Hey people-- suggestions/comments on where to upgrade to next..?

[decius01]

I, like so many people around here I'm sure, have decided to focus my means on purchasing gear solely with the intention of reaching toward the higher end of things. I am currently getting a little studio out of my home up & running as a private business.

That said, I have a little dilemma on where to focus my energies next;
First, what I have now:

Rack Gear:
2x API 3124+;
Drawmer 1968;
3x FMR RNP's;
Genelec 8030a's
Reddi, BSS AR133 and Radial stereo Di's ;
Sygate Soundscape Mixpander 16 channel powerpak;
and a cheap Behringer headphone amp (good enough for the time being);

SW:
Cubase sx 3.1.1;
Reason 3.0;

Mics:
4x Shure SM57's, SM58, 2x Rode NT-5's, 2x Neumann tlm184's, SM7b, 3x Sennheiser e604's, EV ND868, D112, 2x each AT kick/tom/ snare/tom mics (don't laugh-- I got them all for dirt cheap and they're not the worst lol),

My rooms are very well treated, so that's not a concern.
I'm thinking my next big purchase should be better convertors, as the Soundscapes are decent bang for the buck, but I know I can do much better. As well, no LDC's is a concern, but I can always rent those for now.... much easier to rent a few mics than convertors, I realize!

Any opinions-- and any suggestions for gear?
I was thinking of checking into the Lynx Aurora 16 (with AES16), or maybe try to locate a used Radar... but I don't think I could finance one of those-- esp used! (I could finance the Aurora... or even an Apogee Rosetta 8 setup x2).
My finances are not limitless, but if I financed, I could go a bit further. 16 tracks, though, is perfect for my little space, so the Radar could conceivably be overkill.....

And hey, let's not forget that I'd love to get a 2-1176, or a Distressor to add more outboards, but it's not as imperative at the moment lol.

[Peacock]

upgrade convertors, add ribbon mic. add analog console (in that order)

[kittonian]

Lynx Aurora with the AES16
Focal Twin6 Be (pair)
Peluso 2247SE
DBX 160SL
SPL Transient Designer 4

Also, upgrade to the latest version of Cubase so you can route as you please and use outboard gear as inserts

[decius01]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

I was already thinking that-- upgrading convertors seems the wisest option for me right now.... time for upgrading everything else later haha!

[decius01]

Any other thoughts..?
How are the Soundscape convertors thought of around here, anyway?
They are pretty decent, I think-- for the price at any rate. And the mixer is very classy in it's usage.

[Jaguar Dreams]

Not sure what kind of bands/acts you want to target, but a Langevin DVC would be a great compliment to what you have. It's a two-channel preamp that does some pretty amazing stuff for vocals, acoustic gtr, and drum overheads. Plus, it includes hi and lo shelving eq's and LA3A type comp/lim on each channel. It doesn't get much press on gearslutz, but the LA3A on that thing works beautifully on the above mentioned applications.

When you are, for instance, recording a singer who plays acoustic guitar, the DVC just makes it so easy to get a killer sound quickly. Also, for jazz drums, ballads, reggae, it shines on drum overheads, especially with the shelving eq and just a tad of the LA3A. For lead guitar, it excels at capturing any type of Pink Floyd, Coldplay sound (ie, not the best match for an SM57, but great for LDC, SDC, other condensers). Definitely not the right unit for heavy crunchy guitars though.

Best-
Jaguar

(disclaimer: it's not officially an LA3A, it's just "similar", and it also officially acts as a limiter. But, whatever, for the applications mentioned, it just sounds right - which is one reason I love it - it's very hard to screw up!!)