Studio revamp - feedback appreciated!

[Glamdring]

Hey everyone,

I'm thinking of upgrading my studio. It's a small 'producer studio' geared towards scoring film and composing, but I would like to be able to do some half-decent tracking on site.

Here is what I have currently:


Core Duo iMac (2GB RAM) running Logic 7

MOTU 896 Firewire

Dynaudio BM15A

Rode NT5 condensors

Rode K2

Soundfield SPS422B (!)

Crappy M-Audio midi controller

Garritan Personal Orchestra

PSP MasterQ, Sonalksis SV315, PSP VintageWarmer.


Here is the new plan:


Mac Pro (2 GB RAM) running Logic 7

Dynaudio BM15A (same)

Apogee Rosetta 200 with X Firewire Card

Crane Song STC-8

Manley Massive Passive

Great River MP-2NV

Soundfield SPS422B/Rode K2

Vienna Smyphonic Library Opus 1 & 2/Spectrasonics/Kontakt?

Melodyne plugin

Four Minitraps

Protools LE

Yamaha P140 Stage Piano (for controlling midi)

My main idea is to invest in some decent convertors. Then I can run mixes through the Massive and the Cranesong rather than mixing in the box with plugins (I don't feel I'm getting anywhere with the plugs; time to get serious).

Few things I'm not sure about:

Rosetta 200 or 800. I will be mostly using the Soundfield on everything to start with, so I'm not sure it's worth getting 8 ins. But then, I may need them? I'm also slightly confused, is the X Firewire card the only option for a Mac PRo? I thought you could use a PCI card too?

Great River a sound choice for the pre?

What about the Manley ---> Cranesong as a final 'mastering' chain? Anyone had any experience using these two together? Other EQ suggestions welcome....I think I'm pretty sold on the Cranesong as it will do both orchestral and other stuff quite nicely.

Do I need a patchbay yet? Prolly not.


Anyhow, there it is. Let me know what you think!

E

[Glamdring]

bump!

[beesting]

gday mate

i have an apogee rosetta 800 with x-firewire and a manley massive passive (both of which you are considering).

i chose the 800 over the 200 at the very last minute because i like to record (at the same time) audio from the pre-amp and also a compressed / eq'd version when tracking. btw: i havent heard of a pci card for the 200 / 800 - dont think they exist.

i love my massive passive. it took me a while to get used to though. i use it for both tracking and overall eq on the 2-bus (in conjuction with a smart c2 compressor).

i use my patchbay all the time (especially with the rosetta 800). i have preamp outputs, compressor outputs and eq outputs 1/2 normalled so i can record all signals at the same time into the rosetta 800. this allows me to be a bit more experimental with compression and eq as i know i have recorded a "clean" preamp signal.

btw... will 4 minitraps be enough? is this the only treatment to your room?

hope some of this helps.

[Glamdring]

Hey Beesting,

Thanks for the reply.

If I read you right, you chose the 800 so you could record both a processed and an unprocessed signal at the same time in to give you some more versatility if you wanted to change anything? Is this right? Sounds like a clever idea actually.

How do you find the Rosetta's sound? I will be doing quite a lot of orchestral and classical production and some say the Lynx convertors produce better results...can anyone shed any light on this?

Glad to hear you rate the Massive Passive. The main idea is for me to come out of the box into the Passive and then into the STC-8 for some real analogue. As I mentioned above, I have been mixing with plugs in the box but don't really feel I am getting anywhere. Time to get serious.

A friend told me today that if I added a summing box into the chain (before the Massive and STC-8) that that would do wonders for the sound. Can anyone comment on this? Suggest any good models?

I haven't really managed to get my head around patchbays yet. Sure sound like a good idea though. Do you think I need one for my setup or could I do without for the time being?

Yeah...4 minitraps is not all i need to treat any single room, but whilst I am moving about and don't have a permanent studio location there's not much more I can do at the mo..

thanks for all this!

[beesting]

Originally Posted by Glamdring

Hey Beesting,

Thanks for the reply.

If I read you right, you chose the 800 so you could record both a processed and an unprocessed signal at the same time in to give you some more versatility if you wanted to change anything? Is this right? Sounds like a clever idea actually.

Thats right.

Originally Posted by Glamdring

How do you find the Rosetta's sound? I will be doing quite a lot of orchestral and classical production and some say the Lynx convertors produce better results...can anyone shed any light on this?

Rosetta 800 sounds great to me. I'm no pro engineer though. Orchestral production propably relies a bit more on good convertors so it would be worth while asking the guys who mix this stuff.

Originally Posted by Glamdring

Glad to hear you rate the Massive Passive. The main idea is for me to come out of the box into the Passive and then into the STC-8 for some real analogue. As I mentioned above, I have been mixing with plugs in the box but don't really feel I am getting anywhere. Time to get serious.

A friend told me today that if I added a summing box into the chain (before the Massive and STC-8) that that would do wonders for the sound. Can anyone comment on this? Suggest any good models?

The massive passive and STC-8 are serious pieces of gear. I dont use a summing box and have never really felt the need to. i like playing around with my busses, sends and returns ITB and to me adding the summing box would be a pain in the arse. also, you need more inputs / outputs on your convertors, so i would probably have to get another roseatt 800 to use it properly.

Originally Posted by Glamdring

I haven't really managed to get my head around patchbays yet. Sure sound like a good idea though. Do you think I need one for my setup or could I do without for the time being?

You can get by without one, especially if you dont have heaps of outboard. it just makes my life easier and allows me to try things out quicker (e.g. patching the compressor before or after the eq).

:)

[Glamdring]

Cool.

I think in that case I'll definitely go for the Rosetta 800.

I've been looking into summing boxes and the whole thing seems a bit of a nightmare. Think I'm better off waiting til I've got a decent console.

I've done some thinking on room treatment...clearly four minitraps won't be sufficient. Think I might go for Ethan's Standard Room Kit 1. There's a pretty big saving there if you work it out!



thanks for help mate.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by Glamdring

I've done some thinking on room treatment...clearly four minitraps won't be sufficient. Think I might go for Ethan's Standard Room Kit 1. There's a pretty big saving there if you work it out!

Sorry for the delay chiming in on this thread. I was out of town for two days making arrangements with the Grammy engineers who are using our products for their live mix at the awards show next Sunday.

I'm glad to see you considering more traps because it really will help. Even four MiniTraps will make a big improvement, but with bass trapping you can never have too much. First reflections are also important, so getting a Standard Room Kit is definitely a better plan. And of course you can easily take them with you when you find a permanent home for your rig.

--Ethan