrogant? I dunno, but I think I'm more important than I really am.
 
Recording through a crappy compressor is more than likely going to destroy your signal on the way in. my best advice would be to buy a good pre and maybe a good outboard eq. in most pro studios where they are tracking with compression they are using gear like LA-2a's and 1176's. a good pre and a good eq on your way in would be the best way for you to get the best signal possible
 
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