Pretend you have 6,000 USD...

[TheIllicitOne]

Ok guys, I'm about to upgrade my studio and already have a list put together of a possible upgrade. However, pretend you are building a recording setup from the ground up for 8,000 dollars or less and you need 16-24 channels of preamps, a pair of monitors, a headphone amp/splitter, and whatever other gear you'd want. What would you get? New or used gear...

It's gotta be somewhat impressive to potential clients. Also, don't mention anything about a pc/mac as I already have alloted money for that.

 

[Metaltastic]

Well in terms of interfaces/converters, there are so many options I can't even begin to think of them all. But as for Preamps, get yourself an API lunchbox (or even one of the 11-space racks) so you can put a bunch of preamp modules in it from companies like A-designs, Purple Audio, Great River, Brent Averill, and of course, API, and not have to keep paying for a power supply for each one, which fucking rules.

For monitors, I'd say a pair of Dynaudio BM6A MKII's, and maybe a Blue Sky Mediadesk 2.1 setup so you can reference with a sub. I'd recommend passing on the control surface, I never saw them as anything but a >$1000 big mouse, and thus a COLOSSAL waste of money.

I'll probably be back to amend this post...

 

[JeffTD]

My list would be (and I'd go used for most of it):

RME Fireface 800 - $1200
PreSonus Digimax FS - $500
Behringer ADA8000 - $200
API 3124+ - $2400

That gives you 4 pres from the RME and 8 from the Digimax for general use, 8 crap pres/line ins from the behringer for triggers/scratch tracks, and 4 awesome pres from the API into the Fireface line-ins for more important stuff.

Event ASP8s or ADAM A7s - $1000
Behringer PRO-8 HA-8000 headphone amp - $140
Sennheiser HD212 headphones (tracking) - $60 x however many you want
Vic Firth SIH1 Iso headphones (drum tracking) - $50

After that, you'd still have about 1.3g left - you could pick up another nice pre, get some more mics, treat your room, buy a new amp, cab, or guitar, get cabling, etc...

 

[colonel kurtz]

^pretty much what he said

 

[broken81]

Need mics also?

 

[egan.]

I would at least consider getting a little console. You could go the yamaha digital route and get a FW or ADAT card so your interface would be taken care of too. The preamps on the dm1000 are decent-- certainly on par w/ rme/presonus/etc -- as are the eq, gates, compressors and effects. Then you could handle all of your phone mixes w/ eq and effects and never give latency a second thought.
You could also pick up an analog board such as the toft and get 16 channels of decent pres and nice eq's for around $4500.

 

[TheIllicitOne]

Need mics also?

Nope.

I would at least consider getting a little console. You could go the yamaha digital route and get a FW or ADAT card so your interface would be taken care of too. The preamps on the dm1000 are decent-- certainly on par w/ rme/presonus/etc -- as are the eq, gates, compressors and effects. Then you could handle all of your phone mixes w/ eq and effects and never give latency a second thought.
You could also pick up an analog board such as the toft and get 16 channels of decent pres and nice eq's for around $4500.

Yea I've always been intrigued by consoles but I have no clue where to start. lol. Any more information you can give me would be great.

 

[colonel kurtz]

are you going to be mixing ITB?

if so, you could grab something like an onyx 1640 w/ the firewire card, add some outboard pres, maybe a couple channels of outboard compression, and some good monitors, and you're good to go

 

[TheIllicitOne]

are you going to be mixing ITB?

if so, you could grab something like an onyx 1640 w/ the firewire card, add some outboard pres, maybe a couple channels of outboard compression, and some good monitors, and you're good to go

Colonel Kurtz, I sent you a PM.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm still not 100% sure what I want to get but the API 3124+ and the RME fireface *may* be on my new list. Anyone else have any input?

 

[MetalWorks]

For $8000:

Digidesign Digi Rack 003 Gearslutz $900
#1 Focusrite ISA 428 with ADC Option Gearslutz $1500
#2 Focusrite ISA 428 linked to #1 providing 8 ADAT Outputs into Digi Rack 003 Gearslutz $1100
API 3124+ Gearslutz $1800
Behringer Powerplay Pro XL HA4700 Headphone Amplifier Gearslutz $40
Sennheiser 421 x4 Gearslutz $800
Audix D6 x2 Gearslutz $250
Shure SM81 Pair Gearslutz $350
Shure SM57 Gearslutz $60
Shure Beta 57 Gearslutz $90
Shure SM7B Gearslutz $275
Mackie HR824 Pair Gearslutz $700
AKG K55 Headphones x4 American Musical Supply $100

That give 8 Neve style Mic Pre's and 4 API Pre's.
Use the 4 Digi Rack onboard Mic Pres for least important quality tracks.

16 Channels total with 12 of them being excellent.

Great Mics.

Everything needed for monitoring.

 

[Machinated]

Lets not forget about all the fun stuff - remember to budget for cables, stands, DI's

 

[colonel kurtz]

That give 8 Neve style Mic Pre's and 4 API Pre's.

how do you figure that?

i've heard the original focusrite 110's, which the entire ISA series is based off of, head-to-head with a BA 1073, and they sound nothing alike.

 

[AdamWathan]

I've sort of been doing this but in real life This is what I've picked up so far and about what I've spent...

Mackie Onyx 1200F - $1600
Audix DP5a kit - $500
Audio Technica ATM450 Pair - $300
Pair of SM57s - $200
Studio Projects C4 Pair - $300
M-Audio BX8as - $500
12 Mic stands - $360
2 pairs of Vic Firth Iso Headphones - $140
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones - $200
Little Labs Redeye - $275
24 x 4 Mic snake - $200
DB25 cable for Onyx - $60
10 XLR cables - $300

So that's about $5000... I also bought a few amps and a Mesa cab, and I've got a few other things left to buy (SM7B, AT4040, Sansamp Bass Driver DI and a few more XLR cables) but $8000 is a pretty damn reasonable budget to work with! I'd like to add another DP5a set, a pair of 451s, a 3124+ and a few FMR units eventually, but none of that stuff is necessary at the moment so I'm pretty happy with what I've managed to pick up since Christmas!

 

[DevilJaw]

acoustic treatment, all that gear is worthless if you cant hear it properly.

 

[MetalWorks]

how do you figure that?

i've heard the original focusrite 110's, which the entire ISA series is based off of, head-to-head with a BA 1073, and they sound nothing alike.

I was quoting the Focusrite add:

"Focusrite ISA428 Pre Pack Neve Style 4 Channel Mic Preamp"
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-FOC-ISA428-LIST

Don't shoot the messenger!

 

[colonel kurtz]

my apologies, then...i'll point the finger at focusrite's marketing dept. then for being complete and utter liars

although rupert neve was associated with early focusrite in its early days, and designed the ISA 110/215, those preamps sound nothing like his "classic" neve designs

 

[garry666]

i would get 110,000 nickel hookers and then have 500 left for chips juice and a casket after i dies from the diseases i got.

 

[nwright]

I've sort of been doing this but in real life This is what I've picked up so far and about what I've spent...

Mackie Onyx 1200F - $1600

You are the first real world person I've seen that has the 1200F.

How do you like it?

I've been reading up on them all week and would love to have one.

But I have a Firepod, and just bought another one today to daisy chain. But, the specs on the Mackie Onyx stuff looks pretty nice, and the 1200F has it all!

I've read the converters are the same as the RME FF 400 and 800 stuff?

 

[colonel kurtz]

i don't know if the converters are the same, but they're from the same company, so either way they should be pretty close

and yes, the onyx stuff is sweet...i have a 1640 w/ the firewire card, and am loving it. my only complaints are the usual crap - no multichannel return to the board, no EQ when tracking, etc...but it's great to have a console there to set up and EQ monitor mixes and to handle all of the routing and shit

 

[AdamWathan]

You are the first real world person I've seen that has the 1200F.

How do you like it?

I've been reading up on them all week and would love to have one.

But I have a Firepod, and just bought another one today to daisy chain. But, the specs on the Mackie Onyx stuff looks pretty nice, and the 1200F has it all!

I've read the converters are the same as the RME FF 400 and 800 stuff?

I love it, I was using a Saffire Pro before this and this blows it out of the water. The drivers are very stable, the preamps sound great and I have yet to have a problem with it. They are still very hard to find but I'd definitely recommend it if you are considering it.