- Sep 12, 2008
- 36
- 0
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My friend gave a computer desk with a 6-space rack recently, he bought it off of musiciansfriend a while ago and hasn't used it, so now it's mine! I'm trying to decide what I'll put on the rack. First, I should probably describe what I need to be able to do and what I already have.
I sequence my drums, so I won't need anything for that. I just need things to do guitar, bass, and vocals.
I run my guitars directly into my sound card using my Line 6 Spider II 150-watt head. The direct out the head has on the front corrects impedance issues, but it also means I can't use impulses because the direct out works like an active DI-box. It doesn't do a very good job either. It sounds alright after a BBE sonic maximizer, heavy EQing, and a multi-band compressor to fix some problems with the lows, but I wouldn't need as much of that if I had a preamp or a passive DI-box so I could run the power amp lead into my PC and then use some impulses.
I was thinking of buying the ART TPS II. It would function like a DI-box for guitar/bass and serve as a preamp for my SM-57(acoustic guitar and vocals.) Plus, it's a tube preamp and it's pretty cheap. I could use it to mic up my amp too, but the Line 6 4x12 cabs aren't so good and neither are the acoustics in my room.
I want a rackmount EQ too. It would just make things a little simpler. I prefer to do as much of the signal processing as I can before I even record. It makes mixing simpler for me. I want an ART 355 Dual Channel 31-Band EQ. It's a standard 31-band EQ with a nice price tag. I won't settle for just 15 bands--that's not enough control.
Of course I'll want a compressor/limiter/noise gate as well. I was looking at the Alesis 3630 Dual-Channel Compressor/Limiter with Gate. It does all of the basic stuff, it's cheap, and it's gotten nothing but positive reviews. I think it'll do just fine.
That fills 5 rack spaces with a power conditioner. Maybe eventually I'll get a rackmount sonic maximizer, but I don't really need it since I already have the VST plugin. I'm trying to keep it inexpensive. I can put together the setup above with $470, and I wanted to spend ~$500 so I'm just at my limit.
I have Reaper for a DAW, and Abelton Live for drums and other instruments. As far as VST plugins, I have: The BBE Sonic Maximizer(fucking great for guitar btw,) ToonTrack Superior Drummer 2, a 10-band GEQ and several parametric EQs, several compressors(multiband and normal,) keFIR, and YouWaShock!. I know a rack seems redundant when I have everything I need in plugins, but it will save me a lot of time and I've already got the desk, so why not make good use of the rack?
I mean, with the rack I would just need keFIR possibly followed by an EQ plugin in my DAW when recording my guitars. There's the often debated-over differences between analog and digtial too...
Yes? No? Suggestions?
I sequence my drums, so I won't need anything for that. I just need things to do guitar, bass, and vocals.
I run my guitars directly into my sound card using my Line 6 Spider II 150-watt head. The direct out the head has on the front corrects impedance issues, but it also means I can't use impulses because the direct out works like an active DI-box. It doesn't do a very good job either. It sounds alright after a BBE sonic maximizer, heavy EQing, and a multi-band compressor to fix some problems with the lows, but I wouldn't need as much of that if I had a preamp or a passive DI-box so I could run the power amp lead into my PC and then use some impulses.
I was thinking of buying the ART TPS II. It would function like a DI-box for guitar/bass and serve as a preamp for my SM-57(acoustic guitar and vocals.) Plus, it's a tube preamp and it's pretty cheap. I could use it to mic up my amp too, but the Line 6 4x12 cabs aren't so good and neither are the acoustics in my room.
I want a rackmount EQ too. It would just make things a little simpler. I prefer to do as much of the signal processing as I can before I even record. It makes mixing simpler for me. I want an ART 355 Dual Channel 31-Band EQ. It's a standard 31-band EQ with a nice price tag. I won't settle for just 15 bands--that's not enough control.
Of course I'll want a compressor/limiter/noise gate as well. I was looking at the Alesis 3630 Dual-Channel Compressor/Limiter with Gate. It does all of the basic stuff, it's cheap, and it's gotten nothing but positive reviews. I think it'll do just fine.
That fills 5 rack spaces with a power conditioner. Maybe eventually I'll get a rackmount sonic maximizer, but I don't really need it since I already have the VST plugin. I'm trying to keep it inexpensive. I can put together the setup above with $470, and I wanted to spend ~$500 so I'm just at my limit.
I have Reaper for a DAW, and Abelton Live for drums and other instruments. As far as VST plugins, I have: The BBE Sonic Maximizer(fucking great for guitar btw,) ToonTrack Superior Drummer 2, a 10-band GEQ and several parametric EQs, several compressors(multiband and normal,) keFIR, and YouWaShock!. I know a rack seems redundant when I have everything I need in plugins, but it will save me a lot of time and I've already got the desk, so why not make good use of the rack?
I mean, with the rack I would just need keFIR possibly followed by an EQ plugin in my DAW when recording my guitars. There's the often debated-over differences between analog and digtial too...
Yes? No? Suggestions?
