About to invest in some serious gear, need suggestions!

[AdamWathan]

Hey guys, my drummer and I are going in together to start building a project studio. Gear first, then he's hoping to find a house with an unfinished basement to purchase next summer that we're planning to convert into a nice little home studio. After searching through some threads, I've decided on this stuff so far for gear...

Interface:
Presonus Fire Studio

Mics:
Drums:
Audix DP5a set
-i5 for snare
-2 x D2 for toms
-D4 for floor tom
-D6 for kick

Overheads:
Samson C02 pair
- or -
Rode NT5 pair
(is it worth the price difference to get the Rodes?)

Vocals:
Audio-Technica AT4040
Shure SM58

Guitars/misc:
Shure SM57


I have no idea what monitors to buy, price range would probably be about 800 for the monitors. Anyone have any suggestions on the stuff I have listed so far or able to suggest a nice pair of powered monitors?

Also, any crucial gear I'm forgetting? I know there's a lot of mic stands and XLR cables to be bought, haha but what about rack gear? Anything I need right away to get started?

 

[HeadCrusher]

why do you want to buy the gear before you have the space? stuff might get cheaper by that time...

mics are great imo! the samsons are on the cheap side but some ppl here seem to like them so they can't be total shyte!

i'd ditch the mic stands at first cause the clips that come with the audix set are great! so only one stand for the bass drum and two for the overheads. get an extra clip for the snare cause in my experience there is little space to place a stand there most of the time... you might wanna get an extra mic for the hihats maybe. otherwise you can use the remaining channel of your firestudio for a second snare mic (especially as you already plan to buy an sm57).

if you plan on not using more than 8 channels on the firestudio (i guess so as there is no adat pre in your list) you could also get the cheaper firepod (fp10, firestudio project or whatever they call it now).

save the sm58, it's pretty much the same as the sm57 plus a dustcap from what i hear.

monitors: in your price range i would get the yamaha hs50's plus the corresponding sub.

what you forgot: software!
if you're about to have to seperate rooms some sort of talkback option would be cool. maybe the presonus central station. and you'll need headphones and a headphone pre amp.

 

[fatalforce]

For monitors the Mackie HR824's are sweet for some nearfields. If you really wanna get some good sounds would invest in some great preamps and a superior ADC.

 

[MetalWorks]

For monitors the Mackie HR824's are sweet for some nearfields. If you really wanna get some good sounds would invest in some great preamps and a superior ADC.

When I started I found myself wishing I had put out a little extra for some better gear so I wouldnt have wasted time or money on cheaper gear.

Sure you need to get started.

But you will get better results with better mics.

And when you think about the fact that you will buy gear now, and most likely realize you want better stuff later, you are paying for both.

Why not pay for the better now and save in the end?

Maybe try seeing what the scenario looks like to get some really great mics from the start.

Firepod $699
DP5A $659
Rode NT5 Pair $429
AT4060 $249
SM57 $99
SM58 $99
Monitors $800

Total: $3034

Firepod $699
4 421's $1396
Audix D6 $199
Audix i5 $99
Shure SM81 Pair $698
SM7B $349
SM57 $99
Monitors $800

Total $4339

A difference of $1300.

Thats about what the 4 421's would cost.

You could make 5 payments on those for $275 per month through American Musical Supply.

Between the 2 of you that's $137.50 a month for 5 months.

Thats not bad considering the gear you will own in the end.

Just something to consider.

Then you will have some pro mics.

And when its time to upgrade the studio, the only thing that goes is the Firestudio when you get some super Mic Pre's and converters etc.

Good luck either way.

 

[AdamWathan]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

As far as gear before space goes, we are still going to be able to use all of this stuff before we have the "proper" studio space, we can track drums and stuff in the jam hall no problem. We are going to be doing something a bit more pro with the actual space once we have it though, that's the idea!

Software wise it's probably going to be Cubase.

We're going for the Firestudio because it's nice to HAVE the option to add ADAT mic pre's down the road, but for now the 8 inputs will suffice!

 

[AdamWathan]

When I started I found myself wishing I had put out a little extra for some better gear so I wouldnt have wasted time or money on cheaper gear.

Sure you need to get started.

But you will get better results with better mics.

And when you think about the fact that you will buy gear now, and most likely realize you want better stuff later, you are paying for both.

Why not pay for the better now and save in the end?

Maybe try seeing what the scenario looks like to get some really great mics from the start.

Firepod $699
DP5A $659
Rode NT5 Pair $429
AT4060 $249
SM57 $99
SM58 $99
Monitors $800

Total: $3034

Firepod $699
4 421's $1396
Audix D6 $199
Audix i5 $99
Shure SM81 Pair $698
SM7B $349
SM57 $99
Monitors $800

Total $4339

A difference of $1300.

Thats about what the 4 421's would cost.

You could make 5 payments on those for $275 per month through American Musical Supply.

Between the 2 of you that's $137.50 a month for 5 months.

Thats not bad considering the gear you will own in the end.

Just something to consider.

Then you will have some pro mics.

And when its time to upgrade the studio, the only thing that goes is the Firestudio when you get some super Mic Pre's and converters etc.

Good luck either way.

Thanks man this was an extremely helpful post, I really appreciate your input! I saw a lot of people raving about the Audix tom mics which is why I opted for the DP5a set. I've been into home recording and stuff for a long time, but really I'm still a total n00b to gear and stuff since I've only ever read about most of this stuff, never used it. Are the 421s pretty much standard for toms and that much better than the Audix then?

 

[MetalWorks]

Most pro studios use the 421's.

The Audix set does sound great.

But the 421's and other mics mentioned in the setup would be very versitile.

Some engineers use 421's on guitars and bass as well.

Same with the D6 on a bass cab.

Or the i5 on a guitar cab.

You would have mic's that are essentially selected for your drums but will do excellent if pulled for other things as well.

I've been taking advantage of American Musical Supply for the last year.

I dont have too much extra cash to reach out and buy $300 or $600 pieces of gear at once.

But I can afford $89-$110 per month no problem.

 

[Zombietakeover]

What Does AMerican Musical Supply offer.....what deal do you got going?

 

[MetalWorks]

Im not sure I completely understand your question.

But American Musical Supply has many good products.

Some of the things I took advantage of buying on their payment plan include:

Maxon OD808
Radial X Amp Reamping box
Sansamp RBI Bass DI Preamp
Sennheiser 421

Other products they offer:
Occasionally they have good Focusrite model Pre's
Avalon Mic Pre's
RME Converters

I mean you can see for yourself.

But the main catch is they are the only place I know of that offers 0 interest payment plans without needing credit.

If you want a Peavey or Krank Amp, Marshall Cab, Apple Computer, ESP guitar, you can afford payments on something that you dont have a couple thousand dollars to spend right at once.

And you can mix and match stuff.

Say you want a D6 and an E609 mic.

As long as its close to $300 you can make payments.

Or a DDrum 5 Piece Trigger set plus some Vic Firth Drum Headphones.

3 payments of $89.

You name it.

Extremely easy and convenient for starving musicians.

Especially when theres so much you can use for recording.

 

[JeffTD]

Screw the FireStudio! Get a Saffire PRO 26i/o instead. Much better converters and pres, and just as expandable, plus 2 headphone outputs, adjustable impdeance on the first 2 pres, and HPF on all pres.

 

[AdamWathan]

OoOoOoOo! Damn that does look nice! Consider me converted, haha...