Please help me shop!

[Radio Guy]

We're moving into a new house that has a bonus room over the garage just for me to set up a studio. This is my big moment to set up a studio that I won't out grow in the next couple of years. I won't have this opportunity to lay out $$ toward this again soon. Aside from the computer and the 001, what should I be getting as far as plug-ins and outboard gear to make it worth my while? And how much should I expect to spend?

[Park Seward]

I have always been poor at deciding just how much to spend at one time and then nothing more. I always think of better ways to do things and new tools are always introduced by the manufacturers.

That said, you need some good speakers and good mics with some good plug-ins. If you are going to use samplers, you need some good synths and drum loops and samples. A nice MIDI keyboard too.

Throw in some headphones, lights, music and mic stands, cables, outboard converters and maybe an external reverb unit and compressor or two.

What about a hardware control surface? I also like the large 22" Apple Cinema display.

You need a printer to print labels for the CDs and a burner with software.

If you can, hide away about 10-20% of your money for stuff you'll want next year!

I guess the list could be between $15,000 and $25,000.

I'm sure others will have suggestions. It's always easy to spend someone eles's money.

[seandaly]

My theory is: priority on the beginning & end of the recording signal chain.

I mean that I believe that great (well-placed) mics and a good recorder are vital, and everything in between less so.

Well, good monitors and a decent compressor are necessary too...

- Sean

[popps]

Just my opinion here, but do everything in your power to buy things that are re-sellable. Vintage mic pre's and compressors are always good. Instead of two Alesis 3630's... find yourself an old LA-4 single channel. Instead
of some new pricey mic pre.. grab a nice old Demeter or API.
Certainly, you'll have to cut some corners somewhere, but you can do that buy taking some time and locating true
bargains. Very few pieces of gear have good price to performance ratios. In other words, it's like wine... unfortunately, the more you spend.. the better the stuff sounds. But there are exceptions.. and if you can fill your
room with those exceptions, and leave room in your budget.. you can add some nice, high-end centerpiece type
items.
You'll also find that when it comes time to sell these units and upgrade (or whatever) , you'll be able to get much more than you would have buying the latest hype. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of new.. kick ass units out there, but you have to do your homework. I mean, before you lay out $350 for some reverb plug-in.... .remember that it will be obsolete, and worth nothing in a couple of years. Of course, sometimes that's the nature of the biz... but you can minimize that with careful planning.. and talking to lots of studio owners.

A few good price to performance ratio items in my opinion are...

The FMR Audio RNC Compressor (www.fmraudio.com) $200

Oktava MC012 Condenser mics. About $300 per pair, or less. (check musicians' friend)

Audio Technica AT4033 Condenser

Shure SM57's

ART VLA Compressors and MPA Pre's.

Mackie Stuff

Rode NT1, NTK

Yamaha NS-10 Monitors

Ballari RP520 Pre-amp

etc..etc. I'm sure others here can lend many more ideas along those lines.

Good luck...

Popps

[Kickin.da.speaker]

It depends on what you do in your studio: are you going to record acoustic instrument and/or voice? Do you intend to produce quality mixes? Are you going to track in a pro studio and come back mix at home? Or track at home and go to a pro studio to have it mixed?

I believe if you intend to track acoustic instruments, or produce quality mixes, you should work on the acoustic of the studio before anything else. You can get better mixes with $500 monitors in a treated acoustic studio than with $1500 monitors in a square box with plain drywall and furniture everywhere.

Go get some 703, wrap it in burlap, and hang that on your walls. Get a couch (cheap bass trap that can double as ...huh... a couch!), some curtains and a thick area rug, or carpet. All that is pretty cheap ($100 for 10 2'x4' of 703, $100 for a futon, $100 for an IKEA rug), but it requires some thinking and some work. Set some time aside.

Then, as the other said: good monitors. Good mics if that's important to you.

And once all that is set up, you can go ahead and get some gadgets.

[kris whitten]

Kickin'

Where does one get some 703?

And If I can get 10 panels of Auralex 2" 2' x 4' for $120 would they work as good/ better/the same?

[Joseph Anderson]

What will you be doing in your dtudio? What is it for? What do you want to achieve? Begin with the end in mind.

[Kickin.da.speaker]

kris, I got mine from an insulation dealer here in L.A. ... where are you located? I recomend trying yellow pages and search for "insulation", or heat and a/c, stuff like that. Most of the time if they don't have it they can refer you to someone else. It took me a few phone calls before I found it.

Auralex foam isn't going to do anything except for muting the high frequencies, so your room is going to be even less flat. I really don't recomend foam.

If you want proof, check this out:
Auralex's 2'' foam absorbtion coeficients.
and
703 2'' absorbtion coeficients

You'll notice at 250 Hz, the 703 offers you a coef of .86 while auralex offers you .30 !!!

Leave some air between your walls and your 703 panels and you multiply those coefs, too.

[Radio Guy]

Thanks for the replys. As far as what I'm actually recording, it'a mainly acoustic or electric guitar, electronic drums, and my vocals. I record for our radio show (bumpers, parody songs etc.) but I long for a finished mastered sound vs. what I get in our studio. Once the stations processing hits it, it sounds better, but otherwise it sounds somewhat amateurish. Considering that I invest in a fast Mac, decent mics, dynamics and mastering units, what would be a ballpark bottom line figure that I can try to budget for?