One possible studio configuration/setup

[blazah99]

Hi all, Im in the process of setting up my home studio. I told my pops about it and he asked a friend of his who does music mixing what he'd suggest. One email later Im suggested the following gear but I'd like your guys opinions.

- Tascam DP-02 digital porta-studio http://tascam.com/product/dp-02/
- Behringer 1202FX Mixer http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/1202FX.aspx
- NCH Wavepad Audio Editing Software http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/index.html
- MXL 990/991 two microphone set http://www.mxlmics.com/microphones/900-series/990-991/

here are some images:







This setup doesn't allow for mixing on the computer until you've finalized the track and opened the audio in DAW, and the DAW doesn't support midi from the looks of things. Everything is for the most part done on the recorder and mixer and exported via CD or SD card. This is why I'm concerned and need a second opinion.

[the4thImpulse]

Hi all, Im in the process of setting up my home studio. I told my pops about it and he asked a friend of his who does music mixing what he'd suggest. One email later Im suggested the following gear but I'd like your guys opinions.

I don't know how much your dads friend knows about audio stuff but judging by his recommendations... its just good you asked for a second opinion.

I have to ask some questions before I (and anyone else) can really help you in a productive manner, answer them please.

What is you're budget?
What do you plan or recording? (genre's, instruments, bands, yourself? tell me everything you expect to do with this equipment)
What equipment do you currently own?
What knowledge/experience do you have within the audio engineering industry?
How far over budget can you go?

[vladnuke]

I have actually owned the xenyx at one time. Very nice, easy to use little thing, really more for DJs than producers imo, but it's still great to have, especially for the mics.

I don't know about your friend, but midi is rather important if you want to make stuff that isn't strictly acoustic. I mean, it probably works for your friend since all he does is mix tracks, not really arrange them, but if you want to make music, not just mix, you're going to need a more capable daw.

Also, considering that the wav is going to be a bit for bit copy of the cd, I see no real reason to constantly burn tracks to cd. I mean, yeah, it'll be cool to send it later, but seeing as your computer can already do everything that particular bit of kit can do (save provide a stage for the mics/guitar, which frankly can already be done by the mixer.), it seems a bit obsolete.


Get the mic and mixer, lose the recorder, get a more capable daw, if you want a bigger focus on recording and still have room to grow, Apple's Logic is a good choice, as is Pro Tools (although you'll have to deal with Avid).

But if you're not on a Mac, there's Reason (very nice, eccentric), FL Studio (don't believe the lies, it's a very capable DAW), Ableton (it's p cool), and many other contenders. All of which can record just fine and still do more than be a digital tape machine.

[blazah99]

I have to ask some questions before I (and anyone else) can really help you in a productive manner, answer them please.

What is you're budget?
What do you plan or recording? (genre's, instruments, bands, yourself? tell me everything you expect to do with this equipment)
What equipment do you currently own?
What knowledge/experience do you have within the audio engineering industry?
How far over budget can you go?

What is you're budget? $700
What do you plan or recording? (genre's, instruments, bands, yourself? tell me everything you expect to do with this equipment)
Most to least:
genres - Soft/Classic/Alternative Rock, Orchestral, Country, 2k Alternative, Instrumentals, Electro, Electronic, Chiptune.
instruments - acoustic guitar, ukulele, midi keyboard, digital: piano, violin, cello, banjo, drums.
Bands - I listen to alot of early 2Ks alternative rock, 80s rock & metal, 90s country, classical, and great video game and movie sounds & tracks. More specifically a few would be John Williams (love his melodies), Boston, Fallout Boy, Augustana, Del Amitri, Matchbox Twenty, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Garth Brooks, Imogen Heap, etc.
Expect to do - Create musical tracks in said genres and make some mlp remixes. Mostly with string instruments, vocal effects and correction, volume adjustments and fades. I expect to work in a few tones/bars to create melodies, find and use a good instrument sound and mix it (adjusting low, high, mid, cutoffs, compress, etc), and then continue to add on and focus on that.

What equipment do you currently own? Win7 laptop, an old electronic keyboard with a MIDI output, acoustic guitar and ukulele.
What knowledge/experience do you have within the audio engineering industry? Little. Ive worked with FL Studio and FL Studio mobile before but not to a large extent.
How far over budget can you go? Probably up to $300 making $1,000 total.

Get the mic and mixer, lose the recorder, get a more capable daw, if you want a bigger focus on recording and still have room to grow, Apple's Logic is a good choice, as is Pro Tools (although you'll have to deal with Avid).

Thanks. I dont think the mixer is PC compatible though, I see no way of being able to hook it up to a computer.

[bartekko]

First of all, I'm pretty certain that many of this forum's users make music just with a MIDI Keyboard hooked up to a computer running a DAW and some VST plugins...

genres - Soft/Classic/Alternative Rock, Orchestral, Country, 2k Alternative, Instrumentals, Electro, Electronic, Chiptune.
instruments - acoustic guitar, ukulele, midi keyboard, digital: piano, violin, cello, banjo, drums.

...but you're also going to need a microphone and an audio interface (I heard good things about the Focusrite Scarlett series, I don't know much about microphones)

Expect to do - Create musical tracks in said genres and make some mlp remixes. Mostly with string instruments, vocal effects and correction, volume adjustments and fades. I expect to work in a few tones/bars to create melodies, find and use a good instrument sound and mix it (adjusting low, high, mid, cutoffs, compress, etc), and then continue to add on and focus on that.

Working within a few bars is certainly not the modern way to do it, imho in the worst of meanings of not modern. Recording a few bars at once is a way better idea but I am a fan of the Compose -> Learn -> Record order, as it helps keep the rhythms cleaner and melodies sounding less random.

What equipment do you currently own? Win7 laptop, an old electronic keyboard with a MIDI output, acoustic guitar and ukulele.

you don't have drums although you specified wanting to record them. I'm just gonna assume you meant a friend's/relative's drum set, but you're gonna need more than one mic for that.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4744 <--- clickity click

What knowledge/experience do you have within the audio engineering industry? Little. Ive worked with FL Studio and FL Studio mobile before but not to a large extent.

FLStudio is a good DAW, although not suited for recording imo.
Most DAWs have free trials, so you can check out their workflow and familiarize yourself with software without paying anything.
I suggest either Ableton Live, or Cockos Reaper, or Cakewalk Sonar.

[the4thImpulse]

First of all, I'm pretty certain that many of this forum's users make music just with a MIDI Keyboard hooked up to a computer running a DAW and some VST plugins...

I make my own personal music like that but I am a certified audio engineer, I am one of the few qualified people here.

What is you're budget? $700

Expect to do - Create musical tracks in said genres and make some mlp remixes. Mostly with string instruments, vocal effects and correction, volume adjustments and fades. I expect to work in a few tones/bars to create melodies, find and use a good instrument sound and mix it (adjusting low, high, mid, cutoffs, compress, etc), and then continue to add on and focus on that.

What equipment do you currently own? Win7 laptop, an old electronic keyboard with a MIDI output, acoustic guitar and ukulele.

What knowledge/experience do you have within the audio engineering industry? Little. Ive worked with FL Studio and FL Studio mobile before but not to a large extent.

How far over budget can you go? Probably up to $300 making $1,000 total.
.

So you want to record yourself making, mainly, acoustic tracks of some sort? I assume you are a musician at least, if not you are jumping into this all too quickly.

What you need is a mixer that's compatible with a DAW, or just a regular mixer and then an 8in/8out soundcard so everything will seamlessly work within a DAW.

I would never recommend those small Behringer boards.
The recorder device is not necessary if you are working in a DAW, which I highly recommend you do.
That DAW is cheap, stay away, Pro Tools is the industry standard for recording music and it deserves that spot.
Those mics have decent specs, but they are priced cheap, they may sound good, they may not, you should look up reviews to see what people are using them for and if they would recommend them for what you'll use them for.

You will also need a good pair of studio headphones which will run you about $200 American.
If you live with your parents a room to call your own, somewhere quiet, will also be needed to make quality recordings. You don't need acoustic treatment yet, focus on removing the background noises. If you've moved out then I'm sure you have much more space to work with.

I don't have much time right now, I will be back to give you some other gear options.

[Nine Volt]

First of all, I'm pretty certain that many of this forum's users make music just with a MIDI Keyboard hooked up to a computer running a DAW and some VST plugins...

I make my own personal music like that but I am a certified audio engineer, I am one of the few qualified people here.

You don't need qualifications to make music like that.

[blazah99]

Expect to do - Create musical tracks in said genres and make some mlp remixes. Mostly with string instruments, vocal effects and correction, volume adjustments and fades. I expect to work in a few tones/bars to create melodies, find and use a good instrument sound and mix it (adjusting low, high, mid, cutoffs, compress, etc), and then continue to add on and focus on that.

Working within a few bars is certainly not the modern way to do it, imho in the worst of meanings of not modern. Recording a few bars at once is a way better idea but I am a fan of the Compose -> Learn -> Record order, as it helps keep the rhythms cleaner and melodies sounding less random.

What equipment do you currently own? Win7 laptop, an old electronic keyboard with a MIDI output, acoustic guitar and ukulele.

you don't have drums although you specified wanting to record them. I'm just gonna assume you meant a friend's/relative's drum set, but you're gonna need more than one mic for that.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4744 <--- clickity click

Thanks for the advice. Did I say bars? Oops, I meant notes. The idea/inspiration came from a video on music in games. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKgHrz_Wv6o

I was planning on using digital drum instruments, I dont know of someone who owns a drum set.

@the4thImpulse Thanks for the advice. =)

[Acsii]

First of all, I'm pretty certain that many of this forum's users make music just with a MIDI Keyboard hooked up to a computer running a DAW and some VST plugins...

I make my own personal music like that but I am a certified audio engineer, I am one of the few qualified people here.

You don't need qualifications to make music like that.

4th meant that like me they're a sound engineer (well I'm not one yet but I'm nearly qualified) which you need qualifications to do.

[the4thImpulse]

I make my own personal music like that but I am a certified audio engineer, I am one of the few qualified people here.

You don't need qualifications to make music like that.

4th meant that like me they're a sound engineer (well I'm not one yet but I'm nearly qualified) which you need qualifications to do.

Thanks for understanding me ACSII


Back on topic:

Starting with a simple soundcard will be best for now. It will leave you money for mics, headphones, and most importantly software (don't pirate, you will go nowhere).

Check out the "M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R", its got 8 inputs, 8 outputs, which will give you room to grow into, and a 24-bit/96kHz sample rate. It also includes a lite version of Pro Tools to get you started. All in its great for its price point of ~$400.

Later you can add an analog mixer if you want that hands on EQ feel, but when you are starting out (and especially with your budget) its best to put money to good quality things and a soundcard is something you can't cheap out on.

Headphones are something you need to go to a real music store a try out for yourself, find ones you like the sound of and pick those up.

[blazah99]

Thanks again for the input. Unfortunatly I couldn't wait any long an ordered a Focusrite 2i4 sound card and a set of Skull Candy Avatar headphones. The mics my fathers friend suggested are also in the mail along with some xlr cables.

I still haven't gotten a DAW. I thinking FL Studio or Pro Tools. Ableton Live is my third choice but only because the work flow is much different and Im still unsure how much I'd like it.

What do guys think about a MIDI controller? I'd really love to have something I can interact with physically but mixers and MIDI are a hole other ballgame im unfamiliar with. Ive been looking at the MPK Mini as it has both volocity pads and a keyboard.

Opinions and suggestions on MIDIs, mixers, and DAWs??

[Acsii]

y-you got skull candy....
sorry that is possibly the worst choice...

[vladnuke]

Brodog, im srs, how much did the skullcandies cost? Don't even take those things out, go sell them back and get some actual headphones you can produce with. I'm running Shure SRH840's, they're really nice, but any montioring/production headphones will work.

List of good brands:
Seinheiser (some)
Shure
Sony (some)

List of consumer, unbalanced, unspecced tripe

Beats
Skullcandy
Cheap target shit
Basically any headphones under $150, again there are a few exceptions but those are rare
Bose


Why you don't want to cheap out on headphones:

Studio work (especially acoustic studio work) requires an "unbiased" balanced sound system. The king of this is a good pair of monitors, but in leau of this, a good, balaced pair of headphones.

A good pair of headphones will last a long ass time, and will typically (in shure's case) have really nice warranties)

The sound quality you hear is better, and ultimately less fatiguing.

You want to make sure they're comfortable to wear, because they're going to be on your head for a long time.

Cheap headphones break more easily from just regular use, and you'll end up spending the same amount of cash on replacements.

Detatchable cords are an absolute must, cords are, by nature, fragile and sometimes need to be replaced.


What you're looking for in headphones:

Impedence: how much power is needed to drive it/how much resistance it has, typicaly from 16 to 32 ohms

Frequency responce: how big is your soundstage, how faithfully will it recreate sound.

Driver size/amount

Comfort

Level of Enclosure



Good headphones save lives, help you understand your mix better.

Of course, then you might want to check how well it holds up on worse sound systems, but to get it there, you need a good pair of monitors or headphones.

[Acsii]

I would say akgs as well but they're quite expensive... But worth it... They are super comfy and sound amazing

[blazah99]

So I did some looking into on returning my headphones and Im turns out I'm stuck with them. On the plus side the model I got since it was straight from the manufacture are the new redesigned model since I guess a lot of people complained about the quality.

Made some progress, kinda, on getting a DAW. Long story short-ened I bought FL10 but bad address got returned, almost bought it 2 more times but internet cutout, tried some other DAWs but no good, discovered one that really suited my interests (Cubase 7) and almost bought it 2 twice but internet cutout both times, found an awesome deal for C6 + Halion + Free upgrade to C7 and got that. Finally one I want is in the mail and will be here in about a week~ish (mail usually takes an additional 2 weeks to get here).

This now will be arriving around the time school ends and summer begins, and leaves me with some other DAW demos and a live lite 8 version of Ableton (came with my sound card).

Im still on Ableton Live 9's 30 day trial and haven't installed the live lite 8 version yet but to those that know should I or would it be a waist? Are their advantages one has over the other?

Also I guess its got an online music collab feature in it so any Cubase 7 or Nuendo 6 users out there?

[Acsii]

Live 9 is definitely better than live 8 in terms of workflow and stuff
I still use live 8 because I haven't bought live 9 yet

[bartekko]

Live 9 is definitely better than live 8 in terms of workflow and stuff
I still use live 8 because I haven't bought live 9 yet

objection: live 9 has essentially the same workflow as live 8 for obvious reasons, but has some buttons in different places (It took me ten minutes to figure out where they took the return to arrangment button, and in fact, they split it into separate tracks which feels stupid to me) as well as different automation recording behaviour which, while more flexible, doesn't necessarily mean it's more user friendly.
BUT Live 9 comes in 64 bit and 32 bit versions which means that if you're just starting out, you should get live 9 because 64 bit vst plugins are really incompatible with 32 bit ones and therefore you won't have to worry when upgrading (the answer to the question of WHY DID YOU NOT PROVIDE ME WITH A 64>32 BRIDGE still stands unknown)