Studio Decisions....

[Neoni]

Hi all, i cannot decide what to invest in so i need some help im willing to spend up to 450-500... on one of the following...

I currently have a Protools 003 Rack, Pair of VXT8's, A Macbook Pro, A Korg Kontrol 49, and other various studio bits, the Rack only gives me 4 mic preamps. its basically a vary capable home studio, i have tonnes of software and plugins to, but im so unsure on what to buy!... so im thinking i should invest in either:

a) a new preamp, connected via digital adat (to give me either 8 mic pre's or 12 mic pres)
b) something for mixing, such as the focusrite liquid mix (convolution technology)
c) for mixing and mastering, a second pair of monitors for a/b'ing
d) i plan on buying an sm57, but maybe a nice microphone...


Im swinging towards the preamp, or convolution technology currently? any ideas? and if so what gear would you look at

-Neoni

 

[Neoni]

I personally don't have a clue, and while im sure there may be a select few on this forum who do, im sure you would get a much more detailed response at a dedicated music forum? All sounds really cool mind

i probably would your right, but theres some decent music tech heads in here too

 

[Neoni]

Do you just have money that you want to spend?
What are you wanting to do next? The 4 options you've suggested are all completely different areas so I think you need to be more specific in what you want to do.

Also, an SM-57 is a good investment and a good weapon for the arsenal.

Besides, you know I'd just tell you to buy a control surface

i dont want a control surface as im buying a desk later on in the year, i want to add to my studio, but i dont know what to invest in, i cannot save money so while i have it i want to invest it into something worth having.... what do you reckon?

 

[Neoni]

I have an nt1-a as for what music do i mix, its normally rock/funk/pop sometimes electronica it all depends, i cant acousticly treat the room yet, im thinking about long term investmets for when i move out thats why im thinking about a preamp...

 

[Neoni]

Upgrade my monitors, there 1ks worth! best range of krk i can afford without going to Expose!

 

[Neoni]

Got a liquid mix myself just after christmas for £300 (ex display).

32 channels of EQ and compression, all with the characteristics of their respective models?

Small disadvantages are:
-Naming system is covered due to legal reasons. However, there is a way of getting around this. (think Pro Evo!) Plus they provide a cover sheet.
-Needs its own Firewire bus (ideally) as some people have issues with it and other firewire devices (primarily soundcards)

Amazing bit of kit. Wouldnt even consider mixing without it now. I still use my UAD-1 for other processing such as multiband, limiting and such, but with this, i can have them all running in real time as opposed to having to bounce tracks down with the UAD on them. I dont really even come close to using up 32 channels of the liquid mix.

Plus its portable. Go to any studio and just mix then and there. Dont worry about what plugins the've got!

Get one mate. You'll use it on everything!

you bugger can you email me on where you got yours from please buddie, i think a purchase is in order.

 

[Neoni]

What do you actually need?

in terms of need i need a lot of things id like extra preamps, but the drum technique i use for recording only uses 4 mic pres, so im not desperate for this, in terms of monitors i have a pair of VXT8's which are superb...i dont need any midi controllers, i dont need software, i have a really good protools le system without moving to HD, which i will probably add music production tookit onto, i dont really need microphones as i can lend from uni, and i can build these up slowly ill probably add a 57 to my arsenal and maybe a small diaphragm condenser microphone, the other option is going for the hardware, liquid mix, which gives the compressors and eqs which would be good, as i dont have really nice eq's and compressors as of yet.

 

[Neoni]

To be honest, you've got a great setup already, and really what is letting you down by the looks of things is a good dynamics processor. No point really having such a great DAW setup if you end up using crappy plugins, because it wont make it shine.

Get your self the Liquid Mix and just hear how much nicer and more subtle they can be. Granted the UAD plugins generally do sound more like the originals, there is pretty much no competition for the price.(UAD plugins cost an absolute bomb) At the end of the day, pretty much every track you have in a session is going to want EQ and compression isn't it?

Its the best and most useful thing i've bought in a long time...

Go to the website and take the test if you dont believe me...

its on its way

 

[Neoni]

See if your uni will allow you to purchase it via education. That way you'll get it for even less. In fact, if you can, make all your purchases via your university and you should save quite a bit!

it arrived today, and my god its lush, im never going back to my old ways of mixing after using this baby, such beautiful sounds from something so small.

 

[Neoni]

Considering you can get it for £319 from DV, i'd imagine you should be able to try and get it for around £250-260 from an educational establishment.

I remember when they first came out a few years ago and they were best part of £500, and one of our guys got it for £250. Best bet is to ask tutors at your uni whether or not they specialise in Focusrite equipment. If they do, your looking at up to 50% savings in come cases. (although dont get your hopes up!)

@Neoni: Glad you're impressed with it! The hardware takes a little while to get used to, but its up to you whether or not you prefer hardware or software interaction. I always use the hardware as you tend to focus your attention towards just listening and tweaking the settings, as opposed to using a mouse/tracker and sometimes being guided by whats on your screen as opposed to whats actually happening to the audio.

If you have the chance, test out a raw vocal track (if you have one) with the LA2A (just in default mode, not free) and just listen to how transparent the compression feels. You can easily compress -8dB or more and it doesnt at all sound processed, whereas with other compressors (1176, 670), the compression is noticably hard, and you can hear it. It's a great way of learning why each of the compressors emulated has the sound it does.

Here's the method of getting around the naming system:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/musi...te-liquid-mix-emus-brought-you-st-peeder.html

Just pop them into your snapshots folder (i removed the installation ones as i dont use default presets), and so when you want a compressor, just go to load compressor snapshot and choose the real compressor name that you want to load. Then you just do the same for the EQ snapshots. (just dont load a complete snapshot of both compressor and EQ as the presets are individual)

Enjoy.

i cant get the snapshot thing to work