Studio Equipment

[rob_one]

If I put this in the producers thread it'll dissapear and I'd like a bit of input :-)

I want to set up a very basic home studio. Already I have:

Decent computer (iBook G4 with plenty of RAM)
Reason 3.0
E-MU Xboard 25 Midi Controller
Aurex A10 Stereo Amp
Two pairs of Pioneer monitors - not great but they'll have to do

I need:

A decent studio microphone and micstand
A mixing board of some sort
Soundproofing (this I can sort out, I plan to use polystyrene boards with baffling foam attached to form a portable booth)

My questions are:

- What is a good entry level mic and mixer to consider for someone on a limited budget? (Think between R1500-R2000 for both)
- Do I need anything else that I haven't considered yet?

[MrC The Rap God Almighty]

Get a Studio Projects B1 or C1 Mic, good entry level mics and pretty reasonable in price. I got my B1 for about R1000 3 years ago. I know a very famous record label that uses a C1 Mic and their shit sounds good.


Mixer i got the USB 1622. It all depends on how many input channels you want, i.e. how many components are u gonna connect to the mixer. Plus it's already got Mic Preamps. When i bought it it was around R3000, but it should have come down now. You can even go for lower models.

I will be upgrading my shit soon.

[rob_one]

Thanks Mr. C, I'll check those out. The mic in particular looks like it's what I'm looking for...

[Bondizzo]

get the new behringer mixers
https://www.retromusic.co.za/v2/product_info.php?cPath=85_99&products_id=2634&osCsid=443c02e2606d9f785177fbbd1556e2ba
thats what you looking for,and any condensor will do if you know how to eq your stuff

[Bondizzo]

you missing one of the most important things, before you get a mixer and a mic get a studio audio interface card

[rob_one]

What is that?

Happily I think I have found access to a small behringer mixer. There are some advantages to being an unpaid radio DJ!

[MrC The Rap God Almighty]

Sound Card.

[Bondizzo]

make sure your sound card uses balanced connectors and not 1/8 stereo jacks

[rob_one]

I'm very new to this studio thing, so Bondizzo I'm not sure what you just said. I have a very limited budget at the moment so buying an external sound card may be a little out of my depth. I'm having to rely on my MAc's internal one, which is not as bad as it sounds as it seems to produce pretty solid beats (I've tested on a number of systems)

Not brilliant but I'll have to make do.

[Dpleezy]

for me the most important thing in a studio is monitors. without them it doesn't matter what equipment you have, you can't hear what you're really doing anyway.

[Bondizzo]

for me the most important thing in a studio is monitors. without them it doesn't matter what equipment you have, you can't hear what you're really doing anyway.

or thx speakers, speakers should be the last you worry about cause if you input crap the output will be crap, so make sure your input gear is right

[MrC The Rap God Almighty]

Monitors are only important if your gonna mix and probaly master the shit yourself.

I would say a good soundcard is more important for production, even for recording vocals.

1st rule of making music, GIGO.

Garbage In - > Garbage Out.

[MrC The Rap God Almighty]

I c bondizzo already beat me to it.

[Bondizzo]

can you guys post pics of your setups ?

[rob_one]

I have decent speakers and although I have to use Reason to mix and master the stuff at the moment I really put a lot into making it sound good. I test my tracks on a lot of different systems and then go back and make adjustments. Not ideal, but I'm stuck with it.

I agree with the GIGO thing.