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My New Studio Build (perhaps overly detailed)
- Thread starter silky smoove
- Start date
It pays pretty well. I'll never get rich doing it, but if I can stay employed I'll always be far from broke. In related news I just got a rather large promotion that will lead to more career growth opportunities over the next couple years. That basically just translates into the studio getting done on a timeline that doesn't need to include the word 'decade'
i think a lot of that is "mine is bigger/better". if you don't have a free subscription to TapeOp, i highly recommend it. One of the most revered engineers in Jazz, James Farber, states he prefers to use console preamps for everything, he doesn't like the different outboard pre per source. this is a first call NY guy, who all the bigs want recording them. I think most of the gear lust and purchases are by amateur recordists and home recordists hoping to get "that sound" when in reality the big albums sound best because those big studios ACOUSTICS sound best. mic preamps/compressors/etc are about 5% of the tone.
James Farber: Scofield, Redman, Mehldau, Brecker
I agree. I'm a 100% ITB guy and prefer using a front end that's as neutral as possible, so I've never bothered to put myself in the camp of building huge racks (ATA or 500)... Fortunately, haha...
its' funny you think the pro guys are all about gear and everything (microphones yes) but then Farber with Console preamps and NO EQ (prefers no eq), Bruce Swedien no compressors/limiters minimal EQ. YOu start to wonder if the gear was made to solve a problem that didn't exist.
Great players will make great music whether on a fostex 1/4" reel to reel or a neve and top of the line converters.
I'll have a killer I/O that's very neutral and great sounding plugins that I know how to use... That'll be good enough for me to get results that make me proud and my clients happy. That ideology is why I haven't been pontificating much about gear in this thread. Great room, great mics, great performances, great processing, and great results. Everything else is trivial in my mind.
Speaking of gear 
Focusrite just announced an 8-channel standalone preamp version of their Clarrett interface range. I was planning on picking up a Clarrett 8PreX as the "hub" for my finished studio, but I wasn't sure which preamp with digital output via ADAT I was going to pick up. I need 14-channels in my finished space, so adding an 8-channel preamp to an 8-channel interface via ADAT seemed like the best way to go that wouldn't break the bank. The problem was having two different sets of preamps and having to decide what would get recorded where based on the sound of each set of preamps. With this I'll have 16 identical preamps that sound great and are pretty darn neutral (as long as you don't engage the "AIR" switch which is basically a presence boost on the way in that I doubt I'll use much, if ever). I wish they hadn't put the inputs for channels 1 and 2 on the front panel, but I can work with that.
Focusrite just announced an 8-channel standalone preamp version of their Clarrett interface range. I was planning on picking up a Clarrett 8PreX as the "hub" for my finished studio, but I wasn't sure which preamp with digital output via ADAT I was going to pick up. I need 14-channels in my finished space, so adding an 8-channel preamp to an 8-channel interface via ADAT seemed like the best way to go that wouldn't break the bank. The problem was having two different sets of preamps and having to decide what would get recorded where based on the sound of each set of preamps. With this I'll have 16 identical preamps that sound great and are pretty darn neutral (as long as you don't engage the "AIR" switch which is basically a presence boost on the way in that I doubt I'll use much, if ever). I wish they hadn't put the inputs for channels 1 and 2 on the front panel, but I can work with that.
I like to work from that standpoint as well, but there are plenty of others who want a lot of color on the way in. Ultimately either approach is fine as long as the end results are what you were after when you started. I went the color-on-the-way-in route for a while, and didn't like the results as much, but that's simply down to my abilities and preferred workflow.
I would take it even a step further and say it really comes down to the individual performance. All the gear, instruments and player prestige in the world won't help you if the performance just isn't happening. I'm sure even studio legends like Will Lee have bad days from time to time when they just can't quite get it there. I'm assuming they happen far less frequently than they do for the rest of us mere mortals, but still...
The 8preX is a nice unit. It preforms well and is built to a high standard.
I had a bit of a problem getting midi to work. It turned out that I had an M-Audio USB Midi driver on my system that was conflicting with the Focusrite driver. Removed the M-Audio driver and all was well. It seems that this conflict can occur with some M-Audio, Digidesign, and Avid drivers. Not sure if they have since addressed the issue. It would have been helpful if they had the solution in their FAQ.
Mic pre closeup
Mic preamps
I had a bit of a problem getting midi to work. It turned out that I had an M-Audio USB Midi driver on my system that was conflicting with the Focusrite driver. Removed the M-Audio driver and all was well. It seems that this conflict can occur with some M-Audio, Digidesign, and Avid drivers. Not sure if they have since addressed the issue. It would have been helpful if they had the solution in their FAQ.
Mic pre closeup
Mic preamps
Didn't realize someone else frequenting this thread had that particular interface. Very cool. Overall have you been pleased with it outside of the MIDI conflict issue? It looks, to me, to be the most reasonably priced, fully featured, 8-channel Thunderbolt interface out there right now. The UA Apollo and of course the Apogee Symphony2 are both clearly awesome, but on the order of 2x (or higher) as expensive with a host of features that I don't need.
What did you get for that kind of money? I can understand spending a good deal of cash on cymbals (though I have bought most of mine used), but good drums for studio work can be found cheap. I got an old Gretch kit (before their used prices went through the roof) and recently bought a Yamaha 9000 in good sizes for less than $900. New heads and a good drummer (i.e. not me...) does the rest.
Very pleased with the unit. It's quiet and transparent.
The midi issue was not a big deal, the customer service people were fast and had a fix. They were interested to know what I thought about the product, the documentation, the Focusrite Control app, and even contacted me months later to follow up and see if I had any further thoughts on the product. Before I buy any product, I like to test out customer service to see how responsive they are. As part of that, I also like to see if I can get passed along to their design engineers and ask a couple of more technical questions. I have to say, they passed with flying colors, customer service is very good.
I checked out other products at the time and looked at where the products were in their life cycle. You don't want to buy a product that's about to be replaced. Apogee has a good reputation but I thought that the Focusrite design and quality of the build won out.
With any product there are design tradeoffs and features that you won't use. For instance, with higher gain comes more noise. Designers will limit gain to have a better noise spec. Specs are different depending on the input: line, mic, or instrument, as well as monitor and line outputs. This is an important consideration when comparing products. The problem is, you never know how truthful these numbers are and how they translate in the real world. They are all very good. In the end, it comes down to which product I feel best meets my needs and the relationship that I have with the company.
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I'm in my research stage of a similar audio interface product with 8 pres, this talk is very helpful
Let's see... I bought a full spread of Sabian HHX cymbals, an Ahead cymbal bag a PDP Concept Maple 3-piece shell pack with wood hoops, a 14x6.5 Ludwig Copperphonic snare, a Roland TD-25KV, a Roland 10" pad, a pair of Roland BT-1 bar triggers, a second DW3000 kick pedal for the Roland, a DW6000 Ultralite Hi-Hat stand for the Roland, Remo White Suede Emperor batter heads for the toms and snare, Remo Clear Ambassador reso heads for the toms and snare, Aquarian Superkick II batter head for the bass drum, Remo Fiberskyn head for the bass drum reso side, and an Aquarian port hole trim piece for the bass drum reso head. All told it probably totals closer to $7,000 than $7,500, but it is north of the $7,000 mark.
Perfect. Just what I'm after!
What's the transfer protocol you'll be using? Thunderbolt? USB (and if so, which version of USB)?, FireWire? PCI? PCIe?
They seem to get a lot of praise at the prosumer level, which is where I'll be buying. Truly pro units are a little out of my price range at the moment. At some point I'll likely end up with an Apogee Symphony2 (or 3, 4, 5, etc. by the time I get to it, if ever) which will be truly professional, but I'm more than confident that in 2016 a prosumer level device will provide excellent quality with destroying my bank account more than it already is.
For TB I haven't found anything that's better in terms of useful features for a wide audience than the Focusrite Clarrett series. Buy based on the number of preamps you need and walk away smiling. UA Apollo is also very attractive, but unless you're using their plugs you're paying for DSP acceleration you'll never use.
Tasty stuff! I'm sure you will be happy with that kit.
People about my age (mid-30s) will surely remember back to the early 2000s when the rapper Nelly was quite a thing. He turned a bandaid on his face into a fashion statement. Today I attempted to do the same thing. Not wanting to be some lame poser I smashed myself in the face with the claw end of a framing hammer to legitimize the bandaid placement. In retrospect... Not the best of plans.
To add insult to injury, this was on THE FIRST nail of THE FIRST joist hanger I had started to remove!
To add insult to injury, this was on THE FIRST nail of THE FIRST joist hanger I had started to remove!
