Home recording studio queries

*Watches as half the last mini conversation went completely over head*... and yeah, I'd rather have a mixing desk, compared to a control surface or whatever it was, as I like having the extra options, versatility, ability to do some eq and mixing before software, and its what I'm used to, and also see used a gigs etc, and besides that, Im a student. It will take me a few months of solid saving to afford this kit, so I dont wanna spend the earth, and really cant increase my budget beyond 1500, ideally I want it to be a fair chunk less!
 
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I'm looking at spending 300-400 or less on the mixing desk. Can someone tell me what the best Behringer model for that sort of money, and any other comparable brands, also, is it best to get an amp with a mixing desk, or are active monitors and a soundcard fine? A rough break down of what Im thinking so far:

Mics - £400 - MAX if possible
Mixer - £400 - MAX
Cables - £100
Sound Card - £150
Monitors - £200 or less
AOB - £250

Of course, if I can get a decent setup for less, as a student I'll jump at the chance to save money, as to me, every £ counts.
 
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Alexrose1uk said:
I'm looking at spending 300-400 or less on the mixing desk. Can someone tell me what the best Behringer model for that sort of money, and any other comparable brands, also, is it best to get an amp with a mixing desk, or are active monitors and a soundcard fine? A rough break down of what Im thinking so far:

Mics - £400 - MAX if possible
Mixer - £400 - MAX
Cables - £100
Sound Card - £150
Monitors - £200 or less
AOB - £250

Of course, if I can get a decent setup for less, as a student I'll jump at the chance to save money, as to me, every £ counts.
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That Allen and Heath I recommended was £420 or so. It makes no sense to not go £20 over budget for something that good. If £400 is a hard limit then look at the Soundcraft range, but please don't get a Behringer.
 
Alexrose1uk said:
Thanks anyway :) So, Creative or M-Audio...
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soundcard

delta 1010 LT or normal with a breakout box cant go wrong.

monitors:

krk or event.

tr6, tr8 in events are nice.

krk rp6 as well.


with their own amps made to suit the speakers.

dont skimp on monitors, could be the most important part of your setup.

mixing console:

behringer is great stuff. the preamps are fairly quiet. loads of groups on them as well.
but be prepared for it to go wrong. they always seem to break channels easily.
so cheap though it is rude not to.

mics:
anything. you will always be buying new stuff. especially a decent vocal condensor mic.
 
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lozza23_uk said:
behringer is great stuff. the preamps are fairly quiet. loads of groups on them as well.
but be prepared for it to go wrong. they always seem to break channels easily.
so cheap though it is rude not to.
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Here are some more ideas:
This is basically the ProjectMix without the faders
http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/3803
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Oct04/articles/maudio1814.htm

Nice bundle including Behringer 8-channel Preamp & A-D/D-A Converter:
http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/4122
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun04/articles/behringerada.htm

Now - I'm not a fan of Behringer at all. The stuff I've used has been put together with gaffer-tape and string, sounds like a wet turd on holiday and breaks in about 30 seconds. This unit sounds OK from the review in SOS though.

I would *again* seriously think about why you're buying a desk.
Is it just because that's what you associate with a *studio*?

The reality is that, yes, customers expect to see a 'desk'. But in reality, the vast majority of mixing these days is done using automation anyway (desks in big studios are all automated - unless they are *real* traditionalists and still enjoy roping in the tape op to move faders for big mixes ;) ).

If I were you I would just draw a big desk in crayon on a piece of card and pretend ;)

I'm just trying to stop you spending cash that you say you can't afford to waste.

So many of my mates have bought desks/mixers that they just use for a few pres and master volume and envy the amount I saved by not buying one!

Are you *really* going to use that desk to do mixes on? If so, why did you spend a fortune on Cubase SX3, which, if you press F3, will give you a superb desk with half-decent EQ, inserts, all the bus routing options you need (with no bloody patch cables requiring playing with and degrading the sound), etc etc!

The *only* reason for having a desk is to move more than one fader at a time, and for the *feel* of analogue mixing. This is luxury to me - as you generally mix one thing at a time in reality, and can do complex mixes with automation.

Seriously - for a small project studio, if your emphasis is on quality, the best bang for buck lies in outboard pre's.
 
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Soundcraft spirit folio 16 channel mixers are pretty cheap on auction sites these days, or the sx version if you want fx
 
What features does that have compared to SX3? If its any good, I may add CubaseSE to my legitimate software, although as apparently the cracked SX is faster, I may run a comparison to decide what I ultimately use.
 
AKG K240 Studio are awesome studio monitor headphones, and whilst someone has claimed that the Beyerdynamics are industry standard (I think they might be in broadcast...) the K240s are found everywhere.

With regards to monitor speakers, Tannoy Reveal have a good rep. I'm still a big fan of Yamaha NS10s though. :)
 
For multiple analogue i/o I would reccomend using a pci adat card plus a ADAT to analogue converter like the Behringer ADA8000. This is the cheapest way of getting high quality audio in and out of your pc. You can quite often pick up bargains on a popular auction site, try looking for a MARC A or MARC X card from MARIAN.
You can get 8 channel interfaces such as the M-AUDIO Delta 10/10 which are good quality, but the signals are unbalanced, which could lead to problems such as signal noise.
The optical signal transmission of ADAT completely elliminates ground loop issues.

As for multiple monitors. I would reccomend a dual monitor setup. It is very useful if running multiple apps, like reason rewired to cubase for example.
 
I dont have much experiance with mixing and recording etc. But one i noticed on your quotes was giving £100 to cables. From my days wth car hi-fi and home hi-fi, the car stuff i used to spend a fortune on before days of mortgages etc and i spent a lot on cables and wiring.

Cable and the interconnects is I believe not an area you want to skimp on at all. That can be a very important part of the system. I mean you can spend £100+ just on a scart lead for your tv - dvd player can you not ? and you want that sound to get to and from your equipment without any loss in signal or quality.

So I may be wrong here, but i would think that cabling and it's interconnects is an area where you cannot skimp on?
 
Magic_x_uk said:
I dont have much experiance with mixing and recording etc. But one i noticed on your quotes was giving £100 to cables. From my days wth car hi-fi and home hi-fi, the car stuff i used to spend a fortune on before days of mortgages etc and i spent a lot on cables and wiring.

Cable and the interconnects is I believe not an area you want to skimp on at all. That can be a very important part of the system. I mean you can spend £100+ just on a scart lead for your tv - dvd player can you not ? and you want that sound to get to and from your equipment without any loss in signal or quality.

So I may be wrong here, but i would think that cabling and it's interconnects is an area where you cannot skimp on?
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There are a great many snake-oil salesmen in hi-fi, and for the most part, super-expensive (and I'm talking about the very very top price range - here, I wouldn't suggest anybody should just use the chapest they can find) cables do not make an audible difference.

You are right in principle though - it is important to have good quality cables with decent RF rejection and good, well soldered connectors; but some cables are just priced way too high for what they are. Just be careful and don't pay £100 a meter ;)

What's more important, and often overlooked, is clean power...

I work for a large broadcasting organisation, and I think many people with expensive cables in their hi-fi's would be stunned to see what we have in our studios ;)

At home, for 1/4" jacks I use a mix of Planet Waves and Monster cable and I have no idea what my XLR cables are. They seem to work though.

I get far more extranious noise from my valve amplifier, semi-quiet PC, cat and birds twittering outside than any cable could ever introduce ;)
 
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