Members thebigpong Posted February 10, 2010 Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 so me and my buddy are going to make a some what pro studio(going o have control room and live room, nice mics acoustic treatment) and want some suggestions on equipment but mostly the centerpiece of the studio, the console!!!!! How should i go about this? Can i buy an unpowered mixer and hook it up to protools or what? My price range is $1000 and under. Also if its recorded on protools from a mixer can i eq on the computer too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CN Fletcher Posted February 10, 2010 Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 All due respect, if you're asking this question you're gonna lose your shirt if you build a studio. "Proper acoustics" and microphones are $200k to start and go up from there depending on the size of the rooms, how many musicians you can accommodate at any given time and the "quality" of those mics... you're looking at a really hefty price tag. As for a "passive mixer" I know of no such animal on the market that has EQ of any kind for $1000-. Yes, you can still EQ in the computer [and all that other groovy stuff] but the fact of the matter is that you need gain at some point to pick up the output of the summing busses to "line" output level. There is no way around it as every component causes a level loss. If you're serious about going ahead with this anyway, the best tool I've run into at "entry level" is the Toft ATB console. I would recommend at least 32 inputs, which is more like $5k [ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pigger Posted February 10, 2010 Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 Your restraint shown is admirable, Fletcher! Excellent info, delivered professionally, as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thebigpong Posted February 10, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 thanks fletcher for the great information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I was The Funk Posted February 10, 2010 Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 It all depends on what the "somewhat" in "somewhat pro" means. There are lots of people that have workable studios in their homes that were done for less than what Fletcher is takling about. But it aint going to happen if your plan is to buy a "passive mixer" and plug it in to protools for less than $1000. If you understand building and materials, and have the time, you can make something workable. Build a room within a room. Check the dimensions of well known studios and try to use similar shapes. There are acoustic treatment companies that will give you advice on the placement of sound treatment. It wont be the hit factory, but you will be able to make a record there. For a console, I would not get one. Not if your on a budget. Get a mackie control and several extenders. Get outboard mic pres and a protools rig. Once your studio makes some money, get a console. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thebigpong Posted February 10, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 with the mackie control what does that do? control the protools and how would i go about hooking up the preamps, to the mackie control or somewhere else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I was The Funk Posted February 10, 2010 Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 OK.... Lets start with the basics.... In order to use Protools you need a Protools compatible audio interface. These can be small usb or firewire devices (Digi003, Mbox, etc) running protools LE, or they can be large, pro rackmount units (192 IO, etc) running protools TDM. These will run you between $500 and $15,000 depending on what you buy. Again, this depends on what your definition of "somewhat pro" is. The difference in the interfaces are the number of lines in, the number of mic preamps, and the quality of the converters. Protools LE runs on your computer. All its processing is done on your computer. This limits its power, though computers are getting more and more powerful everyday so the limitations are not what it used to be. I regularly run 70 track projects at 96khz on Sonar in my machine just fine. Protools TDM runs on your computer, but the processing is done outboard, which makes running it more stable and allows for a lot more processing power. Microphones get plugged in to mic preamps which then get plugged into the audio interface. The audio interface converts the signal and brings it into teh computer and also brings it out of the computer and into whatever monitoring system you have (speakers, headphones etc.) A real pro shop will have standalone converters that are routed into a console and from there all patching of mics and headphones and whatever takes place. If you don't already know the above, you don't need one of these yet. A control surface like a mackie control provides the faders and pots and trasport controls that an interface does not provide. With protools you can easily mix without a mixer, you just use your mouse to make adjustments. With a control surface, you can make the adjustments with real faders and pots so it becomes more like using a mixer. Except that it reads automation information and you get moving faders and the like. If you want moving faders on a real analog console.....God help you and your bank account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members albiedamned Posted February 10, 2010 Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 Spend a few days reading this: http://tweakheadz.com/guide.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted February 10, 2010 Members Share Posted February 10, 2010 so me and my buddy are going to make a some what pro studio(going o have control room and live room, nice mics acoustic treatment) and want some suggestions on equipment but mostly the centerpiece of the studio, the console!!!!!How should i go about this? Can i buy an unpowered mixer and hook it up to protools or what? My price range is $1000 and under.Also if its recorded on protools from a mixer can i eq on the computer too? Let's get back to the beginning for a second. Is the $1000 budget for the whole studio or for the mixer? What does "somewhat pro" mean? I mean, if you're really going to have a professional studio, I'm not certain that the $1000 would cover all the electrical wiring that you'd need for your studio. I'm not certain $1000 would cover your permits. I'm not sure $1000 would cover your cabling. I'm not sure $1000 would get you a decent mixer. I'm not certain $1000 would pay for your outboard preamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jacobhf Posted February 18, 2010 Members Share Posted February 18, 2010 Spend a few days reading this: http://tweakheadz.com/guide.htm wow, great info here, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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