First Rig Advice

[JayPH]

Hi all

Hope this is the right place to post this kind of question.

I've been making music, in bands and solo, for over 20 years now and have recently got some redundancy money so have decided to make a small home studio to record my music. The absolute maximum I can spend is £1000 but I have specced out a rig that comes in around the £700 - £800 mark.

I play bass and acoustic guitar and will be doing the vocals unless I can find a singer who's prepared to work for free I might be able to get a drummer but if not I want to program the drums. I also want to use software to add some extra instruments in some of my songs.

You can probably tell that I am totally new to home recording so I would appreciate any pointers and advice for recording bass, vocals and acoustic guitar.

Here's the rig I'm thinking of buying:

AI: Presonus FireStudio Mobile ( Will be able to use with laptop when necessary)

Monitors: Mackie MR5 - pair

Midi Controller - Akai MPK49

Mics: SHure SM57, Rode M3 (M3 for vocals and m3 snd SM57 for acoustic)

Software: Reaper

I can't decide wheter I should just get an interface and mics and learn about recording before I get the midi controller or if i should just go all in.

What do you think guys? is this a good starting point?
I'd really appreciate any comments guys good and bad.

John

[JayPH]

Any Takers?

[Jimbo]

AI: go with the Steinberg/Yammy MRX thing everyone seems to love. They are about $650
Mics: skip the 57, and get a used Beyer M201 (around $150). Skip the Rode, and go with a Dave Thomas or JJ Audio LDC (around $350)
DAW: Reaper rocks

I just upped your ante by about $400. However, I think you'll be in much better shape than your original selections.

[JayPH]

Haha Thanks for spending my money for me Jimbo. This is exactly what I wanted. I'll start looking into those recommendations man Thanks

Keep em coming please guys.

[MickeyMassacre]

If expandability is not much a concern, I would suggest finding a used Apogee Mini Me. Beats the pants off of just about any 2 channel interface. Great conversion, and decent mic pre amps.

Usually below $500 used.

If expandability is a concern. My vote goes for the Profire 2626. Right off the bat you get 8 usable mic pre-amps, a decent internal clock, tons of digital routing and i/o, and 24/192 tracking.

My two cents.

[JayPH]

Thanks for your input MickeyMassacre. I would like to future proof it as much as possible so I can record our band at some point.

I'll look at that Interface too.

Am I right in thinking the interface is the one component you should not skimp on in terms of cost?

[JayPH]

Hi Guys

Tried to post this yesterday but it went Pete Tong.

Those interfaces do look like the dogs bollocks but they are a little too pricey I think. I'm not completely ruling them out. But ...

I can get the Presonus FireStudio Mobile at a discounted price of £190 and it will be more mobile than the others. Does anyone have this Interface?

Is there a particular reason I shouldn't buy it. I don't want to pay cheap and pay twice but this seems to tick the boxes and had decentish reviews?

Any help is appreciated guys. Remember, you were all noobs once.

[noise17]

I have an EMU 0404 USB, and it sounds really nice. Picked it up for about 240 canadian. Really nice conversion, the same you would see in much higher end pieces like the RME fireface 400. Certainly worth a look.