What would you do?

  • Thread starter Thread starter bigwillz24
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bigwillz24

bigwillz24

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Lets say I have about 3000.00 to blow on new gear. My little studio will get the job done, but I'm are hopelessly looking for ways to get the job done better.

I've got a fairly decent Athlon xp 3200+ 1GB RAM 250GB Hd (watercooled)
Cubase SX
Event TR-6 monitors
Emu 1212m
Tascam Us-428
Behringer ADA8000
Bellari MP-105
Shure KSM27
Octava mk-319
A couple dynamic mics
Mo'phatt sound module
Triton LE
MPC 1000

So... would you blow all that money on ONE PIECE say somthing like this or would you buy other cheaper pieces instead?
 
if you got lots of money,
then go for the Event TR8 speakers,
8" inch is way cooler than 6 :cool:

http://www.solidstatelogic.com/outboard/products/xchannel/hires/XLChannel_Front.jpg

this machine looooks nice, lots and lots of functions on this one channelstrip,
but i don't know the brand, don't know the quality,,,, anyone ?

and watch out with watercooling, those things can get noizy too,
what about the ZALMAN RESERATOR ?
a fanlass cpu cooler (can also cool the gpu, but i don't think you're a gamer...)

reserator_stor.jpg


and why the triton? i'd get me a cheap keyboard with midi output,
so you can work with vst's, or even soundfonts

just my 2 cents ;)
 
Big Kenny said:
Column A
Soundelux U195
Neumann 87
Lawson (anything)
AT 4060


Column B
Great River
Toft ATC-2
Fearn
Cranesong



http://psbg.emusician.com/ar/emusic_build_microphone_cabinet_2/


One from A & B


One from A AND one from B?
I don't think you could get a U195 and a D.W. Fern for 3 grand?
Could you?

But, that's a nice list, if it works out in the price range, that's a good suggestion,
BUT
;)
Spend some of that hard earned money on acoustic treatments for your room (not pyrimad foam) and you'll realize a greater difference than hardware could make for you.
Establishing a proper recording environment should be the first priorty on your list.
 
Michael Jones said:
Spend some of that hard earned money on acoustic treatments for your room (not pyrimad foam) and you'll realize a greater difference than hardware could make for you.
Establishing a proper recording environment should be the first priorty on your list.
I am very interested in doing this myself. How does somebody even BEGIN to do something like acousticly treating their rooms???
 
I will second Kenny's list and make my choices from it. For $3000 you should be able to do the Soundelux U195 and a 2 channel Great River. Very Flexible combo. Or you could go with the Toft ATC-2, the Soundelux U195, and a pair of Dynaudio BM6 speakers and a Hafler power amp. Then you will be able to fully appreciate how good the new mic and pre/EQ/comp sounds (which will help you make better tracks and mixes). The problem is that you will also start to hear how bad the Behringer converters sound.
 
Also, those SSL channel strips are pretty nice. I have heard mixed things about them though. I think a big part of the problem is that people are used to SSL consoles and how the channel sounds interact with all the ouput summing etc... The biggest complaint I hear is that they don't really sound quite like an SSL. Tough call. That may actually be a good thing:))
 
When upgrading your project studio, I generally subscribe to the "weakest link" theory, for starters.

Just look for the weakest area in your arsenal, and target that first. If you're not sure where that is, then a good rule of thumb is to look for anything with the name "Behringer" on it. That's usually a good starting point (although "Belari" could arguably be as well).

Subsequently, if it says something like "Shure," then you might be able to hold off for at least a little while.

Pretty simple stuff. Good luck.
 
If your doing primarily electronic music with rap/R&B vocals

I'd reccommend something like Adesigns MP2 ~1665 killer vocal preamp and sick DI's for direct connecting synths

and a Buzz Audio SOC 1.1 comp. Very versatile compressor and hear it rocks on vox as well~ 1899

its a lil over budget but you'll be kickin sonic azz
 
justharold said:
Thank you, sir, for the link and for the advice. I (admittedly) often forget that there is more to this site than the "Equipment Forum" section... :)
Glad to help buddy!
Come on down to the Studio Building forum and visit us sometime.
;)
 
Is it too late to come up with another hobby?

I told Riley Friday afternoon that I had gone ahead and bought a Moog Voyager "because they made me an offer I couldn't refuse.":eek:

She took it rather calmly, I thought. No yelling. No gnashing of teeth.

She said "what good would that do? Would it stop you from buying it?"

Well, YEAH! It would stop me from spending $3000 on 40 pounds of analog bliss.

I waited about 15 minutes to tell her I was pulling her leg.

Now if I drop some coin on a couple Moogerfoogers ( Lowpass and a Ring Modulator........ although the MURF looks like it's a pretty fuckin' kewl filter too) and a control processor it looks like I took the economy route. :rolleyes:

BTW, if you're looking for Moog stuff, HumbuckerMusic is the cheapest I've found. Call first, because the advertised prices are higher than what they will actually part with them for. Like $50/PEDAL!

But you didn't hear it from me...............
 
preamps:

either
sytek

or
tl audio 5001 (quad valve)

or
vintech neve pre

Neumann u87
 
I would uprgrade the behringer piece to something at least as good as a rossetta 800-there's your first thousand,maybe a littleless

then a better preamp- I would get the UA one - the one that has the compressor on one side and the preamp on the other- Im not sure how much it is $1000-1500?

If I had any money left I would get a/some mics. A real nice large condenser, and then maybe a pair of small condensers, if I had any money left.

It all depends on what type of music you use make in your studio
 
justharold said:
I am very interested in doing this myself. How does somebody even BEGIN to do something like acousticly treating their rooms???

I am not trying to SPAM here but wanted to share some info. Auralex can accept info on your recording spaces and make suggestions as to which pieces in which places in the rooms would be effective. I cannot remember for the life of me how the process of submitting the info works right now, but the rep told us the other day that a .pdf file is / will be available to submit it and that eventually dealers will be able to allow their customers to fill it out at their website.

War
 
Regarding the subject at hand, what is it you can't get done or don't like the sound of with your current rig? Do your preamps suck? Do you not have a mic that makes "X" sound good? I guess if I were you I'd think back over time and remember the days I could not get the sound I was looking for due to lack of gear or improper gear for an application.

Personally I'd probably look at 2 channels of good preamps, 2 channels of good A/D and D/A conversion, 2 channels of good cabling for this chain, and mics with any money left over. But, make sure the mics are going to excel at a job that your current setup won't.

If there's one thing I believe in...it's have 2 kick ass channels! It's not feasible to have 16 channels of expensive mic pres to record drums...but typically after drums everything is one or two channels. Go for two smokin' channels and you won't regret it.

Oh, and another word of advice: do not buy an all in one unit WITH converters. The problem is, down the road those converters will become extinct and the value of the unit greatly diminished. Get separate preamps / converters etc. for your two channels anyhow. That Behringer unit you have is probably fine for drum tracking, but you could use your two channels for overheads etc.

War
 
I have to agree with most of what everyone has said here. I'll have to second the Neve preamps. That SSL looks nice but to be honost I worked on a series 6000 G+ console and I hated the eq and pres. Just too sterile for me. Sterile isn't always bad but the sound of the Neve pres was a new ear awakening for me. Maybe check out some trident series 80 eqs.
 
Along the lines of what Warren for said... why do you want to upgrade? Have you honestly used your current gear list to its full potential??

Many hobbyists put too much stock in the gear and far less in their own skills -- if you aren't using your current gear to its full potential right now, then adding an SSL summing rack isn't going to give you much benefit. Let your ears tell you when your current gear isn't cutting it.........

Just something to think about!
 
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