Is this good equipment to buy for my new home studio?

[Timbo8921]

Hey guys,
I am starting a studio business and am needing help finding the best stuff for my budget. i am hoping to spend 10,000.00 on the studio for now. This is my list below. Is there anything you would change? thanks!

Apogee Ensemble Interface- 2000.00
Focusrite MH441 ISA428 4-Channel Mic Preamp 2000.00
or
dual channel neve portico-1900.00
Shure drum mic package- 399.00
SM7B mic- 350.00
Logic Pro 9- $500.00
Reason- $300.00
Melodyne uno-200.00
Macbook pro- 850.00
Yamaha Ns-10 moniters-800.00
Cables- 400.00
Room adjustments- 600.00
empirical labs distressor -$1400.00
fix up macbook pro- 1500.00
Chris Lord-Alge plug ins- 830.00
=11,330.00


--Timothy

[Weasel9992]

Wrong forum. Try posting this in "So much gear, So little time".

Frank

[ianvargo]

Shure drum mic package- 399.00
If you're going to be recording drums, I would stay away from these packages. Look into stand-by individual mikes, I don't know, maybe you have some already. Definitely budget some good SDC mikes in there. I have beyer MC930's. They are solid!

Focusrite MH441 ISA428 4-Channel Mic Preamp 2000.00
I don't know if you were set on this but I absolutely love my sebatron VMP-4000 4 channel tube pre. You can get one for about $1,300 around here. It is pretty colored, but still a great piece of gear.

Reason- $300.00
Do you have a good MIDI controller and interface?

Macbook pro- 850.00
Although laptops are getting stronger, I'm surprised you won't be purchasing at least a newer iMac.

Yamaha Ns-10 moniters-800.00
Will these be your only monitors?

Room adjustments- 600.00
Spend time and money on this, without a great room you've got nothing...Since you're using a mac, look into fuzz measure pro, it will help analyze your space. FuzzMeasure Pro 3

fix up macbook pro- 1500.00
Once again, are you sure you really want a laptop? They rock, I'm just saying.


I hear great things about Logic, but I would also suggest getting Pro Tools, it's the standard for a reason. It's a pain in the butt, but it's still the standard.


--Timothy

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by Timbo8921

Room adjustments- 600.00 ... =11,330.00

Since you posted here, don't be surprised when people tell you that's a totally lopsided approach to making a studio.

If it were me I'd put at least half of the money into the room, and the other half into gear.

--Ethan

[xaMdaM]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

Since you posted here, don't be surprised when people tell you that's a totally lopsided approach to making a studio.

If it were me I'd put at least half of the money into the room, and the other half into gear.

--Ethan

I'd argue that tooth and nail....

75% into your room and 25% into gear

[SAC]

I'll see ya and raise it one to 76%/24%

[therealbigd]

to be honest, I have to ask if you really know that much about studios and the work involved.

if you don't know a fair bit already about whether Logic is the right program to buy, which computer to run it on etc... are you ready to be setting up a $10k studio.

If you're not sure what you're doing, the money would be better spent on somebody who does - rather than just splashing $10k on gear, racking it up in your new studio and watching it gather dust.

[xaMdaM]

Originally Posted by SAC

I'll see ya and raise it one to 76%/24%

Hmmmm...

I think 80%/20% is pushin' that envelope a bit... so, I'll rephrase it to at least 75% on your room...

So, all I can do is call...

Whatchu got?

[therealbigd]

by the way, spending $800 to have NS10s as your sole pair of monitors, is, in my opinion, ridiculous. The only people who can really do this is people who've mixed on NS10s for so long that they really can work with them as their sole monitors.

For $800, you can get some really, really nice monitors. small Adam, good KRK, small PMC, small Quested, small Dynaudio etc all sit in that price bracket and will do you a far better job than the NS10s!

[therealbigd]

my recommendations...

Originally Posted by Timbo8921

Hey guys,
I am starting a studio business and am needing help finding the best stuff for my budget. i am hoping to spend 10,000.00 on the studio for now. This is my list below. Is there anything you would change? thanks!

If you're building a $10k studio, I think you could really expect to see more than 8 channels of inputs, for a start!

Apogee Ensemble Interface- 2000.00

Not a bad choice, but does limit you a bit on the hardware front (you may change in future). If you took on a Metric Halo, these hardware limitations wouldn't be there. Or you could take on a Digi-003 rack and have it BLA-modded. This will get it sounding great, and mean you can run either Pro Tools or Logic.

Focusrite MH441 ISA428 4-Channel Mic Preamp 2000.00
or
dual channel neve portico-1900.00

I wouldn't go for the Neve. Spending $10k on a studio and getting 6 inputs is an odd way to do things.

Maybe you should look at a Focusrite Octopre. With one of these, you get 8 good sounding inputs (not as good as ISA, but good all the same), and A/D conversion, meaning you can plug them into the Ensemble / Metric Halo / 003 without using the line-ins, and save the line-ins for FX units or additional pre's later on.

Shure drum mic package- 399.00
SM7B mic- 350.00

I'd avoid the drum mic pack. There's drum mic suggestions all over this forum, but on a budget I'd personally get a Heil PR40, 3 57s, 3 421s, and a pair of AT4033s or AKG414s, and a decent LDC of your choice. (The 4033s are surprisingly good condensers at the price!) These mics will cover your drum kit happily, and double up for most other instruments you will come across.

Logic Pro 9- $500.00

Can't argue, if you want Logic, get it. If you just want a DAW, buy a 003 and use Pro Tools. It's good.

Reason- $300.00
Melodyne uno-200.00

Wouldn't bother. 99% of Reason is nowadays found in Logic, and Melodyne is something you can buy at any time, so start without it and if you find yourself wanting it, then buy it.

Macbook pro- 850.00

I know they're cheap but not that cheap! Just buy a decent one. $1500.

Yamaha Ns-10 moniters-800.00

see previous post.

Cables- 400.00

You can probably get by spending less than $400 on cables, especially if you just buy a big reel of mic cable and cut it yourself, and solder on the connectors.

Room adjustments- 600.00

I would say more like $6000.00 if you want to be serious.

empirical labs distressor -$1400.00

It's great, but it's not really your 'one piece of outboard' material. Save the $1400 and buy it when you've tried all your ITB compressors and still can't get the sound you want.

fix up macbook pro- 1500.00

see above.

Chris Lord-Alge plug ins- 830.00

These are great, but I'd sooner spend the money on Sonnox essentials.

My advice would be, at this stage... ...a condensed version of that list.


Good Macbook Pro
Digi 003 Rack with BLA Mod
Focusrite Octopre
1x PR40, 3x 57, 3x 421, 2x 4033 / 414, 1x sE 5600 / TLM103 etc.
Pro Tools (free with 003) + Logic if you want it.
Adam A7s
Waves Gold / Platinum
Sonnox Essentials
PSP Mixpack
Cut your own cables
ROOM TREATMENT

That list probably costs less, will sound far better, will leave you more money for room treatment, and does everything your original list can do.

[steveschizoid]

Originally Posted by Timbo8921

dual channel neve portico-1900.00
.......Yamaha Ns-10 moniters-800.00....
Chris Lord-Alge plug ins- 830.00
=11,330.00

I had the Portico and was not impressed. For about the same price you could pick up a used Aurora Audio GTQ2, which would give you a pre with which you would definitely be impressed, plus you get a really cool sounding 2 channel EQ.

I'd go for a pair of HS80m's; they're really nice for the price (about $400 used), and they actually produce low frequencies. This would give you $400 extra for bass traps

Plug-ins are such an annoying expense. High end hardware depreciates very little (especially used); anything having to do with the computer is essentially pissing money away. I have no experience with those plug-ins. UAD is doing some amazing work lately, but that's even more expense. Softube is pretty cutting edge as well.

[johndykstra]

have to agree with a lot of this, but a word on the shure drum pack.

it's a heck of a price for 3 sm57's with rim mounts and a beta 52.

problem is, i never use the rim mounts for recording, and i have since placed the beta 52 in the live mic bag, after finding sm7 and md421 to be far more "musical" sounding.

this is assuming you were referring to the pro Shure pack. I f you were thinking of getting the PG kit, don't waste your money.