Been gone for a while, need to get new gear to restart studio

[AntonioPetrole]

Hello Sneapsters, its been a while since I have posted. My life went to shambles and I had to sell just about all my gear that I had from working hard and now I need to restart. This is gonna be my big push to see if this is right for me or not. Only this time I'm getting a credit card specifically for studio use only. So I need your opinions on a few things if you have the time

I feel like i can either go 2 different routes

Route 1 would be to get minimal gear thats really nice, something like

SM7B
AT4040
HS80M
ART Pro VLA II Tube Compressor
SR705 5-String
Blue ROBBIE
ATH M-50's

Or i can get alot more gear but get the cheaper stuff

Sm58
Already have an AKG perception 220
Krk Rockit 6's
dbx 266xs
dbx 231s
ART ProMPA II
(etc.)

I would like to spend about 3,000 to start off. If i don't make that money back in a year I will probably sell everything and pay off the remaining debt (I hate owing anybody any money)

The only gear i have left is

Profire 610
AKG Perception 220
DIY E-drum kit (came out really nice actually)
Epiphone Explorer (EMG 81-85)
Random ibanez acoustic

Before i make a decision to go to college I at least want to try this studio thing one last time cause honestly I know i could put 80% of these so called "engineers" in my area out. They charge absurd prices for the worst mixes I have heard. Of course my intention isn't to put anyone out of business, its just that I know I can make this happen and I want to start it out right. Anyone have any pointers? The only other thing I can think of would be acoustic treatment which I would go the DIY route either way.

Thanks guys!

 

[AntonioPetrole]

anyone? Forgot to mention my countryman type 85 DI box

 

[Revson]

Go with less of the nicer gear so you don't have to spend more to upgrade down the road. If things don't work out you just have less stuff to get rid of and the nicer gear tends to hold value better. Buy used if at all possible.

 

[aortizjr]

Well I guess what are your goals? Are you going to be freelancing in other studios, working with guys out of your bedroom mainly overdubbing? Mixing mainly? Recording drums? Mainly just writing?

If you are doing drums you are going to need more channels. Especially if you work with bands that don't have the time for funding to do proper pre-pro. A large part of the folks I work with are essentially laying down something live in a day or so. Unless you either want to work for peanuts, or get bands that have major funding, you have to work with what you have.

Personally I wouldn't bother with any outboard, especially nothing in the range you are talking about. I have the VLA, and while it is nice for the price I have free plugins that are better sounding and easier to use. Any outboard I would look at would be pre's, and I would't get anything cheap. The GAP neve clones being the cheapest I would go, or BLA or DIY SCA's.

No SM57's? You need at least one, the SM7B is good. With the Perception 220, it isn't the greatest, but should be enough to gain a lot of ground. The Headphones I would go cheaper like Sennheiser HD202's and get a few for the other musicians.

I would bother with the Blue Robbie either. I would say any condenser upgrade worth considering would be Shure KSM32 or KSM44.

I definitely wouldn't bother with other instruments unless you are doing more writing. I have had very few bands willing to use my guitars. Typically they are more than happy to use amps, cabs, etc. But actual instruments, no way. So I end up working on their instruments (setups, intonation, etc.). I think it is a connection thing.

For monitors that is a personal thing. I use a set of Dynaudio's at my studio, but at home I grabbed a set of M-Audio CX5's. These days cheaper monitors can get you far, just have to learn them.

 

[amarshism]

Don't skimp on your monitors. I just got a set of opals and I can already tell they will increase my works quality ten fold.

 

[tempe]

Don't skimp on your monitors. I just got a set of opals and I can already tell they will increase my works quality ten fold.

Ditto. The quality of my mixes skyrocketed when I bought my MSP7's, and they aren't exactly high-end either, they just suit me I guess!

 

[C-Martin]

You need to tell us what your main goal is as aortizjr mentioned. On a limited budget you need to consider what you TRULY need and sacrifice quantity for specialized tools that will give you more bang for your buck.

Seeing that you have a Profire 610 and seem to want to stick with it for now, I will assume you want to do mainly mixing with the occasional tracking of vocals. If you can, look for a pair of used Dynaudio BM5a, i'm sure you could find them for as low as 600$ if you are patient enough but if not the HS80M are definitely a good place to start off with. You HAVE to go try them out yourself however, monitors can be a personal thing and what works for someone doesn't mean it'll work for you. I wouldn't bother with the VLA comp, don't get cheap stuff especially not something with tubes at that price range. Get something like the CLA Compressors pack that is on special for 300$, that will give you a trio of great compressors to start off with. Also don't forget acoustic treatment if you want to do this properly.

If you want to keep the 610 id go with:
Dynaudio BM5a (Or HS80M)
CLA Compressors Bundle
Shure SM57
Shure SM7
ATH-M50
GIK Room Pack 1

If you want a preamp with features and color then check out Focusrite ISA one or Summit Audio 2Ba. Their both nice unit for the price with virable Impedance you can find for around 500$. FMR RNP and Audient MICO are also a good choice if you want clean preamps or need 2 channels.

This is all considering you already have a DAW of choice purchased. Also, do not forget cables and mic stands in your budget, those can stack up to a few hundred easily. Don't skimp on cheap stuff here either, if you want to make this regular work you need reliable stuff.

 

[AntonioPetrole]

thanks for all the tips guys. Basically here is my main goal

I would love to do nothing but mix, obviously I need to track bands and stuff to just to make a name for myself. I have a tama swingstar drum kit that I put mesh heads on and turned into an electronic kit (works incredibly and extremely touch sensitive). I figure I can use that to track drums into superior drummer. I can track guitars and bass through my DI box into my profire and use pod farm for now. If they want I can charge more and have them reamped by someone like catharsis or lolzgreg etc. Vocals I can track also in my apartment. My goal is to buy all that stuff, lets say its $4,000 and make it back in a year or two. If it doesn't happen then I will sell it and go back to school. I really want to try and make this happen before I make any other life decisions and I am fairly certain I can make it happen. I am gonna put together a wish list on musicians friend and I will post it to see if anyone has any additions or rebutles.

Thanks dudes!

Edit: I also would like to get a bass because I need one for personal use and I really don't know to many bassists who have a decent bass

 

[AntonioPetrole]

As far as treatment goes, is it worth getting the real stuff over owens corning 703?

 

[C-Martin]

It will work the same it just depends on your building skill, expectations and if you have the tools/space to build stuff. I used to be a machinist/engineer and used to built guitars, i love building shit. I've built my own racks and desks so far but i really hate having to deal with doing this in my house. It creates allot of dust and dirt and it is hard to avoid it from spreading all over the place. Maybe i'm just getting old and lazy but today i prefer paying a few bucks more to have shit delivered to me ready to go rather than spend a couple of days building and a couple of days cleaning. If i had access to a space to work in, i'd do it all the time though. You can custom make everything to your specs and, if your good, you can get equal if not better results than anything you can buy for much less money.