"studio" equipment planning (ca. 5-6k €)

[jipchen]

Hi folks,
i'll finish school in june ("abitur", similiar to a high-school graduation) and then i will do the alternate service (in lieu of military service) for 12 months.
I want to study sound-engineering after that, and so i will spend the money (around 6400 €, but i need something for food and living, too ) on my homestudio.
Of course i want to earn money with the "studio" sooner or later, but i don't depend on it for the alternate service-year and the 2 years of studying.
Now i need your advice on the equipment, please
And especially if i forgot something i'll definetly need - tell me!

Okay, now a list of what i already have (yeah i worked hard for that shit, though being a pupil):
-Esp Ltd Eclipse 500
-Ibanez GSA 60
-and one acoustic guitar

-Peavey 6505+ ( <3 )
-Hughes & Kettner SC 412 Cab (but i want a ENGL pro cab)

-MacBook Pro 15" (unibody, 2x2.4 Ghz, 4 GB DDR3 RAM, 250 GB HD)
-Logic Express 8, ApTrigga 2
-Presonus FP-10
-Line 6 Toneport GX
-Samson S-Phone (headphone amp). headphones: akg k271 mkII, akg k301
-Neutrik Patchbay

- Rode NT-1
- Shure Beta 57 A
and two shitty mics.

Okaay, and now my list for the planned equipment:
#Logic Studio 8 Upgrade (from Logic Express)
#RME Fireface 800 (saw it in a studio and i LOVE it)
#Adam A7 (2x)
#Presonus Monitor Station
#2x Rode NT 5
#Sennheiser e906 (+cable+mic stand)
#Shure sm57 (+cable,mic stand)
#shure beta52 (not quite shur about that one)
#sennheiser md 421 U (+cable,mic stand)
#Radial Engineering J 48 (DI)
#Radial Engineering X-Amp
#2x Sommer Cable the spirit XXL
#Patch-cables
#ENGL Pro Cab (V30s )

Okay, i know this seems a bit over-the-top for a young guy like me, but i really want to do this
So, any ideas/changes/recommendations..? What did i forgot, what would you add or do differently?
Would you spend money in plug-ins, for example the sonnox oxford dynamics, etc. Or should i do that later?
What i also want are a 24" TFT, and a second external harddrive (1 TB).

My idea is to use 6 of the FP-10's Mic Pre's and connect them with the Fireface 800, using those patch-cables. I would have 10 Inputs with MicPre's then, right?

Thank you very much in advance!
Max

PS: oh yeah, my shopping cart says 4160 &#8364; for the recording stuff. Plus about 220&#8364; for the TFT,100&#8364; for the Harddrive and 950&#8364; for the ENGL Cab. Pheew..

 

[exoslime]

looks good to me, and not thinking your are crazy!!!
you set for a way to go, and thats very good )

instead of the 2 Radials:
#Radial Engineering J 48 (DI)
#Radial Engineering X-Amp

i would get a Reamp V2 or the Little Labs Redeye instead,

also i would remove the Sennheiser e906 from the list, i have one since some time and recently switched to a sm57, which is, imo far better, instead of using the Sennheiser now i wanna grab a second sm57.

have you already tried the engl cab with your amp, if not you should do that before buying it,

and, i would go on step by step in buying, if you are buying all the stuff at once or in relative short time, it could be too much of it to get your eqipment known

and i would add a lehle p-split box to the list.

Monitors and HDs are not so expensive anymore, and the longer you wait, the cheaper it gets as always with most computer gear,

cheers
exoslime

 

[Joematthews]

Audix D6 instead of the beta52 imho. Ditch the monitor station, you don't really need it. I might be tempted to sell the fp10 and buy 2 FMR Really nice pre's, as I'm sure they are better than presonus' pre's. Also good call on the E906, ditch it so you can have 2 sm57's.

If you want to actually get descent mixes get some acoustic treatment or I will come round and slap you

Joe

 

[jipchen]

Thanks a lot

@exoslime:
Okay, those DI/reamping boxes look pretty interesting, especially the RedEye. It's both, DI and Reamping Box, isn't it?
I will have a closer look at them, a shame they aren't available at german online/musicstores.. or if so, i didn't find them

Funny, because i had 2 SM57s on my list until today, i thought it would be cool to have a lot different mics for the guitars.
But i will ditch the e906, also because i think it sounds better with 2/3 same mics for the toms.
I tried the ENGL Cab and i love it

Yeah, i will buy the things step by step. I couldn't do it another way I get monthly paid.. i'm not shure about what to buy first, though. I could record/test all those things without the Fireface, but the fireface is probably the most complicated part of the list, so i don't know if it's clever to get it last.. i'll think about that.

Why would you buy the Split Box? For using 2 Amps at the same time when recording guitars?
Do you think i should wait with the monitors? Because what i thought was "i should get used to their sound so i better buy them early"

@joematthews:
thanks! A few days ago, i heard samples of the audix d6 and they were pretty bad, just "click" and no "body".
But i have to admit i heard a d6 in a studio once, and the sound was very very nice. So i think i will go to a local store and test different kick-mics.
Hmm, the monitor station. I know it's a bit luxury, but my idea was to use my recent "monitors" as a backup, because i had them for about 3 years and am pretty used to their sound. And i would like to have a central volume knob, the small ones on the FP-10 and the Fireface are... well not the optimum to me.
I also thought about selling the FP10, but that would be too much money for now.. i'll do it later

Haha, acoustic treatment. I know it's a very important point, i am saving money for that of course ^^
I want to build the bass-traps, etc on my own as far as possible.
But i have to measure the room(s) for the recording- and the control-room, before spending money on acoustics.

 

[exoslime]

hi max,

i think the red eye is avaliable in a few eu countrys (france, uk, belgium) and also switzerland, in some very selected stores, you can find on the dealer list at the little labs homepage, and for the reamp v2, i havent found anything here in europe as well. and yes, the Redeye is a DI and Reamp Box

Does the Firewire have HI-Z Inputs? you could use these instead of an extra DI,

I use the Split Box to split my signals (Bass, Guitar) to:
a) Direct Guitar Signal to Mixer (for later Reamping)
b) Guitar Amp

it also works great for the use with 2 amps without hum and grounding loops, but i dont use it for that purpose (yet)

i would buy the fireface first,
then some mics (SM57, MD421)
and then the monitors,
and then the other stuff.

ciao
chris

 

[ahjteam]

redeye WAS available on Thomann a while ago, but not anymore.

 

[jipchen]

hi max,

i think the red eye is avaliable in a few eu countrys (france, uk, belgium) and also switzerland, in some very selected stores, you can find on the dealer list at the little labs homepage, and for the reamp v2, i havent found anything here in europe as well. and yes, the Redeye is a DI and Reamp Box

Does the Firewire have HI-Z Inputs? you could use these instead of an extra DI,

Yeah, both the Presonus FP-10 and the Fireface have an Instrument-In.
But cool, if it's available in EU countries that is no problem. I would just hate to ship it from the USA for $30

I use the Split Box to split my signals (Bass, Guitar) to:
a) Direct Guitar Signal to Mixer (for later Reamping)
b) Guitar Amp

Doesn't that work with the Red-Eye alone, too? Like this:

Guitar -> Redeye -> "Instrument through" -> Amp -> Mic -> Interface
........................-> "mic level out" -> Interface

Don't you get two seperate signals in your DAW then? One DI signal and the signal the from the mic(s)?
Thx again

@ahjteam:
yes, while i was looking for a shop with google i saw the thomann-link. But i found another dealer, 250 &#8364;. That sucks, because its a lot more expensive than in the USA. But fortunately, it's still cheaper than 2 Radial Boxes

 

[Metaltastic]

To clarify what I wrote in my PM, the Redeye can split the signal, so it'll do what you need it to do! So the chain would be...

Guitar --> Redeye Instrument In --> Redeye XLR out --> Mic preamp (DI signal) and also Redeye Inst. Thru out --> Guitar amp