Setting up my studio???

[No4PCs]

Originally Posted by sethbrand_12

Hey guys,

This is my first post on gearslutz.com!!! Anyways, I am a current college student studying audio production and plan on starting a studio once I'm out of school. I currently use pro tools m-powered with the m-audio fw1814 for recording, and would also like my "real" studio to have a pro tools set up as well. however, I want to be able to mix on a big analog console and record into the computer...pro tools will not allow this unless I go HD and that is too expensive for me right now. So...I am going to list what I have in mind for my studio, and if you guys can help me out that would be great. My budget is 15,000-20,000 tops! Tell me what you would do???

Right now I am leaning towards the Soundcraft Ghost le 32 channel analog mixing console. I don't think it has automation, which sucks, but everything else seems awesome! I would like to run all of my outputs into a couple of MOTU 24 i/o's and into a computer DAW...probably Sonar 6. With this set up I could record digital and edit, mix, etc...as well as mix with a big analog console.

What do you guys think of the Soundcraft Ghost Le??? Is there a better choice for the price, maybe with automation??? Will my set up work???

thanks guys
Seth

Seth, welcome GS.
Unfortunatelly i don´t know the Soundcraft Ghost LE but seems fine.
The idea of edition in the DAW and run the signals to analog is very cool.Many guys here doing that.
Probably they will tell you about good AD/DA converters. Good luck

[dlmorley]

You could use M-Powered with the M-Audio Profire and external convertors. 18 I/O available then.

[sethbrand_12]

hey thanks for the tips guys. I checked out the m-audio unit you suggested. That would be sweet b/c I could still run my pro tools, BUT it still would only offer 32 channels and I can only get 32 channels at 48 khz. with the MOTU 24 i/o's I could get up to 96 channels at 96 khz by linking 4 of them together. I would have to use a different DAW, like sonar, but I think it would be worth it. I could still keep the pro tools set up I have now.

[bexarametric]

I would also look into a Toft ATB console (they make a 32CH). I'm not sure what the Ghost is going for. The 32Ch Toft is around $6000 and you can add a meter bridge (which has not come out yet) and there is also a sound card that can work in conjunction with it. There are a ton of threads about the ATB board on this site. Actually, the biggest thread in the history of this board is about the ATB.

Another option is the Trident 8T.

[cdhps]

im currently in the same situation, gonna have 15-20G (probly gonna end up being more) to spend on a project studio (after i sell my gear which is in the classifieds btw lol) and this is what ive come up with so far:

console: atb, 8t, or modded ghost, or another deal for a neoteck, audient or d&r i can find in classified or ebay

interface:audiofire12

monitors: dynaudio bm5a, 6a, adam a7, emes mini owl, event precision 6 or 8s, jbl 4326 or 28s, or ns10s

pres: i wanna get a dual channel color piece (or a 4 chan sebatron or api if i can find a good deal) and a clean piece....tooooooo many choices here

compressor: drawmer 241, ts2, distressor (if i can find a good deal), portico 5043, bg4 or ua 2-1176 (good deal of course)

some mics: sm7, e604, 421, maybe a c414, se2200a, oktava mk012 (from soundroom cuz they check em) or nt5, hopefully a r121 or r92 thatll cover the bases

LOTS of acoustics treatment cuz i have small rooms

proco dm1s di's

numark phx cans

16-20 chan snake

and some patchbays

and that might be over 20G...but its a good start and i can expand my pre selection and compressor selection too. hopefully get a 16 track tape machine someday too.

[sethbrand_12]

just curious...is that audiofire 12 capable of daisy chaining 3 or 4 of them together for 32+ channels being fed back to the board for mixing??? I know the MOTU 24 i/o comes with the PCI 424 card and you can hook 4 of them together...anyway to do this with audiofire 12

thanks guys I will check out that ATB console as well...

[cdhps]

yes, i think they said they stated 3 together with no problem but you could probably do more they said but they only went up to 3. i would just need two so theres no worry there for me. and plus i had to find a daisy chainable interfaces because i have an imac and i cant put a card in it. theres a couple daisy chainable motu piece like the 828 and 896hd you could look at. i dont know how many you can stack tho...probly only go to 24 chan cuz they 8 each.

[sethbrand_12]

I took a look at the m-audio profire lightbridge and it looks sweet, but I have a question. If I were to connect 4 ADAT lightpipe converters to this baby, it says it can only record at 48.1 khz with 32 channels, 96khz at 16 channels. Is this only referring to input/recording. If I record only a few tracks at a time at 96khz and at the end of my mix, I have 32 channels, can I send all 32 of them at 96 khz back out to an analog mixer for mixing??? Or will it only allow 16 channels at 96khz to be sent back out at a time??? How could I get around this?

[cdhps]

my guess would it would only be able handle 16 tracks out at 96k but i dont know know for sure. maybe you could contact m audio tech support to find out for sure tho just in case.

[Coyoteous]

Originally Posted by sethbrand_12

I took a look at the m-audio profire lightbridge and it looks sweet, but I have a question. If I were to connect 4 ADAT lightpipe converters to this baby, it says it can only record at 48.1 khz with 32 channels, 96khz at 16 channels. Is this only referring to input/recording. If I record only a few tracks at a time at 96khz and at the end of my mix, I have 32 channels, can I send all 32 of them at 96 khz back out to an analog mixer for mixing??? Or will it only allow 16 channels at 96khz to be sent back out at a time??? How could I get around this?

48.1 sounds ever so slightly better than 48... (sorry, couldn't resist)

- actually 18 at 96, if you count the coaxial, and 34 at 48.(1) - unless you use PT MP, then you're still limited to 18, IIRC.