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Best Studio Hardware Combination For $9,000 Limit

M

MusicalAlchemy

May 14, 2010
27
0
35
Cedar Grove, Indiana
www.myspace.com
#1
Greetings, I am soon to be converting a 10 ft by 18ft shed into a small studio and practice area. Can you reccomend some quality equipment that I could/should get to be fully functional, with the greatest sound quailty, with a price cap of $9,000? Software not included in this price, but suggestions on programs are welcome. Obivously suggestions on computer specs, a mixer board, an interface, monitors, microphones (10 drum mics would be needed for my drummer), headphones with individual mixes for 5 band members and one for the mixer room, sound foam, wall plate jacks, and any preamps, effects, or other rack gear that's actually necessary anymore with the rise of technology and sophistication of today's programs. Also, anything else that's necessary that I may have missed. I'll be recording mostly Eclectic Rock and Technical Death Metal. I want it to sound professional enough that once I obtain the demanded skill, I can simply send it off to be mastered and not have to deal with recording elsewhere. Also, for the band practice aspect, I would like to have it set up to where we are using the headphones as opposed to cabs, with the option to record at anytime.

Thanks in advance.
 
#2
What's the Max Amount of channels you think you will need for a recording session?
12, 16, 24 or 32?

I would suggest the following based on your budget:

- Get a Presonus Studio Live (Good Pres, Very good On board FX and many more goodies.

- Microphones: Buy Used, check Ebay listings. I would recommend getting several SM57 (Studio Standard, probably does not sound amazing by itself, but the sound you get will sit in a mix pretty well)
Sennheiser MD421, get a couple of these. Micing a guitar cab with the MD + SM57 = Awesome Guitar Tone)

-Get a pair of Large Diaphragm Condensers. I love the Brauner Phantom Classic, sound better than a U87 and Costs less than half)


For a computer, get a 27" IMac with 16GB of Ram and at least 500GB SSD.
Also a Thunderbolt External Drive is a must 2 or 4TB will be enough for a lot of sessions.

If you know about computers and prefer Windows, then build a system to your specs.

Something like:
i7 Quad Core 2.8GHZ
16GB Ram
1GB Video Card
TI Firewire Card

I gotta get to work. I will follow up later.
Hope this helps a little
 
#3
I would say 16 would be the maximum number of inputs I would ever need at one time. I plan to record each instrument seperately, so I would only need 16 for the practice purposes. That would be:

10 for the Drums
2 for Guitars
1 for Bass
2 for Vocals
with 1 spare.

Unless you would reccomend 24 just in case. Though that's quite a price jump from the 16 channel at $999 to the 24 channel at $2,999.95.
 
#6
Hellbastard said:
What's the Max Amount of channels you think you will need for a recording session?
12, 16, 24 or 32?

I would suggest the following based on your budget:

- Get a Presonus Studio Live (Good Pres, Very good On board FX and many more goodies.

- Microphones: Buy Used, check Ebay listings. I would recommend getting several SM57 (Studio Standard, probably does not sound amazing by itself, but the sound you get will sit in a mix pretty well)
Sennheiser MD421, get a couple of these. Micing a guitar cab with the MD + SM57 = Awesome Guitar Tone)

-Get a pair of Large Diaphragm Condensers. I love the Brauner Phantom Classic, sound better than a U87 and Costs less than half)


For a computer, get a 27" IMac with 16GB of Ram and at least 500GB SSD.
Also a Thunderbolt External Drive is a must 2 or 4TB will be enough for a lot of sessions.

If you know about computers and prefer Windows, then build a system to your specs.

Something like:
i7 Quad Core 2.8GHZ
16GB Ram
1GB Video Card
TI Firewire Card

I gotta get to work. I will follow up later.
Hope this helps a little
Click to expand...

Thanks. That was very helpful. Interestingly enough I am doing something similar and my independent research, apart from the condenser mics (not researched them yet) I came to exactly that end result.

MusicalAlchemy, With regards to bass, my cab/amp combo sounds so good I am going to mic and line it to be able to blend. I didn't get all that expensive gear to just run a cheap plug for the bass sound. ;)
 
#9
MusicalAlchemy said:
For Microphones, this guy has some MD421s and SM57. Would you reccomend any of the other mics he has?

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...

The Sennheiser 609 (Great for Guitars and Drums) and the AKG D112 (Good BD Mic)

MusicalAlchemy said:
Well, I actually see 2 different 16 channel PreSonus mixers. Would you reccomend the 16.0.2 at $999, or the 16.4.2AI at $1999.95?
Click to expand...

the 16.4.2 has more DSP and longer throw Faders. If you can get the 16.4.2


Is the $9.000 Budget is only for Gear? Do you have an acoustical treatment budget as well?

I ask this because no matter how much money you spend in quality gear, it will sound crappy in a small room with no acoustical treatment.
 
#11
MusicalAlchemy said:
Duly noted on the mics. The acoustic treatment would need to be included in this as well. I have a total of a $10,000 budget, but I figured $1,000 would go towards things like drywall, electrical wiring, 2x4s, and insulation.
Click to expand...

In this Case I would recommend you check for someone in your area that has experience with this kind of work.
Acoustical Treatment is the most important part of any recording/Mixing environment.

I would dedicate at least 30% of the Budget for the acoustical treatment of the room.
 
#12
Another computer option is the new MacMini. Get a minimum 4GB ram, and get a good external hard drive (I've heard good things about OWC). Of course, get at least 7200 rpm drive speed on the ext hd. The MacMini has 4 USB 3.0 ports, a thunderbolt port, and a Firewire 800 port. I read an article written by a top level engineer, where he tried to "make it fall over" with crazy track counts, etc and it performed nicely. Good luck with your studio!
 

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