COMPLETE MY STUDIO PLEASE!!

[Kompakt]

Im planning to spend 5 grands for a vocal studio for major/radio recordings. all im looking after is the best (Retail CD) sound quality for vocals which i can send in for mastering at the label. dont really need anything else.

therefore the MIXER route is useless to me.. so im following the PREAMP route (Mic-Preamp-Audio interface-Monitors) to get the best sound quality for vocals.

I got the PD Dual core computer package, rode nt1000, yamaha powered mixer, Mackie PA speakers system (both just for show rehearsals), vocal booth.. all i need now is a 1st choice mic-preamp-audio interface-monitors. 2.5 grands remaining to get these 3.

MIC: RODE K2 - $800
wanted a tube for warmth- tested it against various others, stood out, suits my voice, read from scratch- ppl who use the K2: TALIB KWELI, MARY J BLIGUE, THE GAME, HI-TEK.. so its def industry standard.

PREAMP- ?? (FMR RNP/GRACE 101/TRUE SYSTEMS P SOLO?)

AUDIO INTERFACE- ?? (EMU 1212M?)

MONITORS- FOSTEX PM 2 ($900)
tested these, the midrange is def better than the KRK RP series, and the V series are out of my budget range..

so I have approx 1 GRAND remaining to spend on the AUDIO INTERFACE and PREAMP. could you guys suggest me what would be the best for me considering my situation? i was going for the FMR RNP and the EMU 1212M but some dudes told me the EMU 1212M is entry level and wont take the best out of my Rode K2! let me know homies.

[maskedman72]

i would go with event asp8's for monitors rather than the fostex. for the pre grab an me1nv.

[warhead]

Mic: RED system with R8 "Standard" capsule, R6 capsule and R7 capsule

Reason: Great sounding mic and all 3 of these capsules complement each other extremely well and you could cover any voice walking in the door as far as condensors go.

Price: $2,000

Mic: Shure SM7B

Reason: Great dynamic mic to have around when you don't need all that detail of a condensor

Price: $350

Preamp: Safe Sound Audio P1 channel strip with pre / expander / compressor / limiter

Reason: OK it's not a super high end preamp but it's robust and detailed and well suited to voice work. The compressor and limiter were made for people who do lots of voice work, period. You can have gospel screaming divas or soft spoken rappers and the P1 will always handle the signal and still hand you a full sound that's not obviously compressed.

Price: $700

Audio Interface: EMU 1212M

Reason: Sounds far better than its asking price

Price: $200

Monitors: Yamaha HS80M

Reason: Delivers a lot top to bottom, excellent value monitor and even looks cool

Price $700

I've got you at $4k and you've got 3 different / easily swappable mic capsules that all sound different to match to different voices, a second mic for when a good dynamic would come in handy, a good pre with great dynamics control made for voice (with onboard monitoring for no latency), quite decent converters and monitors that will tell you what's happening up and down the scale.

If you really gotta pop off another $1,000 hell maybe buy a Hardy M1 personal mic pre and be done with it.

That's what I'd do, except I'd pocket the $1,000 left over up front and see how much you like the P1 preamp before just dropping that extra cash.

War