Advice on my mobile Setup

[Royer121]

Hey Sluts,

need some advice on a bigger upgrade I'm going to make in the next months.
I want to be mobile, pack my stuff in two or three cases and then get on the road. I will mostly be recording bands in their rehearsal rooms, smaller studios or at live gigs. I got some stuff at home to mix and work on, like a good PC System, PT M-Powered, UAD 1 with a lot of plugins, Event PS8 with custom built stands and a M-Audio Interface.

My current selection of Mics and Pres:
2x Studio Projects C4
1xT.Bone SC900
1xSM 57
1xNeumann KM84
1xTLA 5051 Ivory I

My new Setup should look like this:

1x Dell Notebook
1x M-Audio Profire Lightbridge
1x Digimax FS
1x Behringer ADA8000

Furthermore I'd like to replace the TLA 5051 with a good Stereo Preamp
at around 500 Euros (~650 $). What about a RNP or should I buy a second Digimax ?

Of course I'd like to get some good Drum Mics:
1x Audix i5
1x Beta 52
3x E602
(I think this will complete my mic locker quite good)

What do you think about this setup and can you recommend a Stereo Preamp for my use (Voice/Overheads) ?

Does anybody know if the ADA8000 can simultaneously convert AD and DA ?
Because I also want to use it for sending a Monitor Mix to my Headphone amplifier and also as a Pre/Converter for more unimportant signals.


Thanks a lot



Greets
Ray

[Royer121]

*push*

I really would appreciate some opinions on this...

thanks !

[Ozzy]

Originally Posted by Royer121

Does anybody know if the ADA8000 can simultaneously convert AD and DA ?
Because I also want to use it for sending a Monitor Mix to my Headphone amplifier and also as a Pre/Converter for more unimportant signals.

Yup.

It can. The converters arent bad at all for the price.

Personally not a massive fan of the pres. Always chose to use mackie VLZs over the behringers.

Oz

[Royer121]

thanks for that information....i hope I won't have to use these pres so often.. ;)
It problably would be better to rent a vlz for a day and use its pres, than
the behringer ones.

greets
ray

[wshaw]

I had a couple of Digimaxes for awhile, for the same purpose. I sold them, though, because ultimately they sounded OK, but not great.

I found a HUGE improvement by going to a True Systems TP8 and RME ADI DS converter or Apogee converter. Recordings came out much more airy, spacious, relaxed, and natural-sounding, with much, much improved low end. My tracks needed quite a bit less processing, fought each other less and sat well together. A tremendous improvement--bigger than my previous jump from a Roland VS workstation to the Digimax.

[Royer121]

Unfortunately i cannot afford such an expensive converter. My main aim
is it to be able to record in good quality, given by mics/pres/converters I use.
So if I have put up such a setup and earned some money with it, I can think about getting in the high end class with lunchboxes, apogee preamps and such... ;) Don't get me wrong, but I'll have to stick to my price range...

[wshaw]

I hear you, believe me, but with careful shopping on Ebay you can find a TP8 and an RME ADI DS for a lot less than you might think. I think I paid a total of $2300 for that setup, about 2 or 2.5 years ago.

As one who worked with the Digimax and then went to the TP8/RME setup, the difference is really really worth it. I'm not all that skilled as a recordist, I hate to admit, and my Digimax tracks sounded OK. Maybe someone more skillful could've gotten much better results--that wouldn't surprise me. But I can tell you that my same skills sure sounded better with the TP8/RME rig. Those tracks sounded really nice and attractive to the ear. You wanted to listen to them, instead of having to will yourself to listen--know what I mean?

If at all possible, go with the upgrade!

[Royer121]

Allright...I'll think about your suggestion.. =)
But can't find anything about that True Systems TP8...never heard of it anyways...can you give me a link ?

thx

[wshaw]

Sure. Here:

Welcome to TRUE Systems

Check out the reviews!

If you must go with lower-end gear, I'd get a cheaper converter before giving up on the TP8. The difference between those pres and the pres in the Digimax is not small. But really, the combo of nice pres AND nice converters is pretty amazing . . .

[Royer121]

Thought about it. And must admit, that this is getting out of my price range.

Lets stick to my first idea:

- I got 1500 Euros (2k$) to spend on an Interface (pt mpowered), 8 good Pres/conv. and 8 acceptable ones
- 500 Euros (700$) for a stereo Preamp
- 650 Euros (850$) to spend on some drum mics

thanx
ray

[Royer121]

*push*

[matthew.sawicki]

On my rig, I've got an ADA8000 to do pretty much the same thing you're talking about. Mine feeds my headphone mixes to my distributor so that I don't waste my good channels of conversion on BS. I also use it as my other 8 channels after my Germaniums, and to tell you the truth... they don't sound bad at all.

If you want some proof, check out this band I just finished up. I took the Snare and the Side of a midside through my Germs, but everything else on the kit is through the ADA8000.

http://www.suburbanprostudios.com/muzak/Pack It Up.mp3

[big country]

the FS is a great pre . wshaw , probably had digi max LT's not the FS. way different.
the ada8000 is a piece of crap. I have one on my setup . sometimes it sounds OK but most of the time the thing sounds like a static noise generator. its a moody son of bitch.

like the firestudio the FS leaves no stone unturned.when it comes to I/O

I would stay away from a dell lappy for recording. I learned the hard way on that. some one told me not to, I did any way . I took it back with no loss
so I cant complain.

I just finished my mobile rig if you need some help. its a show stopper

[Royer121]

very nice... ! Thanks for that...I'm really convinced

Please keep posting some examples, especially of the Presonus
Digimax FS, which I never heard before...


thanks

edit: @big country: what did you choose now as a notebook...apple macbook (pro) I suppose ?

[mrufino1]

I would stick with your original proposal, it looks solid. I do exactly what you said, and until last week I had almost the same setup. I just sold everything and got 2 firepods, some mics to finish out what I had (nothing exciting or high end) and reaper. I may still stick with PT for mixing, we'll see, but the m-audio hardware was getting to me, not because of sound wuality but because of functionality. One thing you may want to look at though is building a rackmount computer rather than a laptop. It will be sturdier and less prone to power and grounding issues (dell laptops are notorius for their grounding noises when recording, and a lot of other companies too- I had to always lift the ground on it) and you can get it exactly the way you want if you build it. I built mine (dual athlon, lots of ram, good hard drives) for under $600 us including case. It is all going in an 8 space rack. The one bad thing, you will need to bring monitor, mouse and keyboard but that's not too bad to do. Watch the jars of clay and TOP videos on presonus' site. Anyway, with any of the equipment you mentioned, your recordings will sound good if you make them soudn good- move mics around, encourage things like tuning drums, etc., and that will help A LOT! Then, when something like a TRUE is affordable to you, you will really sound great on it and you will be at a point where people want to pay you enough to own something like that as well. Hope that helped. Oh, and the ada8000 outs are not direct outs from the pres, they are seperate d/a's, if that clarifies anything.

[Royer121]

Allright, really looks like my idea wasn't completely wrong.. ;)
thank you for your answers guys...

[big country]

here is a pic of my rig . its big . I use a gamer style computer. I run Nuendo
I got rid of the dell for a samsung and added another rack of 24 I/O
on my box. for 48 I/O Plugs
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...Picture004.jpg

I have a firestudio , digi max FS and a ADA8000

it folds up . if you look at where the speakers are held. that doubles as the front of my box. the lid is on hinges so you can change or fix the I/O.

when my rig is in transport my monitors go into a drawer where my computer was once. Its a great system it usually gets more attention than
the bands.

[Royer121]

sorry to dig this thread up...

but what do you think about getting a MBP (smallest on) instead
of a dell notebook...???

It costs more, but I hope to get a more stable and safe system.
With bootcamp I can also use my old software now...

Any of you using other notebooks than MBP for recording ? (other brands like acer,samsung, asus,vaio..etc)

What about the new MBs...? Would be great to hear something
about its use in recording situations...


thx