What should my next studio purchase be?

[3tuxedo]

Hey guys, so I am slowly trying to upgrade my studio as I can. And being in college that isn't super easy. What should I get for my next upgrade? I currently have a Presonus Firestudio Tube, Presonus Studio Channel, Behringer 4600, and Behringer b2031a's. My main vocal microphone is an AT2020. My options are a UAD 1 card cause I am very unhappy with my bass tone. An sm7b, a nice Countryman Direct box, or a better preamp. Thoughts?

 

[jeid]

The most common response is acoustic treatment, which might actually help with your bass tone.

 

[Machinated]

a new bass

 

[jarrysopa1984]

a new bass

I'm with Machinated on that one. Your gear seems to be good enough to get a good bass tone. No UAD or preamp is gonna fix a bad instrument or old strings.

 

[schismatic]

Invest in room treatment. Like many you are on a budget, and I would therefore recommend that you look into building some DIY bass traps. They can be inexpensive (particularly if you can borrow tools - the materials are usually relatively cheap) and they are the single biggest thing that I have done to improve my mixes. You'll not only improve bass, you'll improve mids, highs, stereo perception, depth perception, the works........because you'll start to actually *hear* what's going on in your room.

I've put some icing on the cake with my bass traps by investing in the ARC monitoring system which corrects for problematic frequencies in the monitoring room - a great compliment to some decent bass traps.

Start looking at pricing up Rockwool etc........

 

[The StabbinCabin]

Don't get treatment if you're in a smaller room do what you can to kill flutter echo but get some good cans for monitoring low end. Better bass, mic, cans and channelstrip would be the four I'd recommend.

 

[schismatic]

Don't get treatment if you're in a smaller room do what you can to kill flutter echo but get some good cans for monitoring low end. Better bass, mic, cans and channelstrip would be the four I'd recommend.

Really cannot agree with this. How can you hope to hear properly without a decent listening environment? What's the point in decent bass, mic and channel strip if your final mix is going to be misguided by a poorly treated room?

 

[LBTM]

I'd get a new condenser microphone (don't go cheap, get something good that will last in the long-run - Studio Projects B3 maybe?) and then acoustic treatment for recording vocals. Everything else can go direct and just work on mixing to get a better bass tone. Don't get a DI box or a new preamp as the difference doesn't worth what you'll pay for.

 

[3tuxedo]

As much as I appreciate the idea of a new bass, I am more wondering about things such as treatment that could improve my sound. I would totally agree with the bass idea if it were my own music I was recording.

I've always wondered how you figure out exactly where in your room needs treatment. That may be a factor, I mix in a wide room, and have no treatment.

 

[HOFX]

My experience in the last 12 months:
- Room treatment
- Monitors (Equator D5s for me)
- Linear EQ (DMG Audio EQuality for perfect example)
- New bass strings
- Slate VCC & VTM.
- New bass.

I understand you're in college and don't have mega funds, but if you're going to make this a long term investment, that's my advice. The room treatment and monitors will help you make better EQ decisions, a linear EQ will allow you to EQ the bass hard but not lose its punch, VCC/VTM will help you get a consistent low end to your mix, and then you'll know what to do with a new bass.

This might be anathema around here, but I demoed the Waves CLA bass plugin, got some good results with it, even with a dead stringed shit bass.

 

[schismatic]

I've always wondered how you figure out exactly where in your room needs treatment. That may be a factor, I mix in a wide room, and have no treatment.

Start with bass traps in the corners. If thick enough they will absorb some of the really low bass frequencies which naturally tend to accumulate in the corner of rooms, minimising build of room modes (i.e. peaks and troughs at particular bass frequencies that end up giving you a misleading picture of the bass).

Search for some info on building DIY ones, they are genuinely inexpensive and give 'bang for the buck' more than anything else I've come across.

Also read up on correct monitor position within your room - there's a 38% rule I believe although I don't know the exact details anymore.

 

[The StabbinCabin]

What's the size of your room? Anything smaller than 11x11x8 ft and you'd be hearing minimal difference. It's not going to make things significantly easier to mix. Trust me dude I made 18 traps and covered my room and it may have helped a bit with the sound of the room- I still only trust my headphones for everything below 200hz and still struggle with it. The panels did make it a lot better for vocals, though. I'd get better phones and pick up cheap auralex or egg crate if that's the case.

 

[LBTM]

At this point for acoustic treatment I would only invest in making a DIY booth for recording vocals to get a flat sound. Using acoustic treatment in the room won't make that big of a difference.

 

[SoundsLikeFog]

Using acoustic treatment in the room won't make that big of a difference.

Pardon my coarseness but what the fuck?

 

[LBTM]

Pardon my coarseness but what the fuck?

... in the final product.

My mixing room is professionally treated and that didn't make any serious difference to worth what I've paid for. Of course I was seeking to get a perfect listening environment so I don't regret the money I've spent. He's a college student and he doesn't have that good equipment. He uses a AT2020 for vocals. Not that it's a bad mic but shouldn't he invest in a better one before considering acoustic treatment? Will acoustic treatment improve his productions significantly? I can safely say no, it won't. I'm not against acoustic treatment at all, but let's get the priorities straight and start by what will help the most.

 

[RedDog]

Pardon my coarseness but what the fuck?

Word.

Treat the room. OC 703 is dirt cheap if you buy from a warehouse. I got 20 2" thick 2x4 panels for under 150. Home depot some cheap 1x1x8s and build frames. Cover with muslin fabric, also dirt cheap. less than 300 for 160 sq ft of acoustic treatment.

 

[schismatic]

Word.

Treat the room. OC 703 is dirt cheap if you buy from a warehouse. I got 20 2" thick 2x4 panels for under 150. Home depot some cheap 1x1x8s and build frames. Cover with muslin fabric, also dirt cheap. less than 300 for 160 sq ft of acoustic treatment.

PRE-FUCKING-CISELY!

 

[LBTM]

For recording vocals you can make a booth with old carpets/blankets. I had good luck with this before getting foam panels.

 

[Chris Lucas]

Word.

Treat the room. OC 703 is dirt cheap if you buy from a warehouse. I got 20 2" thick 2x4 panels for under 150. Home depot some cheap 1x1x8s and build frames. Cover with muslin fabric, also dirt cheap. less than 300 for 160 sq ft of acoustic treatment.

This is literally the correct answer if there was one.

 

[lanky noob]

Is there any massive difference acoustically between 703 and rockwool?
Looking into building some treatment on an extreme budget, and rockwool is a hell of alot cheaper