Newbie, sorry!

[Richey_T]

Hey everybody, I have been pointed in this direction by some people at the Seymour Duncan forums.

I have some questions about setting up a home studio, and have been told you people could help me.

Right, i'm wanting to set up a studio, before I go to uni in september to study sound engineering.

What do I need?

Should I get an all in one solution, like the boss or korg units?

Or should I be looking at a Mac setup like the M-Box and a G5?

Any help most appreciated.

Oh, I will mostly be recording guitars, thats my first instrument.

Thanks in advance, Richey.

 

[Razorjack]

Find out what your uni runs, both software and hardware, and get that. A mac will be a much better investment in both quality and money terms (mac's have a great re-sale value).

 

[Matt Smith]

4-track Tascam cassette recorder. Laugh at me, but I'm serious.

 

[Awake_In_Animosity]

Those were the days, they used to be heaps of fun.

 

[Matt Smith]

Yup, to me there's no need for anything more when you're just starting out and learning. At the most, I think one of the all-in-one devices will do. Otherwise, you'll probably still be trying to get your studio put together by the time you go off to school. If you go digital all-in-one, look at the Yamaha units (AW16G, etc.).
I went 4-track cassette-->8-track cassette-->Yamaha AW4416 Digital-->computer setup. I'm so glad I ignored the idiot at Banjo Mart who tried to sell me some crazy computer rig when I was just starting out.

Just my $.02.

 

[Awake_In_Animosity]

Although if you have a PC at home already, an MBOX is good place to start as far as compurt recording goes.

 

[Nitronium Blood]

Find out what your uni runs, both software and hardware, and get that. A mac will be a much better investment in both quality and money terms (mac's have a great re-sale value).

Macs also sound sweeter.

I mean even Opeth were like " HAY GUYZ WTF THIS DUDE IS USING A PC AND NOT A MAC BECAUSE LIKE WTF PCS ARE SHIT AND MACS SOUNDS BETTER OMG THE SKY IS FALLING".

 

[Ermz]

Ugh.

Anyway, my 2 cents is, if you use your home computer for anything other than sound recording/graphic design/3d graphics etc. and you want it to also be your primary recording machine, then don't get a Mac. They are great purpose-built machines, so they work a dream for all kinds of design work, but in terms of actually pushing the sort of processing potential to the IBM-based machines, they fail miserably. At least in my experience they do. But having said that, if you're willing to fork out for a machine that's purpose-built solely for recording audio, then go ahead and grab yourself a new Mac.

I'd say that starting out on ProTools would probably be the best thing to do, so I'd either grab an M-audio soundcard or a Digidesign Mbox and go from there. Most recording these days is strictly computer based, and your Uni will most likely either be running ProTools or Logic.

 

[Nebulous]

Or just wait.
Start your course and talk to people, look around in shops, and try to get a better understanding of where your budget can take you. Also, if atm you dont know much about settnig things up, it can be a bitch to do, and that might mean you either bother ppl with it, or it just sits there doing nothing.

Im sure that within these pages you have a decent response, good luck.

Daniel\m/

 

[Razorjack]

in terms of actually pushing the sort of processing potential to the IBM-based machines, they fail miserably. At least in my experience they do..

You must have used some bad mac's!!

 

[Razorjack]

Or just wait.
Start your course and talk to people, look around in shops, and try to get a better understanding of where your budget can take you. Also, if atm you dont know much about settnig things up, it can be a bitch to do, and that might mean you either bother ppl with it, or it just sits there doing nothing.

Im sure that within these pages you have a decent response, good luck.

Daniel\m/

Best advice so far.

 

[Richey_T]

Best advice so far.

Yeah, I think thats what i'm gonna do. I'm hanging tight until I get there, once i'm more sure of what i'm doing i'll sort it. Thanks for all the advice guys, rock on.

I am gonna pick up one of those tascam 4 tracks though.

 

[Ermz]

Cool, have fun.

 

[Exsanguis]

Those 4 tracks are fantastic for learning recording. Not only do you learn how to get decent sounds and the essentials of mixing, but you also learn the value of each track, instead of starting out on a DAW and quickly filling up way too many tracks with nothing remotely important. It teaches you to commit. Now, just get yourself a small mixer, a handful of mics, and a real amp, and learn how to mic everything up, and you're set. Computers can come later.

 

[JeffTD]

Deadskinslayer3 over here .

I'm with moonlapse on the Mac thing. Whilst I do love Mac's for alot of things, they're not the best for others.

IMO, Mac's are GREAT for audio/visual work, and anything else you don't want to do.

YMMV, IMO, Etc..

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Buy a laptop and EMU 1616 w/ behringer ADA8000. I haven't used the 1616 but it looks rad and the versatility seems too good to be true for the price.

Edit: and it comes with decent LE recording software if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Matt Smith]

Those 4 tracks are fantastic for learning recording. Not only do you learn how to get decent sounds and the essentials of mixing, but you also learn the value of each track, instead of starting out on a DAW and quickly filling up way too many tracks with nothing remotely important. It teaches you to commit. Now, just get yourself a small mixer, a handful of mics, and a real amp, and learn how to mic everything up, and you're set. Computers can come later.

Agreed! Plus, it will teach you the (very) basics of routing, busses and so forth in a way that will probably make a lot more sense than trying to sort through umpteen digital menus just starting out. At least I know I would have been confused as heck if I'd tried to do that!

 

[Ermz]

That's quite true, but if he's going to a University to study Audio Engineering I'm quite sure they'd cover audio routing, signal chains etc. quite early on. They sure did in my course.

Working on outboard gear and big analogue mixers really helped me understand how the audio travels everywhere, but that's at the academy... It's nice to know all that stuff, but to get realistic, when you get out there and start cutting albums you're dealing with ProTools, Logic, Nuendo etc. That's the sort of stuff you wanna get *really* familiar with, and having it at home instead of some antiquated 4-track is alot more useful in the long run, in my opinion.

 

[Matt Smith]

If you say so. I didn't realize this thread was about setting up his studio for life, I thought it was about helping him get started with the very basics.

 

[James Murphy]

Ugh.

Anyway, my 2 cents is, if you use your home computer for anything other than sound recording/graphic design/3d graphics etc. and you want it to also be your primary recording machine, then don't get a Mac. They are great purpose-built machines, so they work a dream for all kinds of design work, but in terms of actually pushing the sort of processing potential to the IBM-based machines, they fail miserably. At least in my experience they do. But having said that, if you're willing to fork out for a machine that's purpose-built solely for recording audio, then go ahead and grab yourself a new Mac.

I'd say that starting out on ProTools would probably be the best thing to do, so I'd either grab an M-audio soundcard or a Digidesign Mbox and go from there. Most recording these days is strictly computer based, and your Uni will most likely either be running ProTools or Logic.

What, pray tell, is it that PC's do so well that Mac's can't??? "Pushing the sort of processing potential"????? i've never read anything so vague and misguided about Macs in my life.... and try as hard as i may to wrap my head around that one, i just can't. I have had both PC's and Macs for years... and there is NOTHING my PCs can do that my Macs cannot... and they usually do it better. C'mon, enlighten me ok?.. word prcessing? HA..... database/spreadsheet and information management/analysis? HA......email and internet??.. HA.... web development?? HAHA..... science and technology apps? HAHAHAHA

point of fact, complex scientific applications such as PyMOL(molecular modeling), BLAST(searches for DNA alignments), SPSS(statistical analysis), Mathematica(equation modeling), and Bioinformatics Benchmark System(an extremely processor intensive scientific analysis tool) run an average of 82% faster on a dual 2.7Ghz PowerMac G5 than they do on a dual 3.6Ghz Xeon system... HA

yeah, i know there are other PC processors, but i think this clearly demonstrates that the statement that Macs can't "push that sort of processing potential" is as uninformed as it is partisan.... i own a powerful PC, do you own a powerful Mac?... i suspect not. i suspect that you use some decent macs at your uni that are loaded strictly with Audio/Video software only.

you are off-base, out of line, and out of the ballpark entirely with that comment Moony.. let me ask you this: if Macs and Mac OS X are only good for multimedia, then why do they keep earning 4/5 and 5/5 ratings consistently in PC Magazine and PC WORLD Magazine's ratings every year since the G4 and OS X's release??.... and why are Apple's laptops always top-rated by the same magazine for everyday use???

you are wrong... take it like a man.