Need feedback!!

[Matt RWTH]

I need some feedback on building a low budget studio, that I still want to sound good. I am new to recording and I have about a $10,000 budget. I have a brand new iMac, lots of cables, headphones, accessories, etc...

Mainly, what would be a good starter studio to build on that type of budget, excluding construction costs. I want to record all types of music, but I will mostly be recording a lot of faster, heavier music in general.

I know these are pretty broad questions, but keep an open mind and try to think, what would I buy if I had $10,000 to build a studio?

I would really appreciate any info you guys could help me out with. Thank you so much.

[BOWIE]

Not sure what you mean by, "build a studio".
I know you said, "excluding construction costs, but, if you're only spending 10k on gear, your construction cost will FAR outweigh your gear costs.
As far as gear goes, for 10K, you'll have to stay in the pro-sumer range. No 1176s, no Neve. Go for the minimal number of preamps that you might need at one time, otherwise, it's just wasted money that could be spent in other places.
Keep in mind that buying used almost doubles your purchasing power.
For brand-specific info, you really need to just do a TON of reading. Everyone has their own favorite and there is no concensus about what the best gear for fast and heavy music is. That's one of the unfortunate things here, rather than just describing the sound, too many people say something either "blows everything else away" or "sucks" which is irrelevant because we all looks for different sounds. Check out the "shootout" section.

[Matt RWTH]

I'm going to be renting out a building that was already a studio once, thats why I was saying "exclude the construction costs". I will do alot more reading, and just try to figure out some things for myself. I really appreciate all the info though, thank you!