What to buy with all this money...
 

Hey guys,
I am doing some upgrades on our studio, and I need some advice.
This is a partial list of what we already have:
DAW: Protools HD
Faders: Control 24
Mic: Rode NT2000
Chan Strip: Avalon 737
Monitors: Mackie HR824

Things already on my list include:
LA2A
1176
SSL E Signature Chan Strip
SSL G Stereo Buss Compressor

I want the upgrades to cover mics, pres, compressors, EQs, etc.
My budget is around $30,000

Thanks in advance for your help.

Re: What to buy with all this money...
 

You only have one mic? I'd say spend a good chunk of that $30K on mics. Man, I wish I had $30 grand to spend on mics! (Of course, if I did, I would probably spend it elsewhere, like a new building!)

Re: What to buy with all this money...
 

yeah, honestly like Justice mentioned, I would expand your mic collection a bit there. Maybe add 2-4 SM57's, 2 SM58's, 1 akg D112, 1 U87 and whatever other mics hit your fancy otherwise. With mics, you might want to expand your pre collection also like maybe a couple of neve based pre's or something being you have the budget and then from there once you have that stuff in place and your room sounds amazing acoustically then I would suggest the outboard gear honestly.

Either that or if you are really looking for a place to go with that money, you are always welcome to hire me as a studio consultant for a couple grand to help you spend it..

goodluck with your purchases! peace

Re: What to buy with all this money...
 

Thanks. I know that I need to expand, but I am looking for specific suggestions, like the specific mics, pres, and other outboard gear that you would get.
We already have the drums covered, except for the overheads; I haven't decided what new overheads to get yet.
A little more info: We record mostly vocals (hiphop, R&B, gospel, whatever comes through the door), and we also do quite a bit of drums, mostly for the gospel stuff.
This is what my list of things to get looks like now:
Converters: - Apogee Rosetta 200 AD/DA $1800
Pres: - SSL E Signature Channel Strip $3885, Focusrite Liquid Channel $3300, Groove Tubes ViPre $2800, Manley VoxBox $3600
Compressors: - UA 1176 $1800, Distressor EL8SX $3000, SSL G Series (Stereo Buss) Compressor $3515
Mics: - AKG C414 BXL2 $1000, U87 $2900, Soundelux 251 $4800, Sony C-800G $6700, AKG C12 VR $5000

Monitors: - Dynaudio BM15A (pair) $2600
Headphones: - AKG K171S
Plugins: - Waves SSL Plugins $1500

If you think anything should be added to (or subtracted from) the list, please let me know.
Thanks in advance.

Re: What to buy with all this money...
 

Mics to get for sure (I.E. that I would buy in that situation, I'm not sure what your needs are):

Sennheiser MD421 (x3)
Sennheiser e602
Electro-Voice RE20
AKG C414 Stereo Pair; pick your variation
AKG C451 E or B Stereo Pair
AKG C12VR
Audio Technica AT4060
Audio Technica ATM23HE (x2)
Shure SM57 (x3)
Neumann U87
Royer SF24

As far as Pres go, you could look into some options like the UA 8110; about $5000 for 8 channels of some pretty nice preamps. What kind of interfaces are you running them into for the HD rig? Are they in need of expansion/upgrade?

While you're at it, pick up the SSL TDM Bundle from Waves; you WILL thank yourself for it later.

Re: What to buy with all this money...
 

HAHAHAHAHA And this gets posted while I'm typing...

Re: What to buy with all this money...
 

Hahahahah

Do you see anything that I could change on that list now though??

Re: What to buy with all this money...
 

You could always add the Waves Vocal Bundle. A Chandler TG Channel MKII would probably make a nice addition. A friend of mine has an HD studio where he does mostly Hip-Hop and R&B, usually using a U87 and he loves it.

Re: What to buy with all this money...
 

If I had the money, I'd buy an EL Fatso. That is a piece of gear that I use all the time, and is something I can't live without. It's also probably the best de-esser in the world. The warmth setting cuts the s's and t's out in the most musical way possible, and adds this grit to them that is very pleasing to the ear. It's also great just to throw in the chain to warm stuff up, compress it, whatever. The compressor is actually very nice on it.

Re: What to buy with all this money...
 

I'd get an Alan Smart C2 before the SSL Comp. Dual mono, sidechainable, and Alan Smart did a lot of work with SSL's so his design is pretty close.