Thread: Dirt Cheap Mixer/Mics!

I was just about to give GF kudos for his wisdom (he and I both learned quickly here and on the job, I made many of the above-mentioned mistakes)... Until I read Bob's post.

If it's playing music and building your band that's important, scrap your plan.
Get something like a Zoom to record your practices and sets, and spend the $ on someone w/ real stuff that has an idea what they're doing.

Wait, I got into this whole mess recording my band's practices and sets....

But I did come to the realization that I would rather record bands than play in one as my passion/career BEFORE I stepped in the bucket.

Just make sure that if you really want to get into this, Greg, you know what you're getting into. There aren't many more "hobbies" more expensive and treacherous than recording/mixing.
Maybe rocket science.

"The cost of the entire Apollo program: USD $25.4 billion -1969 Dollars ($135-billion in 2005 Dollars)."

It seems like rocket science might be cheaper, I think I have spent nearly that much and may be no closer to my first "pro" quality recording than I am to the moon.

I just wish congress would appropriate me another $200 million, then I could stay in this business, till the money ran out anyway.

Originally Posted by GregVater

Well, I have seen a set of Red5 Audio Mics that are £149.99 Red5 Audio Ltd Drum Microphones

The price of the mics aren't the problem, it's that there are 7 mics so I need a larger mixer than if I got 4 more expensive mics that came to around £150.

I'll avoid Behringer in that case, after all of the reasons I've seen on here.

My question is, should I get 7 cheap mics (Red5 Audio - I have heard great reviews)

Or 4 better but more expensive ones. (Not Ridiculously expensive)

Why do you need 7 mics to record drums?

A good overhead pair and a kick drum is all you need to start out, seriously.

That should solve your budgetary issues enough. Get a stereo pair - Oktava pencils would be a good place to start - and a Beta 58 for the kick, and boom, you're on your way.

Most folks starting out think they need to mic every drum - it's just not true. A well positioned OH pair and a good stout kick mic will capture a well-played, well-tuned kit perfectly.

Red5 are trying hard, but I don't know anybody raving about them, and they've been at it for years now, so yeah, no....

++1 on just getting your drums done with 4 mics, 4 or even 3 good mics will utterly outparse 8 terrible ones.

And as regards Tapco, I read some great reviews and invested in quite a lot of their gear and its hurting me badly. 'monkey, PM me if you get a chance.

Tapco's amps are just as rugged (in my experience) as the old Mackie i series amps.

Anything else they make, I view as a step down from an already "meh" line of electronics. It's them trying to compete with B***er on price point, rather than step up their quality.

Man, I've bought 8 of the 1400 amps, and had 6/8 fail (albeit replaced under warranty and working at present). Number 7 just had a fan that broke. I read great reviews, and maybe a bad batch got shipped to the UK just as I bought, but I am pretty down on them at the moment.

TLDR I'm back to Crown as my goto cheapy rehearsal room amps.