Starting from scratch...

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Wayfarer
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Starting from scratch...

Post by Wayfarer » Wed Jun 10, 2009 11:33 am

Hello to all!

What equipment you would buy for a project/home studio, starting with absolutely nothing but a well-treated space and a nice assortment of instruments?

Computer/no computer
Mixing console/no console
Mic(s)
Preamp(s)
Compressors, EQ's, etc.
and everything else you can think of...

The budget has no set limit, but just think mid-range. Not everything you'd ever want, but enough to get you going...

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Post by capnreverb » Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:01 pm

This is somewhat budget minded list

hd24 to record to
a nice above entry level board (Ghost, Toft ATB, etc)
A stereo set of nice clean pres and a set of very coloured pres
a stereo compressor or two matched mono comp's (RNC, DBX160's)
Some good affordable LDC's such as Blue or Audio Technicas.
A stereo set of SDC's (neumann 184, studio projects c4's, josephson's, etc)
Either a sm7 or an re20.
Whatever flavor of kick drum mic you like these days.
Same goes for a set of individual drum mics.
A few sm58 type mics.
People always want a ribbon, so find the one that fits the most needs.
A reliable headphone amp and a decent tuner.
A trusted set of monitors.
A cable tester and some good cables,cords,adapters etc.
At least 4 or so DI boxes as well as a reamp.
A reverb/delay you like.
A windscreen/popguard.
Good mic stands that wont crap out.
Power conditioner, surge protection.
A stand alone cd burner.
and a bunch of stuff that will come to me later....

And time, which has been the most elusive to me lately.

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roygbiv
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Post by roygbiv » Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:41 pm

I've spent the last two years on a similar quest. If I were to do it over again? I would save some money by doing the following:

Computer or Laptop:
Get one with a good firewire chipset. Used, ~ $300-400.

Software:
Reaper = $60

General preamps, mixingboard and AD conversion:
Mackie 1220 or 1620 with Firewire card, ~ $400 to $600. Gives you a mixer AND good Preamps AND does 12-16 tracks in at a time over firewire, into your laptop. Has Onyx PreAmps that are pretty good (I have the 1220). Note - the Mackie does not do MIDI, so if that is important to you, that won't work.

"Fancy" preamp:
EH 12AY7 tube preamp. ~ $130-$190.

Mics:
2 Shure SM57s (~$175, use for guitars and drums),
1 Groove Tubes MD1A (~$450, use for vocals into the EH 12AY) ,
1 Peavey 520i (~$50-75, use for kick and bass),
1 Rode NT2 or Sterling Audio ST66 (~$175, use for for drum overhead and general condenser mic usage).
Just DI the bass in.

You could record an album for a whole band with that setup. I have. Although I was using either an Echo Layla24 or Aark24 as AD cards instead of the Mackie Firewire, because I had them 1st.

Monitoring speakers:
Radioshack Minimum 7 - poor man's NS10 option, ~ $60.
Buy something better when you have more money (I have a pair of Tannoy Reveals that frankly don't seem to consistently give me as good of a general mix as the Radioshack speakers.

Outboard processing:
Save your money until you can get something good. Just use the plugins that come with Reaper for your audio processing, and maybe buy the outstanding Stillwell plugins for another $100-200.

There, for ~ $1,500 - $2,000, you would be set up enough that if your recordings sound bad, it is not the equipments fault.

EDIT: good points above about cabling and mic stands! Get a short snake, makes life much easier to go into your mixer/preamps.
Last edited by roygbiv on Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Stevil » Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:43 pm

no budget limit, i'd spend alot of time rehearsing & go to an existing studio with their act together.

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Re: Starting from scratch...

Post by chris harris » Wed Jun 10, 2009 1:39 pm

These threads are ALWAYS needlessly more complicated than they should be.
Saying that the budget has "no set limit" and then turning around and suggesting that we should "think mid-range" is bullshit. You OBVIOUSLY have a limit in mind. Tell us:

a. What is your budget limit? Be honest. It doesn't do you any good to read a bunch of posts where people are taking shots in the dark.

b. What kind of work will you be doing? Again, it doesn't do you any good to read a bunch of posts where people are taking shots in the dark.

c. Are you willing to consider used gear?

If you answer those simple questions, you'll get pages and pages of useful information and suggestions.

Also, don't forget cables. That's gonna eat up a SIGNIFICANT part of your budget.

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Re: Starting from scratch...

Post by Stevil » Wed Jun 10, 2009 1:54 pm

subatomic pieces wrote:These threads are ALWAYS needlessly more complicated than they should be.
these threads show up fairly consistently on audio forums. i think it's an audio school class project & every year a fresh batch of newbs stroll in asking the same nebulous questions fed by their uncreative instructors. if they did a search they could find the same rhetorical nonsense last years alumni ran into.

"The slogan will take you, like lemmings to the cliff..." - PIL

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Wayfarer
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Re: Starting from scratch...

Post by Wayfarer » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:14 pm

subatomic pieces wrote:These threads are ALWAYS needlessly more complicated than they should be.
Saying that the budget has "no set limit" and then turning around and suggesting that we should "think mid-range" is bullshit. You OBVIOUSLY have a limit in mind. Tell us:

a. What is your budget limit? Be honest. It doesn't do you any good to read a bunch of posts where people are taking shots in the dark.

b. What kind of work will you be doing? Again, it doesn't do you any good to read a bunch of posts where people are taking shots in the dark.

c. Are you willing to consider used gear?

If you answer those simple questions, you'll get pages and pages of useful information and suggestions.

Also, don't forget cables. That's gonna eat up a SIGNIFICANT part of your budget.
Okay, I do apologize...

I left it wide open as more of playful excercise than anything.

a. I have the basic gear I need for now... I tend to dream about starting over sometimes and what I would do differently if I could.

b. I record my psychedelic folk project. All acoustic instruments and voice. Basically I use one mic for everything and do all of the mixing and such 'in the box', as they say.

c. Definitely.


I am seriously thinking about starting over. Starting with the right computer...Should I build my own PC, or get a G5? I currently have the M-Audio ProFire 2626 interface. For a mixing console, I am keen to the Toft ATB. For mic's: perhaps an AT4050 et al. Mic Pre: I am being drawn to the LaChapell Audio 992EG.

But the purpose of this thread was to read about others' dream, but reasonable setups.

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Post by chris harris » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:26 pm

If this is just a "playful exercise", then you should definitely UTFSF.
If you really want opinions about specific gear, then still UTFSF. If you don't find what you're looking for, then stop being coy and just ask about the gear that you're curious about.

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Post by chris harris » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:28 pm

BTW, the only piece that you listed that I've used is the G5. I love mine. You should definitely get one.

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Re: Starting from scratch...

Post by Stevil » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:32 pm

Wayfarer wrote: But the purpose of this thread was to read about others' dream, but reasonable setups.
for me it's either a dream or it's reasonable. & if it's reasonable it goes on the wish list, which gets picked over & reassessed constantly, new toys come out, i find out about old gems, budgets change, & interests vary. when room opens up in the budget, i snag the low hanging fruit.

it's gonna be different for everybody depending on yer personal process, musical needs, who & what yer working with. i think everybody should have a personal list of what you think you need to build yer personal sonic utopia, search the forums & studio websites to see what the prevailing opinions/gear lists are, get yer hands on whatever gear you can when the opportunities come available & go shopping when you see a good deal & can reasonably afford it. for most of us building a respectable studio is a life long process.

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Wayfarer
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Post by Wayfarer » Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:13 pm

subatomic pieces wrote:If this is just a "playful exercise", then you should definitely UTFSF.
If you really want opinions about specific gear, then still UTFSF. If you don't find what you're looking for, then stop being coy and just ask about the gear that you're curious about.
Gee, I guess I didn't realize that friendly discussions were so frowned upon here...

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Post by Stevil » Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:16 pm

Wayfarer wrote: Gee, I guess I didn't realize that friendly discussions were so frowned upon here...
look around, there are tons of friendly discussions here. they tend to be based in reality though, not fantasizing. maybe try Tweaks:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

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Post by chris harris » Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:27 pm

yeah... that's my complaint.... you came here under the guise of actually needing advice. but, what you really wanted is to spur a conversation that's been had hundreds of times already. that is, "what's your dream rig with X budget?"

that's why I suggested the search function. you may be new here... but, the discussion is not.

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