putting together a home project studio

neptoon · #1 05-27-2007, 09:12 AM

well, i've got a sweet room at the front of my house and i've picked out a color, pulled the nails and patched the holes and i'll be at the memo day sale at GC trying to pick up a few things...i've never done this, but i'm kind of being forced into it...here's the deal...my studio project, seven against thebes, is in seattle...i'm in memphis...we want to record our second cd, and i ain't the guy on tv who can snowboard wherever he wants to with his points, so i'm trying to put a set up together so that they can send me the files and i can record myself and send the files back...at any rate, this is the stuff i'm looking at:

alienware area 51 desktop
krk rokit monitors (the 8's and a sub)
radial JDI (or J48...i have no idea)
alesis multimix firewire (the 8 or the 12...they both cost the same)
i may go with a presonus firepod, though, instead of the alesis...again, i don't know...
some decent headphones...i may get some skullcandy dj's since all of my other phones are skullcandy...they sound pretty good to me
a desk to put all this stuff on...i like those studio rta creation stations with the racks on them...

all of the tracks are going to be done with sonar 5 producer edition...that's the only thing that i currently have

if you guys have any input one way or the other, let me have it...i'm on a budget, so, i'm trying to be conservative...i want the bass (lefay herr schwarz), DI, computer and DI to be good...sonar is already decided, and i figure there probably isn't a whole lot of difference in the way i get the sound to the computer (i.e., firepod or alesis)...i'm not mixing this myself, but i'm going to record from the DI on my eden navigator and the radial...i want to maybe add a third track with a mic'ed eden d410xlt...i haven't decided this yet because of all the obvious reasons associated with getting a good mic'ed recorded sound...the main one being i have no idea about any of that stuff...i just want to record myself and send it back to the guys that know what they're doing

stand by for me to get really dumb...ok, dumber than i already am

i'll be adding pics to thsi thread, so yo-ho-ho, here we go

Embryodead · #2 05-27-2007, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neptoon

well, i've got a sweet room at the front of my house and i've picked out a color, pulled the nails and patched the holes and i'll be at the memo day sale at GC trying to pick up a few things...i've never done this, but i'm kind of being forced into it...here's the deal...my studio project, seven against thebes, is in seattle...i'm in memphis...we want to record our second cd, and i ain't the guy on tv who can snowboard wherever he wants to with his points, so i'm trying to put a set up together so that they can send me the files and i can record myself and send the files back...at any rate, this is the stuff i'm looking at:

alienware area 51 desktop
krk rokit monitors (the 8's and a sub)
radial JDI (or J48...i have no idea)
alesis multimix firewire (the 8 or the 12...they both cost the same)
i may go with a presonus firepod, though, instead of the alesis...again, i don't know...
some decent headphones...i may get some skullcandy dj's since all of my other phones are skullcandy...they sound pretty good to me
a desk to put all this stuff on...i like those studio rta creation stations with the racks on them...

1. Ditch The Alienware
2. Good Monitors
3. Ditch the idea of Alesis or Presonus
4. Get a MOTU Ultralite
5. Learn using Cubase

GaryM · #3 05-27-2007, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Embryodead

1. Ditch The Alienware

Have to agree with this, if you're not planning on playing the world's most demanding games then the dual graphics cards and monster power supply will (1) cost money you could spend on something else and (2) generate additional heat that will need to be removed by more powerful fans.

neptoon · #4 05-27-2007, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Embryodead

1. Ditch The Alienware
2. Good Monitors
3. Ditch the idea of Alesis or Presonus
4. Get a MOTU Ultralite
5. Learn using Cubase

well, just about everything is already recorded on sonar...just vocals, guitar solos and bass are left...i saw a motu...looks pretty sweet...i was checking out the alienware mostly because i found a used one for like 400 bucks and it has a zillion rpm high capacity hard drive and like a bunch of RAM to help out with sonar and whatever other junk i have running

neptoon · #5 05-27-2007, 09:01 PM

here's some before shots of the room...you can see the new color on the walls...just trying it out

on the alienware front, i've found another sweet computer, a sony vaio pcv-rz series...i've owned two other vaios in the past without a hiccup from either the desktop or laptop i had...they were both super sweet and easy to use...i may go with another...this dell i'm on currently isn't anything on those two vaios i had...

neptoon · #6 05-27-2007, 09:02 PM

yeah, 12 foot ceilings..what up, bass traps?

neptoon · #7 05-28-2007, 02:58 PM

god, i've got a headache...had a great experience at guitar center today, and despite the crowd there, i got the sound isolated room to myself another guy who i was talking to in line who has some memphis area producing experience and lots of hours on sonar, the GC assistant manager and a lot of gear to try out...i ended up getting a small truckload:

creation station desk
firepod (i tried it against the alesis multimix and the motu and this worked best for me)
a pair of m-audio BX5A monitors (they sounded really awesome, and for the deal they had going -179.99 for a pair!-, i don't think i went too far off the mark here)
a krk rokit 10" sub to go with the m-audios
some monitor stands
some auralex stuff...mopads and a gramma
another furman power conditioner

i spent a little less than 1500.00 bones, so all in all, it went well...again, i tried this gear out against some other stuff recording a tobias 5 string into all of it just to see how it would work, and everything is cool...i'm pretty satisfied...i even got a sonar instructional video...yeah, what a n00b...well, i'm gonna go paint the room so i can load all this stuff in there...

neptoon · #8 05-28-2007, 04:20 PM

dear god...if any of you guys own custom window treatments that cost as much as a compact car, never paint the room they're hanging in...they are a bear to take down...now i'm ready to paint...anyone care to hang some curtains for me tomorrow?

**SoComSurfing** · #9 05-28-2007, 04:37 PM

Sounds like you're going to have some fun ahead of you! I was going to suggest that Creation Station desk, as well. Mine has proved to be worth its weight in gold after the tiny little antique desk I was using. The 8 rack spaces are great, and that bottom "shelf" is great for storage as well. Assembly really was a piece of cake, too.
Enjoy, and keep us updated!

neptoon · #10 05-28-2007, 09:34 PM

hey, will do

just got finished painting...i've been standing on a 10 foot ladder half the day and my ass freaking hurts...nevermind the memo day grilling i also obligated myself too...i'm full...i'll get some more pictures up tomorrow before i hang all the hardare and then after i get the room put back together...just about done!

Jon Burnet · #11 05-29-2007, 07:42 AM

i have just the band for you to practice on! lol

neptoon · #12 05-29-2007, 04:44 PM

well, i've got my room put back together...need an engineer jon? i'm not sure i'm your guy

neptoon · #13 05-29-2007, 04:46 PM

looks really good...in the roller pan, this paint looked like a frosty from wendy's

neptoon · #14 05-29-2007, 04:56 PM

and since i know gear don't exist without pics, here are the shady 'in the box, could be a bunch of bricks' pics

Jon Burnet · #15 05-30-2007, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neptoon

well, i've got my room put back together...need an engineer jon? i'm not sure i'm your guy

well we prefer to drive by car but if train travel ever catches our fancy you'll be the first i call!

James Hart · #16 05-30-2007, 08:18 AM

looking good man! I've got to get my area set up a little better yet. I'm also running Sonar but version 4 producer.

neptoon · #17 05-30-2007, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon Burnet

well we prefer to drive by car but if train travel ever catches our fancy you'll be the first i call!

turkey

dude, i finally made it to corky's yesterday...pretty good barbecue, but i'm not sure it's as good as the pig 'n whistle...we gotta get together and go there for lunch sometime...it's right there in between millington and munford/atoka area where you're at...see ya, man

neptoon · #18 05-30-2007, 11:13 AM

got everything out of the box

James, bro, i'm thankful to even have a space...it's been a few houses back since i've a place all to my own...all the thanks go to my wife, though, who's supported me through all this...i know it's hell for her

EricF · #19 05-30-2007, 07:08 PM

Nice start, neptoon. I'm envious. My setup is crammed into a small computer desk in a small area that has been our junk accumulation room for far too long. It's amazing how fast outgrown kid's stuff builds up. This weekend will (hopefully) be one of making some space for my toys - YAY!

neptoon · #20 05-30-2007, 08:06 PM

well, hey, good luck, bro! it's been a long time in the making...