hooking up the equipment - home studio

[humbacher]

Hello everyone!

 

After 2 years of piano lessons i've decided to build my own home studio. I have the list of equipment i intend to buy over the years but i don't have any experience hooking it all up, so i'm looking for help.

 

Equipment list:

1 - PC (cubase as a main sequencer)

2 - two keyboards (i will use both their own sounds and as midi controllers)

3 - headphones

4 - studio monitors

5 - drum machine

 

so far it looks like i'll get tired of mixing by mouseclicking, so the last thing i plan on getting is control surface, i suppose that until then i must have 6--audio/midi interface? what will the control surface change, considering my connections inexperience?

 

i will mostly use vst instruments, without recording via any other source except the drum machine and 2 keyboards (no live guitars, drums, vocals etc...)

[Anderton]

Hello everyone! After 2 years of piano lessons i've decided to build my own home studio. I have the list of equipment i intend to buy over the years but i don't have any experience hooking it all up, so i'm looking for help. Equipment list: 1 - PC (cubase as a main sequencer) 2 - two keyboards (i will use both their own sounds and as midi controllers) 3 - headphones 4 - studio monitors 5 - drum machine so far it looks like i'll get tired of mixing by mouseclicking, so the last thing i plan on getting is control surface, i suppose that until then i must have 6--audio/midi interface? what will the control surface change, considering my connections inexperience? i will mostly use vst instruments, without recording via any other source except the drum machine and 2 keyboards (no live guitars, drums, vocals etc...)

 

 

Yes, you will need an audio/MIDI interface. This will connect to your computer with a single cable, using either the USB 2.0 (most likely) or FireWire port.

 

Almost all interfaces have headphone jacks, so you can plug right in. If your keyboards send MIDI over USB, you won't need an interface with 5-pin DIN MIDI connectors. However, I would definitely advise buying an interface with these types of connectors, as you may end up with other gear that needs a physical MIDI connector, or maybe your drum machine will need it. Of course, there are also drum machine virtual instruments, so the hardware drum machine one might end up on eBay

 

The interface will also have line outputs you can patch directly to your studio monitors. It's most convenient to user powered monitors, as you can drive them directly from the interface, without requiring additional power amps.

 

As to controllers, because you use Cubase, check out Steinberg's CMC-series controllers which fit Cubase like a glove and aren't very inexpensive. For controlling virtual instruments, the CMC AI gets a major

 

If you have more questions, I'll do my best to answer them here.

[Mark L]

Of course, there are also drum machine virtual instruments, so the hardware drum machine one might end up on eBay

 

:cry:

[electrochrisso]

Of course, there are also drum machine virtual instruments, so the hardware drum machine one might end up on eBay

You can always keep it too, like, I still have my Yamaha Rx5 (what a classic), and its still in as new condition, just looked on Ebay, and they are selling for a good price these days, just think if I keep it for another 20 years, I might become a millionaire.

[humbacher]

Thanks a lot for replies!

 

I have one more question. In case i have the equipment i listed above (pc, 2 midi keyboards, headphones, monitors, drum machine, audio/midi interface, control surface), how could i wire them all?

 

I suppose the first step would be - audio midi interface has usb out that needs to be connected with pc

 

 

What happens if, for example, one of the keyboards is digital piano and i want to use one of it's own sounds?

[philbo]

 

Thanks a lot for replies! I have one more question. In case i have the equipment i listed above (pc, 2 midi keyboards, headphones, monitors, drum machine, audio/midi interface, control surface), how could i wire them all? I suppose the first step would be - audio midi interface has usb out that needs to be connected with pc What happens if, for example, one of the keyboards is digital piano and i want to use one of it's own sounds?

 

 

A lot depends on what you need to do. I'd recommend adding a midi merger box to the setup to allow feeding the midi out from both keyboards back into the PC (unless you have 2 separate midi ports on your interface).

 

Here's what I do, using the old-school midi DIN connectors (I don't have any USB midi devices):

 

The basic setup for PC midi output, which allows you to feed recorded midi back to the keyboards for playback:

PC midi out --> Keybd1 IN | Keybd1 Thru ---> Keybd2 IN

 

and for PC midi input, allowing you to record midi:

Keybd1 OUT --> Midi Merger IN1

Keybd2 OUT --> Midi Merger IN2 / | Midi Merger OUT ----> PC midi IN

 

Since you're using a PC, I strongly recommend downloading Midi Ox, which, among many other things, prevents midi feedback loops.