Starting a project studio...

[RonSCHC]

So we're starting a project studio with our band's drummer during the spring.
Our budget is approximately 2000-3000 bucks for the gear.

And we thought we wanna hear some opinions/suggestions/ideas/etc from you guys according to this project.

Gear what we had in mind:
-Presonus Firestudio
-Focusrite Octopre/Presonus Digimax D8/Motu 8Pre
-Behringer Truth/ESI near05
-Samson 8Kit Drummicrophones
-Behringer HA4700 headphone amp
-Closed back headphones for drummer and closed back headphones for mixing
-Di boxes for reamping
-Mic stands and shitload of different cables

That's pretty much about it, little scared of the amount of behringer gear in the list tho haha.
We have ~250 sq ft rehearsal space with extremely brilliant acoustics, so we thought that could work as a recording spot, even tho it's pretty small.
But it can be divided into "two rooms" with some wall of foam (dunno if that's a good idea or what?). And mixing would take place in our drummer place where he has one empty room with absolutely no other use.

Any good tips or tricks, do's and don't do's?
Ignore everything manufactured by Behringer?
Should we just dump this idea and just buy more rad amps and drums haha?

 

[JMarz]

Should we just dump this idea and just buy more rad amps and drums haha?

qft

 

[006]

Ron, I've had a Behringer ADA8000 for a long time now, zero problems. Kazrog has a Behringer mixer that not only have I not heard any problems about, but he said it also sounded better than what they were looking at buying. I also have a Behringer dual 31-band EQ laying in my closet, had it for years and used it every once in a while for different things...no problems yet and I bet it still works

The Behringer comments get really old after years of hearing them. If they were really that bad, do you think they'd still be in business by now? Just sayin'...

~006

 

[Trevoire520]

Personally I wouldn't bother with the Samson 8Kit, cheap plastic crap that you'll soon realise was a waste of money. Its always cheaper to buy decent quality from the start so you aren't constantly upgrading stuff. Save up a bit more and get decent mic's like:

Shure SM57/SM58
Audix I5/D2/D4
Sennheiser E604/E609
Any of the above will have you sorted for Snares and Toms,

For kick a Sennheiser E602 is good and not too pricey, D6 is awesome but a bit more. Or you can just get a trigger and sound replace it later on.

For overheads any decent sdc's from Audio Technica, AKG, Rode, M Audio will do. Or you could get a pair of LDC's which would also double up as good vocal mic's.

All in, cheap stuff is false economy, because you replace it sooner rather than later. Whereas if you buy mic's of this standard you'll still be happy with them 10 or 20 years down the line.

 

[Saculus]

I had the Samson mics and after a year I bought the Audix DP5A. Get Shure, Sennheiser, or Audix separate or in sets for Drum Dynamics. The Samson stuff is not good for drum mics. One of the Tom mics turned into a buzzy rattle noise machine after one session. Oktava make high quality condensers you can find fairly cheap on ebay.

 

[Sinister Mephisto]

Most Samson mics are pretty terrible. They won't last more than a couple years so you have to plan on upgrading them over time. That said, I started with them and I'm glad I did. It allowed me to get a full kit miced up for almost no money which is great! You have to start somewhere and You simply can't afford to get everything good quality starting off with a budget like you have. The ablity to close mic everything right away will be great for getting a feel for micing a kit. That's fine. Just plan on upgrading. I would say though, You'll want at least 1 SM57 for snare. Obviously, it's also great for guitar. If you can fit it in, I'd get as many as 3 or 4 so you can use them as tom mics too.

 

[RonSCHC]

Well I ain't touchin those samsons if ya guys think it's a bad idea! In the other hand I was thinkin of gettin a trigger set for drumkit and use sound replacement later on. Thanks for comments & tips!

Btw, what's the difference between drumagog lite and regular drumagog?
Cause drumagog lite is included in the propak software bundle that comes with the firestudio interface

 

[digitaldeath]

Well I ain't touchin those samsons if ya guys think it's a bad idea! In the other hand I was thinkin of gettin a trigger set for drumkit and use sound replacement later on. Thanks for comments & tips!

Btw, what's the difference between drumagog lite and regular drumagog?
Cause drumagog lite is included in the propak software bundle that comes with the firestudio interface

Ideally I'd mic and trigger a kit...

 

[devouredremains]

Ron, I've had a Behringer ADA8000 for a long time now, zero problems. Kazrog has a Behringer mixer that not only have I not heard any problems about, but he said it also sounded better than what they were looking at buying. I also have a Behringer dual 31-band EQ laying in my closet, had it for years and used it every once in a while for different things...no problems yet and I bet it still works

The Behringer comments get really old after years of hearing them. If they were really that bad, do you think they'd still be in business by now? Just sayin'...

~006

Completely correct statement. I don't own many behringer products but what I do have has never failed and it sounds better than what it's worth. Excellent bang for the buck.

 

[Metaltastic]

All I would say about Behringer is that it's their reliability that's always slammed, not necessarily the sound quality of their products. So my advice is - never buy any used Behringer product, cuz while I doubt the warranty on their new products is anything spectacular, it's better than nothing!

 

[Line666]

Ron, I've had a Behringer ADA8000 for a long time now, zero problems. Kazrog has a Behringer mixer that not only have I not heard any problems about, but he said it also sounded better than what they were looking at buying. I also have a Behringer dual 31-band EQ laying in my closet, had it for years and used it every once in a while for different things...no problems yet and I bet it still works

The Behringer comments get really old after years of hearing them. If they were really that bad, do you think they'd still be in business by now? Just sayin'...

~006

I've had quite a lot of hands on with the Behringer Composer recently, and that's a pretty decent compressor for the price, doesnt really colour the sound like I was expecting, and told, many Behringer products would.

 

[Meisterjäger]

So does stuff like the Behringer Eurodesk mixers come recommended... or not?

 

[006]

I'm not touching the Eurodesk, haha. But Marcus that was half my point as well, I have a handful of Behringer products that have not failed me yet through years of use. Hell, my Bugera went on tour and still works like a champ, several hours of use, studio and live practices/shows. I'm not saying they make the best stuff, but god damn if I haven't experienced a shred of what I have heard about Behringer. The 31-band EQ was used, btw.

That said, I wouldn't get anything important if it were made by Behringer. I would wait and save up more for something I know I can trust, just in case.

~006

 

[Metaltastic]

Of course, no discussion of Behringer is complete without a word from their highest-profile user, TAD

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/4235_recording-studio-berenger-converter.htm

Now THERE'S a face I can trust

 

[Machinated]

i love how he seems drunk

 

[Metaltastic]

Crack is bad kids!

 

[Trevoire520]

So does stuff like the Behringer Eurodesk mixers come recommended... or not?

Keep away from the Eurodesks, have used them for live sound a few times and have always been dissapointed. Muddy and generally not very pleasant sounding, noisy, very little headroom and pretty crappy eq. Apparently the new Xenyx one's are an improvement on the silver eurodesks, but I've not had chance to use one yet.

 

[blags]

Keep away from the Eurodesks, have used them for live sound a few times and have always been dissapointed. Muddy and generally not very pleasant sounding, noisy, very little headroom and pretty crappy eq. Apparently the new Xenyx one's are an improvement on the silver eurodesks, but I've not had chance to use one yet.

+1 If you are looking something for your studio try TASCAM DM 3200 or 4800.Really nice digital desk,great sounding reverb,very intuitive to use,loads of options regarding the routing of signal..Compresors and eq sound a little strange to me but i did not do any music actually on it yet(except 4 piece folk band with accordion,upright bass etc....)so i can`t say that its compressor and eq suck they just sound as I said little strange,but the monitor position on the other hand is shall we say little strange.... well that`s a long story.
Avoid Behringer desks,DI`s,try their AD/DA converter Ad 8000 or something,it is really decent piece of gear and some of their older Composer Pro compressors sound decent to me also.

 

[Kazrog]

FYI: the Behringer mixer I own is a single rackspace line mixer, which I only use for live in-ear monitor mixes. It sounds good enough for that. I'd never use their products in a studio mixing setting, however.

 

[MetalJonesy]

Most Samson mics are pretty terrible. They won't last more than a couple years so you have to plan on upgrading them over time

ive had use of the Q kit for a gud few years now and its great, granted the tom and snare mics dont compare to the sm57 or e904 mics, but the kick drum mic is ace and the c02 condensers are pretty nice sounding too!

the drums on this are 100% pure natural and miced with the samson Q Kit done a few years ago mind!!

not bad IMO

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/369408/White Trash Lover.wma