Studio equipment help

[bowman20]

Hi to all,

 

I'm in final stages of building and equiping my studio so I would appriciate any input you care to share with me. I want to work in analogue domain all the way up to my PC which will be setup as multitrack-recorder. I use Adobe Audition 1.5 currently. What do you think or what expirience do you have about following equipment (and feel free to give me some other options in every category):

 

Studio size is (LxWxH): 7,60x3,20x2,90 meters

 

Sound cards:

-M-AUDIO Delta 1010

-M-AUDIO Delta 66

-ESI Waveterminal 192M

-CREAMWARE Luna 24/96 box

 

Microphones:

-SE ELECTRONICS M1C, SE1a, SE2200a, SE2a

-AUDIO TECHNICA ATM10a, KP DRUMS(kit)

-BEHRINGER B-1, B-5

 

Mixers:

-MACKIE 1604VLZ Pro

-BEHRINGER EURODESK MX2442A, EURODESK MX9000

 

Active monitors:

- ALESIS, YAMAHA, BEHRINGER, WHARFEDALE...

 

I'm also interested in Microphone Preamplifier/Voice Processor (1 or 2 ch.) around 500$ and Expander/Gate/Compressor/ Peak Limiter (2 or more ch.) in that price range... Is "Behringer" any good in that respect since their prices are very low.

 

I'm new here so I hope you'll have some patience for me. Thx to you all in advance!

[Phil O'Keefe]

Folks, this was originally posted over on SSS, and I moved a copy of it over here in the hopes that we could get Bowman20 some good suggestions.

 

So what advice do you have for Mr Bowman?

[blackpig]

Hello Bowman

 

A word or two about Behringer - the cheap price puts a lot of people off but a friend of mine with Neumann mics in his studio likes Behringer compressors so much he went out and bought 14 of them for his rack

 

I myself have a B-1 mic and I find it's an absolutely excellent mic for small money

 

If you drop it on the floor and break it put it in the rubbish bin though

 

A pair of B-5 mics are a good choice for instruments

 

For mic preamps I use an old Studiomaster Trilogy desk - bought second hand for

[Kiwiburger]

Friends don't let friends buy Behringer. They are usually the cheapest stuff available for a reason. They are well known for stealing their designs, using the cheapest inferior parts and sweat shop labour.

 

The failure rate is fairly high, and that can be not only dangerous (fire risk) but expensive, since you end up buying something better fairly soon after purchase.

 

If you want to save money, carefully consider whether you want to go there.

 

The quality of the compressors is highly debateable - some people appear to love them, a lot of people hate them. I haven't owned one, but based on other Behringer gear I own and regret, I'm not even going to find out.

 

Cheapest is hardly ever good, or actually cheap in the long run. The have positioned themselves clearly at the cheap end.

[guitwizz]

Well, I personally would save up to get above the Behringer pool.

But, the failure rate, is almost non existant as far as our store is concerned. We sell hundreds and hundreds of Behringer products each year, (about 6 years now I think), and the only item we ever had returned, was a 2500 watt power amp that was fried. I still think they kids that bought it hooked it up wrong, there was evidence of that in the settings on the back

 

Bottom line: The Behringer stuff is VERY worth the money, if you arent that serious about recording, and it stays just a part time hobby. But if you are serious about it, you will inevitably outgrow almost any one of their products in a short while. The biggest dissapointment I have had with them, is the ECM8000 omni sdc mic. Its not really even useable in my book.

 

I have seen many installs where there are larger Behringer boards, and they are beat to DEATH!!! Discolored stained faces, knobs, faders bent, missing, shafts broken, stuck, etc.... and they are still kicking.

 

I would say they are a great great investment for most live applications on a budget, but for recording,..... save up...

[Funkwave]

Bowman, I never used Behringer but I can suggest the Mackie VLZ mixers. They sound great and some pro recordings have been made through the Mackie mic pres (That are considered "flat" or Neutral" by pros).

 

The Delta 66 card is great for 4 in 4 out and if you don't need a spdif connection, save a few bucks and get the Delta 44. It's the same card without the spdif. The 1010 has 8 in 8 out and will run for a few hundred more.

 

As far as monitors, for home use, there are rave reviews about the KRK Rockits.

 

If you want to spend about $500 for a mic pre, you might want to look at the Presonus Firepod. It has eight pres and great reviews.

[deanmass]

Mackie Onyx 1640 mixer with firewire interface

 

There is a particular set of Sampson active monitors that are the bomb according to people on here AND reviews, but damned if I can remember them.

 

Baring those, Mackie HR824's

 

Mics', there was a cheap, larger diaphram mic that KenShin was raving abour a bit back. One fo those

 

Mic's to me are one of the hardest things to suggest. I have had mixed experiences with so many. I really liek dmy CAD E-100, but I am not sure they are made any more, and it was really transparent, liek too much so. I have also owned a few peavey mics I have really liked.

 

Generally, I think Mackie stuff is some of the best you can get. A bit higher, but great stuff. Behringer is OK, and great for the money, but, I have gotten rid of everything Behringer I have ever owned for one reason or another. Same with M-Audio.

[guitwizz]

Mackie!