Which one?

[ekit60]

Hi!

I appreciate the opportunity to learn from you guys that have been doing this for a while . I am mainly getting into this because this field has always fascinated me plus my 14 year old son is interested in the music and recording industry. I have done alot of research on recording equipment and got lost in all the options . I have put together a couple of setups that I think would work . I want to be able to record anywhere from solo to small bands and some acoustic instruments. Tell me if I'm missing something here. I was looking at getting the equipment in the next week or so. My son wants to record his metal band. I still have about 2 hours of work left to do to get the area that I am going to use for the mixing room completed.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated:

My decision is based on using my existing laptop.
Dell 140M, Pentium M, XP Professional OS (Service Pack 2), 1.86 Ghz, 2 GB Ram, 80 GB HD, 250 GB XHD, DVD/CD/CRW Burner, 1-Firewire, 1- Video and 4- USB-2 connections. We plan to replace the laptop with a new desktop at the end of the year.

My startup budget for equipment and software is $3,000.


1st Choice-

PreSonus FireStudio Project w/ Cubase LE (Upgrade to Cubase 4)
Akai MPK49 Keyboard MIDI Controller
Mackie MR8 Active Studio Monitor
Shure Drum Mic Package - 3- SM57 1- Beta 52A (Xtra Beta- 2 Bass Drums)
Shure SM58 Mics - 2 Vocals
ProLine Tripod Boom Mic Stands - 4
Tama MS205ST Low Level Boom Mic Stands - 2

2nd Choice-

M-Audio ProFire 2626
DigiDesign Pro Tools M-Powered 7.4
M-Audio Axiom 61 - 61 Key USB MIDI Controller
Mackie MR8 Active Studio Monitor
Shure Drum Mic Package - 3- SM57 1- Beta 52A (Xtra Beta- 2 Bass Drums)
Shure SM58 Mics - 2 Vocals
ProLine Tripod Boom Mic Stands - 4
Tama MS205ST Low Level Boom Mic Stands - 2

We also need some advice as to the mic cables. We want to make sure we have good quality cables.

Thanks so much for any help you can give.

Ed

 

[Epicureous]

Hi!


My decision is based on using my existing laptop.
Dell 140M, Pentium M, XP Professional OS (Service Pack 2), 1.86 Ghz, 2 GB Ram, 80 GB HD, 250 GB XHD, DVD/CD/CRW Burner, 1-Firewire, 1- Video and 4- USB-2 connections. We plan to replace the laptop with a new desktop at the end of the year.

My startup budget for equipment and software is $3,000.


1st Choice-

PreSonus FireStudio Project w/ Cubase LE (Upgrade to Cubase 4)
Akai MPK49 Keyboard MIDI Controller
Mackie MR8 Active Studio Monitor
Shure Drum Mic Package - 3- SM57 1- Beta 52A (Xtra Beta- 2 Bass Drums)
Shure SM58 Mics - 2 Vocals
ProLine Tripod Boom Mic Stands - 4
Tama MS205ST Low Level Boom Mic Stands - 2

Ed

Choice number one, but I say that because I've have both Presonus and M-audio equipment (ease of use and reliability)... For the general price you might be able to get one or two better mics (plus the Shure drum pack is expensive for what you end up getting)... But the music equipment is fine the computer is what you're going to have the most trouble with, you have to remember that laptops are approximately %50-%75 as fast as their desktop counterparts... And the Pentium M is a, although better then the Centrino, fairly low power (slow) chip... Oh and there's just about no need for you to upgrade the Cubase... Cubase LE is a pretty good program...

 

[ekit60]

One of my thoughts was to sell my laptop on Ebay and have a friend who's in the computer business build me a flyer that will run the software the way it's supposed to run. But my thought in the beginning was if I have to have a computer built I may as well take money from another account, raise my budget to $4,000 and have one built to run Pro Tools and get the 003 rack, then later add the console. Just a thought.
I am also open to suggestions on drum mics, that is if anyone's had some experience with something other than Shure, or a better value. A friend of mine uses the Shure PG series mics for live performances but he said they wouldn't be good for recording.

Thanks for the suggestions-

Ed

 

[pipelineaudio]

I wouldn't reccomend the Firestudio Project, its a DICE-II card. The Firepod will be much smarter, though you will be dealing with the same QC issues as the other Presonus gear

If you are planning on running PT get the 003, if not save your money and get an equivalent I/O for much cheaper, or a much better I/O for the same money

 

[Randy Yell]

For the money that you are spending I would spend a lil more on vocal mics and forego the sm 58s for main vocals. Check out some of the ld condensors that Studio Projects, MXL and other inexpensive companies produce, many of those will far surpasse the sm58's for vocal duty. I've had a Studio Projects TB-1 ($299) for my main vocal mic for years and I love it. I have tried using sm58s for background vocals and ended up rerecording the parts with better mics. Also with your budget you might want to consider getting a nice preamp too, just a single channel preamp with a decent mic will do wonders for your sound.