~£500 budget for audio setup (for uni in Sept)
- Thread starter Maccy
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Nope, its only M-Powered for M-Audio hardware.
If you want LE then you'll need to get a Digidesign Mbox or similar.
Thats pretty scary. I know music is all to do with your ears and what sounds good and what doesn't, but still understanding the science behind how we actually hear is pretty important! Without knowing about this kind of stuff, i would be a useless mix/live engineer :S
If you want LE then you'll need to get a Digidesign Mbox or similar.
Thats pretty scary. I know music is all to do with your ears and what sounds good and what doesn't, but still understanding the science behind how we actually hear is pretty important! Without knowing about this kind of stuff, i would be a useless mix/live engineer :S
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For the record, my course is mainly music related rather than acoustics. I chose this as I don't really have much of an interest for acoustics and the physics of sound, and enjoy the musical aspects of technology more.
Is Pro Tools M-Powered significantly different from LE then?
Is Pro Tools M-Powered significantly different from LE then?
Associate
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Which course/uni is it? Chances are i will have looked it up at some point....
I believe you will still cover a lot of the basics of acoustics, even if it isnt in massive detail, which is easy to understand even without being a genuis in maths and phyics.
The difference between the two programs isnt really that much, its just the coding aspect of the software that is deliberatly altered to limit your ability to share projects. For instance, and M-Powered user can create a project and do whatever he pleases, then save it and pass it onto someone else with M-Powered, LE or HD. I.e you can work on something at uni and then open it with their Pro Tools systems. The downside to this is that once you save it on a different version of Pro Tools (ie HD & LE) you cant open these in M-Powered, so your back to square one.
In all honesty, if you want to use Pro Tools, then get the real digidesign hardware and LE that comes with it. Even though it is limited in features compared to HD, at least you can transfer files from one to the other without any major issues (afaik anyway, not used LE for a while, but i can check for you tomorrow)
I'd still advise waiting until you start your course before you buy anything though. I do believe waiting would pay off..
Associate
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I do vaguely remember coming across portsmouth when i was researching, the course looks at lot like Salford Uni's Popular Music and Recording - they do cover important stuff like mic types/placement, and some basic acoustics stuff. The portsmouth acuk website does seem a bit vague though...
It just wasn't right for me as i don't buy all this "popular culture" stuff - write an essay on what impact such and such a genre had on the politics of the USA during the 70s or somthing equally daft.
So now instead of recording/mixing music, i'm designing the electronics and software that you use to do it.
It just wasn't right for me as i don't buy all this "popular culture" stuff - write an essay on what impact such and such a genre had on the politics of the USA during the 70s or somthing equally daft.
So now instead of recording/mixing music, i'm designing the electronics and software that you use to do it.
Hi Maccy I’ve been keeping an eye on this thread with interest just to see how it developed. Often when asking technical questions such as this there is a wash of information fired at you which can leave you even more confused I’m glad to see that hasn’t really happened here. To be honest with you in this price bracket you get pretty much of a muchness for your filthy lucre. Meaning most of the products are more or less on a par. The guys here have given some excellent advice for the most part although some are more accurate than others.
For example all PT systems are portable. The problems arise when you are looking for the functionality of a TDM system on M-powered or LE it just isn’t there, however you can track a mix on a home/mobile setup using either of these later versions of PT and port it to a TDM system easily if that is the system you use at Uni.
Ok now on to the meat and tatters if you like. I use an M-Audio Project mix I/O in a little mobile config I have. It has 5 modes that can be used for most DAW’s it’s an absolute **** case to set up and use (PT M-powered is normally bundled with the unit). Since it’s a control surface and not just a soundcard/mixer you can also control your plugins and other bits n bobs with it. However should you choose it don’t forget that it is a firewire device so you’ll need a firewire port to plug into. Some people see this as a bit of a drawback (latency wise) but tbh, on today’s standard 400 port I’ve never noticed any latency when tracking. Also from pic’s on sites I suspected the unit might be a little flimsy however on opening the package I was pleasantly surprised by just how sturdy and robust it actually is, the unit is solid.
I’ve hooked this up to a pair of Active Nearfield M-Audio Bx8a’s in my back room. In my opinion these monitors are exceptional in the bang for your buck department giving a good frequency response of 40Hz-22 kHz. Translated that means you get pretty decent bass response and not too bad top end either, they are magnetically shielded and wont mess up your PC monitor if you place them close, they hardly colour the sound at all and are easy and none tiring on the ear coming in at just under £240 from some online retailers.
Dave’s advice about room acoustics is more or less spot on but in saying that Champagne tastes don’t always match up with a Guinness budget. Unless you can afford to hire someone like Dave
to do an acoustic treatment on your room then you’ll have to look for alternatives. You can achieve half decent results using quilts among other house hold brik a brak, to help your mixes travel well. What and how much compensation you use is where it boils down to your ears and how you hear the sound. (Will improve the more experienced you become.)
Finally good luck on your course.
For example all PT systems are portable. The problems arise when you are looking for the functionality of a TDM system on M-powered or LE it just isn’t there, however you can track a mix on a home/mobile setup using either of these later versions of PT and port it to a TDM system easily if that is the system you use at Uni.
Ok now on to the meat and tatters if you like. I use an M-Audio Project mix I/O in a little mobile config I have. It has 5 modes that can be used for most DAW’s it’s an absolute **** case to set up and use (PT M-powered is normally bundled with the unit). Since it’s a control surface and not just a soundcard/mixer you can also control your plugins and other bits n bobs with it. However should you choose it don’t forget that it is a firewire device so you’ll need a firewire port to plug into. Some people see this as a bit of a drawback (latency wise) but tbh, on today’s standard 400 port I’ve never noticed any latency when tracking. Also from pic’s on sites I suspected the unit might be a little flimsy however on opening the package I was pleasantly surprised by just how sturdy and robust it actually is, the unit is solid.
I’ve hooked this up to a pair of Active Nearfield M-Audio Bx8a’s in my back room. In my opinion these monitors are exceptional in the bang for your buck department giving a good frequency response of 40Hz-22 kHz. Translated that means you get pretty decent bass response and not too bad top end either, they are magnetically shielded and wont mess up your PC monitor if you place them close, they hardly colour the sound at all and are easy and none tiring on the ear coming in at just under £240 from some online retailers.
Dave’s advice about room acoustics is more or less spot on but in saying that Champagne tastes don’t always match up with a Guinness budget. Unless you can afford to hire someone like Dave
to do an acoustic treatment on your room then you’ll have to look for alternatives. You can achieve half decent results using quilts among other house hold brik a brak, to help your mixes travel well. What and how much compensation you use is where it boils down to your ears and how you hear the sound. (Will improve the more experienced you become.) Finally good luck on your course.
Update -
Weaver, I followed OzZie's advice and went for the ProjectMix - fantastic bit of kit, and got it off the bay in fairly good nick for £500. Am now looking at KRK monitors, at the moment the 5" ones but may stretch to the 6".
Weaver, I followed OzZie's advice and went for the ProjectMix - fantastic bit of kit, and got it off the bay in fairly good nick for £500. Am now looking at KRK monitors, at the moment the 5" ones but may stretch to the 6".
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The Emu 1616m is pretty good if you're using Windows....
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Not heard of the ProjectMix before, I've just looked it up and it does look like a nice bit of kit. Looks like it works with a Mac also if you do ever want to go for that route.
For monitors, have a look at some Proac ones, they are very nice (if a little pricey)
Looks like it works with a Mac also if you do ever want to go for that route.For monitors, have a look at some Proac ones, they are very nice (if a little pricey)
I'm not sure if this'll be any help but...I'm using Tapco S8's (essentially Mackie) after having had Absolute 2's and am really liking the S8's. The bottom end is truely weighty. I always had problems with the lack of low end on the Absolutes.