Home Recording Studio Help

Firestar_3x · 23 Nov 2009 at 11:08

I’m currently in the process of building a home recording studio but I could do with some input from those who know, requirement is:

Reproduction of 80’s metal music with a theme on covers and new 80’s metal based material, live instruments will be lead and rhythm guitars, midi synth, drums and bass will be provided by a programmable machine, my current spec list includes:

Midi input option 1
- M-Audio Project Mix i/o (£500 secondhand)

Midi input option 2
- M-Audio Fast rack Ultra (£200ish new)
- Behringer RCF 2000 (£140ish new)

Midi input option 3
- M-Audio Fast track ultra 8r (£280ish new)
- Behringer RCF 2000 (£140ish new)

Additional Gear
- M-Audio Keystudio 49i (£140 new)
- M-Audio Pulsar II (Matched Set) (£280 new)
- Boss DR-880 (£300ish new)
- Pro Studio 8 M-Audio (£160 new)
- Various Mic Amp stands (£60ish)

Questions:

1) Has anyone got any experience with setting up the Behringer with Pro tools?

2) Is the Behringer + interface (either Ultra or Ultra 8r) a good cheaper alternative to the Project Mix i/o?

3) How does the Keystudio rate vs other midi synths?

4) What mics would you use to live record lead metal guitar from an Engl and Blackstar?

5) With 1.5k what would you spec that would meet my requirements?

I’ve already got some monitor speakers and a Zoom G7, so I’m set for that side of things, budget is around 1.5k but i need to take some money off this for sound insulation and acoustic tuning (bass traps etc).

Cheers

Mark

Maccy · 23 Nov 2009 at 12:17

Good to see another mini studio starting on OcUK!
First thing to think about is what PC/Mac do you currently have, or are you factoring that into the budget?

I have the ProjectMix and it's fantastic, does more than enough and having 8 inputs is useful for mic'ing up drums etc - obviously I'm going to recommend this over the Behringer, the only Behringer product that I'd think about purchasing are the stage monitors that dmpoole recently purchased. Other people may disagree with me here, but that's my opinion!

Definitely get yourself a pair of SM-57s as these can be used for almost anything - drums, guitar amps etc. I find a good way to record guitars is use an SM-57 on the cone and have a condenser about a foot away, and record this to a stereo track instead of just one mic to a mono.

Condenser mics really come down to what you can afford - I got myself 2 Rode M3's over the summer for about £160 and they're great for the price, definitely worth checking out the Rode range.

Can't really comment about synths as I know nothing about them - I just use an M-Audio Keystation and software synths if I need anything like that.

Definitely consider finding Pro Tools on the bay for second hand as it could save a fair wack, I picked up version 8 for about £90 earlier this year.

I'm sure others will be able to help and offer other advice, let us know what you end up purchasing and pictures are a must!!

Firestar_3x · 23 Nov 2009 at 12:30

Cheers

Its very much in the planning stages for the start of 2010 all brought on because of the ordering of two custom guitars from the states and a late night chat at the weekend about how cool it would be.

PC wise it will be running on a Q6000, 8gb Ram, 2x 64GB SSD's and not that it matters but 2x 4890's in CF running a 24" in landscape and 2x 22" monitors in portrait, so that should be good enough to encode 8 channels at once.

Cheers for the mic information, this is the aspect which is confusing me the most currently, i could really do with a matched set for stereo and something thats good for Lead guitar and perhaps vocals if we can find someone.

I'm favoring the ProjectMix provided i can get one for a good price, don't really want to spend £800 on a new machine, but at around £500 secondhand they become fantastic value, i would prefer an integrated machine like this rather than an individual mixing desk and midi box.

What have you done sound insulation wise?

Maccy · 23 Nov 2009 at 12:40

Yeh I picked mine up for £500 off the bay last summer, the stupid seller even sent it Special Delivery but only charged £5 for it - must have cost him at least £30!!!

I've actually done nothing sound insulation wise at the moment because I'm not in one place - currently at university so moving kit back and forth from home, once I have a place of my own then I'll think about bass traps etc. The only thing I'm currently using are 2 pieces of A4 sized foam underneath the speakers.

I've heard from many people that rock wool is very good for sound insulation and is a lot cheaper than normal foam pads etc. It's also good for improving the sound from your monitors - I was thinking about adding a subwoofer for about £300 and a friend put some rockwall on the wall behind me and the improvement in sound was amazing. This stuff can be picked up quite cheaply from Wickes.

Firestar_3x · 23 Nov 2009 at 14:24

Ah cool, i've read about the advantages of building up drywall etc, not really into changing the room that much, but hanging some acoustic panels off the walls i feel could be a good idea.

I've heard many people report good sound quality gains from simple mods such as foam under your speakers and things like an acoustic blanket over the amp and mics when recording.

Few good price ProjectMixes around atm, a tempting pre christmas buy

just need to read some more reviews so i can be sure.

DJ_Switch · 23 Nov 2009 at 19:34

Firestar_3x said:
Ah cool, i've read about the advantages of building up drywall etc, not really into changing the room that much, but hanging some acoustic panels off the walls i feel could be a good idea.

I've heard many people report good sound quality gains from simple mods such as foam under your speakers and things like an acoustic blanket over the amp and mics when recording.

Few good price ProjectMixes around atm, a tempting pre christmas buy just need to read some more reviews so i can be sure.

Probably the easiest and most effective way to help your sound is by taking the line of where your speakers are pointed and placing foam/dampening on the point on the wall that the sound would first hit off. This greatly helps reduce unwanted reverb and reflection and doesn't require a lot of dampening material....it can be pretty expensive.

Like you've mentioned...isolating the speakers will help as well. The more soft furnishings in the room, the better. If looks are not a concern then put a couple of hooks on the wall and simply hang rugs/duvets from them. Very unsightly but it's only temporary, pretty effective and much cheaper than purpose made foam etc. I should stress that these suggestions lend themselves more to killing unwanted reverb, giving you a more honest sound, than sound proofing as such.

Firestar_3x · 23 Nov 2009 at 21:28

Seen a few acoustic tuning kits for around £300, think i will go for something like that and make a feature out of it rather than it looking horrid on the walls.

Other than a few desks a computer chair / guitar chair i'm going to have little else, clearly the other option is to move the recording desk to another room and the "sound booth" to the smaller room, hmm!

Docaroo · 23 Nov 2009 at 22:21

For recording guitars I use a Rocktron Chameleon or my other guitarists Prophesy preamp...

You might not believe this but the direct recording sound of these preamps is absolutely unbelievable. Like nothing in this world!!

To put it this way... all of Dragonforce's albums are recorded DIRECT with a prophecy!!

Now the proph is pricier (200-300 i think used) but you can get a Chameleon for around 100 quid (although hard to come by).

Consider it!

Maccy · 24 Nov 2009 at 03:14

You can't be serious? Recording using DI? That's why Dragonforce are terrible....

AbsenceJam · 24 Nov 2009 at 09:04

I'd give a lot of thought to the room itself. If you need soundproofing then carpet underlay beneath plasterboard can be good and then the usual ghetto eggboxes for echo reduction (these don't soundproof). Soft furnishings, hanging up blankets and all that are good too, be sure to eliminate any bass traps.

Firestar_3x · 24 Nov 2009 at 15:58

This is quickly turning into a two studio situation of similar spec each, pulling the walls apart isn't really an option (in both cases), one room is a rectangle the other is closer to square, not sure if this makes any odds sound wise.

Firestar_3x · 24 Nov 2009 at 16:07

Docaroo said:
For recording guitars I use a Rocktron Chameleon or my other guitarists Prophesy preamp...

Had a look at a Prophesy £800.... Not worth it for an effects processor at this level, stock pickup sounds (Seymour Duncan Metal Blackouts) with and without gain using a combination of amps my zoom and ISP det should be great.

I did have a Rocktron Chameleon on my shortlist for a while but i didn't like the sound quality.

Firestar_3x · 22 Dec 2009 at 14:34

More of a gear update but it will be going in the studio anyways:

Got a Laney 4x12 with Vintage 30's and Marshall 4x12 with Vintage 30's turning up tomorrow, just about to order a couple of new heads, currently thinking Egnator Tourmaster 4100 or Krank - Krankenstein or Carvin Legacy II VL2100 or Uberschall or Engl Fireball.

Hard choice, missed out on a project mix last week so i'm keeping my eyes open for a one at a good price.

Missed delivery of my two new guitars today, so that needs to wait till tomorrow.

Its made by the son of master guitar builder Mr BC Rich, (Bernie Rico) in his small custom shop in CA, Its a Vixen which i've speced with Seymour Duncan Blackouts (Metal) and i've gone for the option to lock out the Floyd rose should i wish, not sure what number i'm getting but he's built under 24iirc of each colour (3 colours), and has stopped production so he can do more proper custom builds instead.

Its only been 2 months in the waiting, really looking forwards to playing it tomorrow.

Oh and in other news, i've added a Phase 90 and Vox Steve Via - Time Machine to my pedal collection, expensive few months