Equipment Recommendations

[wcutta]

I had a small mishap in my home studio consisting of surge and overheating I guess but I have to go out and repurchase some gear....

These are the compressors I'm looking at and naturally I can't afford them all so Im trying to drop some off my most wanted list based on some of your input

Distressor
UA LA2A
Avalon VT-747SP
UA 1176
DBX160a
UA LA3A

I have 2 more questions just for brain picking has anyone here used an Apogee Big Ben and what type of affect does it have on your sound? Lastly as far as Mics Im looking at the AT4060, the AKG 414 and of course the U87Ai so would it be better to take that money and get the 4060 and the 414 or is the U87 sucha workhorse that it would be worth spending that money on the "neumann" sound alone? (I'm recording only hip-hop and rap vocals)

Thanx in advance

[t.dizzle]

The 737's compressor is just one of it's features since it's actually a channel strip. The other pieces are only compressors.

What did you lose that needs to be replaced? If you were happy with the originals, why not just replace them with the same thing?

I personally wouldn't even consider a 414 for vocal duties. And the price of 87's are insane, and totally unjustified in my view. I never thought it did anything special on vox - except for the modded tube 87's. The 4060 is often referred to as "the poor man's 87", but I think it's more like "the SMART man's 87". It sounds really good into my 737.

[wcutta]

Sorry bout the late reply Ive been insanely preoccupied.....but my final decision for the compressors was to just cut my losses and go with the UAD cards Ive been eyeing for awhile now only because I found a local studio where I'd rather send my raw vocal recordings to so they can mix down and master it (Less work for me and I can take advantage of their equipment!!!!)

Now as far as the preamps and mics....Im most likely gonna pick up another Avalon 737 and/or a Great River ME-1nV which should break the bank for me big time.

Last purchase after a bit of saving will be the mic which im still debating heavily between the u87ai and at4060 so I can finally kick this Studio projects C1 to the curb....

By the way what I lost in the surge or whatever was an avalon, voicemaster pro, and my rosetta so of course this time I wont forget to also invest in a nice surge suppressor

[Stitch333]

Originally Posted by t.dizzle

I personally wouldn't even consider a 414 for vocal duties.

I havent ever either until recently I talked with Will Smith and Jazzy Jeffs Studio Guru. At least one whole album they did was cut with a 414 he gave them. They're records sound great so the 414 goes back on the potential list.

As far as the other questions:
1) Im a big advocate of the U87 but both the 4060 and 414 (see above) are on the list
2) As to how the BigBen will affect the sound of your recordings? You should provide more information about your rig. If you have one standalone AD/DA, the BB won't do much. If you have a stack of 888's or 192's, an external clock source is a great idea.
3) Furman's are cheap and are worth they're weight in gold