New Mastering Studio

[Dave Rose]

I've been Mastering from a room in my house for a while now, and the time has finally come to set up my own dedicated studio. I'm using K&H 0300's as my main monitors and have set aside plenty of cash for extensive room treatment. Up till now it's been mostly digital, but I now have about 5000 to spend on equipment, so I'm thinking:

Sound Card: Lynx AES16e?
Convertor: Lynx Aurora or Cranesong HEDD
Compressor: Cranesong STC 8

What are your thoughts on the above pieces of equipment and how best I can spend this cash!

[Greg Reierson]

Congrats on growing your business! "Plenty of cash" for acoustic work seems to evaporate pretty quickly. Spend the first chunk of it on a acoustic consultation. If you have anything left, get the HEDD and the STC 8.


GR

[KyleDiSanto]

Acoustics First, Then Second, Then Third LOL!

Get a used Mytek (stereo's go for 700ish used and you need two) and then a good outboard comp like the stc8 would be a nice place to start.

Not sure if I'd want the Lynx stuff.

I guess the Hedd would be a good choice since you'll get the Ad/Da and the "Tape" simulation. That would be pretty cool!

Congrats and Good luck with everything.

Kyle D

[MASSIVE Master]

I've been very happy with the AES16.

I've been thrilled with the STC-8(M).

I'm consistently amazed by the HEDD - On a few rare occasions, the HEDD *is* the analog chain.

[jayfrigo]

Remember all the Hedd lovers, if he gets the Hedd, he'll still need a second DAC; one to monitor, one to feed the analog chain (STC-8 in this case). The Lynx AES-16 is excellent, but of course digi I/O only. The Aurora is actually quite good, and a lot of bang for the buck, but things like Lavry and the Hedd will outperform it.

Overall, sounds like a reasonable place to start gear-wise. Proper mastering DAW that can cut parts, QC setup, acoustics etc. obviously must be attended to as well.

I assume from the post that you'll EQ and limit in the box to start? Good ITB EQ is generally easier to find than than good ITB compression, so that's a reasonable decision. Still, the selection of an EQ plug is important. You don't want to skimp and use something like the built-in pro tools EQ. Ditto for the limiter.

[OnlineMastering]

Originally Posted by jayfrigo

....The Lynx AES-16 is excellent....

Got Lynx AES16e SRC - it is a great card!

[Dave Rose]

Thanks for the help guys. I might consider getting the 0300 D which would eliminate the need for a 2nd DA (I did say earlier I already have the 0300's.....haven't actually ordered them yet, was actually going to do it last night!)

I'm running a Mac using Logic and Wave Editor which seems to do OK at the moment. Any good EQ plugin recommendations you guys are using?

What other PCI/firewire interfaces are being used out there?

[csl]

I don't know where you are, but the 0300 and 0300D here are about a grand apart, i.e. a grand on a DA convertor for monitoring shouldn't be too difficult to find, and it would be more flexible regarding level control etc. Perhaps a Lavry Black/Blue/Mytek DAC?

[Glamdring]

Crane Song AVOCET

[Dave Rose]

Yes I have been looking at the AVOCET....this will only handle the DA to my monitors right, so I will still need a converter to handle the outboard chain.....so along with the HEDD and STC-8 plus the interface we're talking a good 6 grand....2 grand over my budget!

What interfaces are ppl using out there? Anyone letting the interface handle the DA for the monitors?

[MASSIVE Master]

You could do worse than the Presonus Central Station... Seriously - It's a pretty good unit and the converters aren't bad at all.

[Kayo]

Originally Posted by MASSIVE Master

You could do worse than the Presonus Central Station... Seriously - It's a pretty good unit and the converters aren't bad at all.

That's my exact thought, when I read about, the RME800 being dissed..
Could do worse...

KAyo

[Lagerfeldt]

Originally Posted by MASSIVE Master

You could do worse than the Presonus Central Station... Seriously - It's a pretty good unit and the converters aren't bad at all.

I really don't like it, the tracking is quite bad. Never checked the converters though.

[Dave Rose]

Definately a cheaper alternative, will have to give it a demo I think. What other interfaces are being used out there?

[beanface]

Originally Posted by Dave Rose

Any good EQ plugin recommendations you guys are using?

Im using RAM Plpareq and its brilliant. Brainworx digital is a great plug EQ too.

[Waltz Mastering]

Originally Posted by Dave Rose

...2 grand over my budget!

Just part of the gig.

[Dave Rose]

Anyone experience with RME HDSPe AIO RME: Home

.....I'm thinking this would handle the DA conversion for my monitors and I could let the HEDD handle the outboard chain....

[jac]

Originally Posted by Dave Rose

Anyone experience with RME HDSPe AIO RME: Home

.....I'm thinking this would handle the DA conversion for my monitors and I could let the HEDD handle the outboard chain....

I use an AIO PCIe card combined with myteks converters through SPDIF. RME is solid and stable, you can't go wrong with it!