opinions on essential kit for home recording?

[clarbaden]

I am just about to by a new desktop pc and i would like to know some peoples advice of essential plug ins or anything for home producing.

A few things I am pretty sure im gonna get is ezdrummer superior metal foundry/ or addictive drums ( hard to make a choice because they are so different) waves plug in bundle not sure which one and thats about it.

oh also i am using my old tapco usb interface, is this good enough for the job?

so if you have any ideas on anything you recommend please post below.

 

[Williamn]

Would be a good idea to say how much you can spend on it in total, a roughly budget .

 

[clarbaden]

bout 400 pounds give or take,

 

[ScootBaloo]

You havent given enough details of what you want to do.
- Will you be reamping or do you want to do everthing in the box ?
- Can you be specific about the style of music you want to produce.
- For drums, people on this forum like Superior Drummer, Stephen Slate Drums
and Addictive drums and drumagog.
- Search this forum for info on interface units and DI/reamp units.
- Everyone has their own views on plug ins so you wont get a consensus here
but everyone loves Peavey Revalver.

 

[clarbaden]

I will mostly be producing metal, and i want everything in the box, outboard gear to a minumum

 

[Norris-wf]

You'll hardly get any waves plugs in that budget. If I was going with drum software I'd be looking between steven slate and superior. There has been a few samples of both and personally I prefer slate but again, search the forum and you'll find out which you prefer. I just upgraded my interface and I think it's the best decision I made. I got the profire 2626 but you may not need that many channels so they have smaller options with built in DSP etc. I also got the PRODI from radial and it's a marked improvement on the Behringer one I used to use. If you are using a PC, then there is an almost endless supply of free plugins that will keep you going, again, they are all recommended on here somewhere. Happy searching and good luck with your purchases.

 

[ahjteam]

Quick checklist:
[+] a recording interface
[ ] a good pair of studio monitors and cables to it
[ ] a pair of headphones
[ ] large diaphram condencer mic for vocals
[ ] sm57
[ ] good quality preamp
[ ] DI-box
[ ] reamp box
[ ] few XLR cables
[ ] a mic stand
[ ] drumsampler: steven slate drums or superior drummer
[ ] ampsim: revalver, podfarm, waves gtr3, amproom, th1, amplitube...
[ ] bass sim: ampeg svx
[ ] vocal tuner: melodyne or autotune
[ ] daw of your choise ("free" option would be Reaper)
[ ] masses of free plugins (lepou, nick crow, acmebargig...), check www.kvraudio.com
[+] massive G.A.S.

 

[Fragle]

Quick checklist:
[+] a recording interface
[ ] a good pair of studio monitors and cables to it
[ ] a pair of headphones
[ ] large diaphram condencer mic for vocals
[ ] sm57
[ ] good quality preamp
[ ] DI-box
[ ] reamp box
[ ] few XLR cables
[ ] a mic stand
[ ] drumsampler: steven slate drums or superior drummer
[ ] ampsim: revalver, podfarm, waves gtr3, amproom, th1, amplitube...
[ ] bass sim: ampeg svx
[ ] vocal tuner: melodyne or autotune
[ ] daw of your choise ("free" option would be Reaper)
[ ] masses of free plugins (lepou, nick crow, acmebargig...), check www.kvraudio.com
[+] massive G.A.S.

this.

i'd change the recording interface part to a GOOD, firewire based interface though. usb won't cut it, and the really cheap firewire interfaces don't either IMHO. think about it: everything you record, and everything you listen to has to pass through the interface. it's the core of your system, don't go half assed.

and as for the amp sims, they're cool but not necessary. there are masses of free amp sim plugs that do a great job, my faves are 8505 and wagner sharp mk II. 7170 is cool too.

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

to add to ahjteams list...an instrument tuner (stupid i know but youd be surprised how many times i hear people say they forgot the tuner before going to the studio)

 

[Fragle]

freeware g-tune is your friend

 

[narcossintese]

I would also add a Shure SM58 and a pop filter on that list.

 

[Harry Hughes]

400 pounds is a fuck of a tight budget man, you're talking virgin tight.

 

[Harry Hughes]

I would also add a Shure SM58 and a pop filter on that list.

SM57s are a little cheaper, probably better for him to go with that.

 

[lordofthestring]

Get Addictive Drums. I've tried everything under the sun and Addictive Drums w/aptrigga2 on kick and snare is the winning combo, especially for the price. If looking to trigger a real kit, then check around the board...tons of great and free drum samples. For guitars, get the new LePou sim and while you're at it, get his other sims too (maybe donate a few bucks too). Reaper is the way to go if tight on a budget or just want a great and well-supported DAW.

As for plugins, get the MDA suite and GVST plugins (all free). Gsnap will act as an auto-tune, Gclip will get your mixes loud (without audible artifacts), and GTune is just a chromatic tuner. Both of those packs will put some good depth to your plugins list

 

[Toni S.]

Another good question would be what specific plug-ins do people think are the most needed. Like what other than an Eq, a compressor. limiter, drum replacement software, gate, etc.

Opinions?