Members GloomGenerator Posted October 25, 2007 Members Share Posted October 25, 2007 I'm currently paying off my metric {censored}ton of debt, so my budget is rather limited for studio purchases. I'm pretty much just getting one or two big-ticket items per year. I've got a badass computer (Mac Pro, 6GB RAM, 1TB HDD, 23" ACD), Logic Studio w/lots of plug-ins, an Apogee Duet (on order), Focusrite Trackmaster Pro, midi controller, V-Drums, etc. My monitors are Roland DS-somethings - 5's I think, the mid-sized older model; not great, but I know their sound, so I'm comfortable using them. For controlling Logic, I use a Presonus FaderPort. I figure at $2k/year I can get a badass mic pre, and a few nice outboard pieces. Trouble is, I don't know what else I should get. What would you buy? Oh, and I told my family rather than buying me a bunch of useless {censored} I don't want or need to pit in and get me a Liquid Mix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members diy guy Posted October 25, 2007 Members Share Posted October 25, 2007 i'd say buy some acoustic treatment, and maybe a new preamp (grace 101, rnp, spl goldmike), and maaybe a better a/d (rosetta 200 comes to mind, but the duet is close enough so that if you were to upgrade, maybe shoot a little higher). in that order. but honestly, your setup is pretty badass already, more than good enough to make great recordings. i know well that buying gear is addictive. i wanted the ensemble myself, till i took a step back and said...my recordings sound great already, whats to gain by blowing 2 grand on a slightly better sound, especially when im still small potatoes. maybe just get out of debt first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 25, 2007 Members Share Posted October 25, 2007 I don't know what you need. This is what you should consider. Is it a mic preamp? A killer mic? Sound treatment? All those are very important. But what's even more important is staying out of debt. If you can't truly answer this question of what you need, I'd say plunk your money into a CD and let it earn interest while you figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GloomGenerator Posted October 25, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2007 but honestly, your setup is pretty badass already, more than good enough to make great recordings....maybe just get out of debt first? Thanks Yeah, the damn credit card nearly broke me. That's still top priority, but it's nice to treat yourself once in a while, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GloomGenerator Posted October 25, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2007 I don't know what you need. This is what you should consider. Is it a mic preamp? A killer mic? Sound treatment? All those are very important.But what's even more important is staying out of debt. If you can't truly answer this question of what you need, I'd say plunk your money into a CD and let it earn interest while you figure it out. I meant as far as bells and whistles go. As diy guy said, I have the basics pretty well covered. Just wondered what unnecessary, but nice to have gear people would buy on my budget. Just looking for opinions. For example, one guy said he'd save $100 a week and get the max (3, I believe) UAD cards and a firewire Powercore next. {censored} like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted October 25, 2007 Moderators Share Posted October 25, 2007 I think the Duet has pres... no? If so, get great monitors and movable room treatment. Build your own traps and broadband absorption and make them hangable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GloomGenerator Posted October 25, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2007 I think the Duet has pres... no? If so, get great monitors and movable room treatment. Build your own traps and broadband absorption and make them hangable. The Duet has pres, but I don't think they could compare to having a nice, dedicated pre. I've been thinking about doing the DIY treatments. Not too good with tools tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marshall Jeffer Posted October 25, 2007 Members Share Posted October 25, 2007 How long can you wait? : http://www.lexiconpro.com/AES_Events.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GloomGenerator Posted October 25, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2007 How long can you wait? :http://www.lexiconpro.com/AES_Events.aspx A while. Holidays and all... Looks cool. How much is it? Not sure how much I'd need it, though. I'm rather fond of the Space Designer 'verb in Logic. Definitely cool specs on it, especially cool with the ethernet ports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marshall Jeffer Posted October 25, 2007 Members Share Posted October 25, 2007 Yeah, Space designer owns, was just thinking of taking a load off the processor reverb wise. Lexicon also has the Mx 500 which is about $499 which does the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GloomGenerator Posted October 25, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2007 Yeah, Space designer owns, was just thinking of taking a load off the processor reverb wise. Lexicon also has the Mx 500 which is about $499 which does the same thing. I'm not too worried about CPU use. I don't even come close to maxing out my MP and if I did, I'd just use my MBP as a node I was only looking at the Liquid Mix/UAD/PoCo type stuff because some of those plugs sound really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marshall Jeffer Posted October 26, 2007 Members Share Posted October 26, 2007 Forgot, It's hard to max out a Mac Pro with 1 gig of ram, and you've got 6. Was reflex because I'm work on a MBP quite a lot and I max it out when i'm on the road. Ok.............................Mac Pro that never gets maxed out.......have you tried any of the Melodyne plugins? I say that because time stretching/pitching in Logic 7 was lacking a bit quality wise, Melodyne is awesome. Haven't done any pitching in Logic 8 yet, maybe you don't need it. http://www.celemony.com/cms/index.php?id=358 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted October 26, 2007 Moderators Share Posted October 26, 2007 The Duet has pres, but I don't think they could compare to having a nice, dedicated pre. I've been thinking about doing the DIY treatments. Not too good with tools tho Here's a cool product for the power tool challenged. Cheap too. Nice looking studio bass trap bags. You wrap 703 board in the colored bag with plastic corners giving you broadband or bass traps depending on placement. They look fantastic. They come with the hanging hardware too... http://www.readyacoustics.com/index.php?go=products.products&cat=10 The Duet has SPDIF in probably? Get an API A2D. GREAT pres with very nice converison. This should allow you to get 4 great sounding inputs at the same time. Check to see if the Duet allows you to you to use all 4 at once. And Melodyne is an awesome app as mentioned above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GloomGenerator Posted October 26, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 26, 2007 I'm going to try Melodyne. Downloaded a demo the other day but haven't had a chance to use it yet. The Duet hasn't arrived, so I have nothing to plug my mic into As far as those bags go, I'd need to see some reviews of it first. Something seems...cheap about it. No, the Duet has no SPDIF, but I really don't have anything that uses SPDIF so I wasn't worried about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted October 26, 2007 Moderators Share Posted October 26, 2007 There is no need to look for reviews on the bags. It's the Owens Corning 703 board that goes inside that counts. That's the industry standard, compressed fiberglass product, used in studios arounf the world. Even mine!! The bag is just to pretty up the 703 and contain the fibers. Imagine a 2 foot by 4 foot panel. 4 inches thick. Perfectly wrapped in an acoustic fabric of your chosen color with internal rigid corners. It starting to sound like I work for them. I don't. They're light enough to pick up with one hand. Easy to hang where they'll do the most good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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