Im new

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 10:32 pm

Hey im new here and currently buliding a home studio for professinal productions and recordings Im really having a hardtime finding a audio interface I was going to get the new audiophile 192 then came across the Emu 1820m which most of the reviews were great and it had alot of features and what not but there are WAY too many problems with this card even speculation that they are manufacturing a whole new line up since this one is really no good.So anyway what are some brands and modles I should check out?IM looking to keep it under $1000cdn is MOTU worth a look?What im looking for in a interface is reliable,durable,and of great quality all round,quite,clean,clear, you know just a great card oh yeah preferably pci/breakout box or a rackmount...a good amount of quality in/outs but not over kill.

Also Im buying monitors this month and have about $1500-1600 to spend Im planing on getting the Alesis Prolinear DSP 820's is this a wise choice?anyone have any experience with these perticular monitors...or have any objections or other suggestions?

lol,Im able to make my own desions im just not so quick to drop a shyt load of hard earned $$$ on mediocre gear!

I need great quality gear with as close to "professinal studio" sound with out paying the "proffessinal" price...I will spend alot more than what other Home studio users are buying but I dont have the money to get "the best"

example monitor budget
Average aspiring producer=M audio bx5/8's Alesis Mk2's event tr 5/8's and so on roughly $500 -$600 a pair
Established Producer=High end yamaha's/Mackies/genelecs/Dyaudio,etc anywhere from $2000-too gadamn much,lol
Me=somewhere in the low end of the high end...

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 12:21 am

Hi and welcome to RO.

First just let me say this - it's 'professional', as in 'profession'. Wink

OK, so what style of music? How many tracks do you need to record simultaneously? What other gear do you plan on interfacing? PC or MAC? We need a lot more info before we can help. Also, you should think about speding money on acoustics before anything else.

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 12:47 am

lol,I know my spellings is not the greatest but any way I'll be producing
hip hop/R&B general "urban" music,I will be using synths/sound modules/vsti's /samplers and mabey some live instruments ie guitar/bass uhmm Im set up in my bed room for now.Im a pc user.

Heres my specs just incase its asked for at a later time.
P4 3.0
1024 mb DDR 400 ram
two 200GB hard drives in a RAID 1 config
(will be Getting an additional external drive in the near future)
450 power supply...that should cover the important things

I shouldn't need to record too many tracks at once 2-4 at the most Im a "one man band" so to speak.I don't really have anything as far as to what gear interfacing but I'll post my future set up to give you an idea of whatI will be needing.

Monitors/interface to be detirmined,lol
Preamp/condencer mic
a mixer if needed
daw controll surface
midi keyboard controller(usb)
turntable(s) and dj mixer
MPC 1000
microkorg
Motif ES rack
MultiFX rack
Mabey a voice prism
thats all for now of course I would like an interface that leaves room for future expansion...

hope this helps

ps:My room isn't that big and is pretty much square.

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 11:03 am

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 10:10 pm

bump

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 12:13 am

enormous open ended discussion topic and not easy to advise

I have a microKorg ... yeah I like it and I loved the editor BUT it doesn't work in OSX.
There is always a problem somewhere.

Monitors ... best you can afford ... at least one set of industry standards still makes good sense
Headphones ... best you can afford ... lean towards industry standards
Mics ... best you can afford ... lean towards industry standards

Mic-pre ... might depend on your demands but an industry standard and one that operationaly makes sense to you. No point having the worlds best if it just doesn't agree with you.

DAW control surface ... don't ... just my 2 cents

Keyboard controller ... keep it cheap but keep it comfortably under your fingers.
Unless you want a weighted one ... only you can choose here.

Sound modules ... sounds you like BUT the programming must make sense to you and invite you to dial in new sounds. Presets will only get you so far.

turntable(s) and dj mixer ... like Keyboards these have to feel good under your fingers and can be quite personal.

interface that leaves room for future expansion
ouch
over what time frame ?
things change and this might not be so easy to meet.
I think an interface that is cheap but still meets your sound qoulity needs is good and fee the cash up for the things that will last a lifetime.
In some cases the choice of Software will chose the interface.

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 1:18 am

lol...I allready have all that picked out the question was about a interface and a opinion on monitors...and [expletive deleted] industry standards!

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 1:34 pm

one roll of the eyes and one bump

I only tried to add something as it looked like you wanted anything.

Monitors
so very personal and so far, absolutely no indication of room size or how loud you need to monitor .or if you need to be mobile
... but just a budget of

Quote:

somewhere in the low end of the high end...

!!
main monitoring or secondary monitoring ?

When choice of gear gets difficult it is often cool to stick close to industry standards as they have become that way for good reasons ... but we are going to fuck industry standards.
ouch
??
... the self powered portable Genelec with perhaps the sub option.
otherwise keep it very cheap and go Event until you really find a monitor you like.

as for interface .. keep it cheap until you find what you really like.
You may end up with a producer pack with an SPDF out that will bypass the converters in your interface.

sorry ,
that's all I got

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 1:56 pm

I appreciate your input but in my initial post I asked bout the Alesis Prolinear DSP 820's and a good interface to go with,This is my first studio so forgive my lack of info as to help base the opinions of others.I was actually thinking about getting a pair of secondary monitors on my way to work today...is that nesseccary?
I was thinking of having the Alesis as my main and mabey a pair of krk's as a secondary.also Im set up in my bedroom which isn't that big but it's not a closet either.and after reading my posts I did mention my space.might I also add that im in an appartment luckly my neighbors aren't asses.Ive blasted the home stereo on many occasions Ive never had 1 complaint so it shouldn't be a problem.Of course I know whats too loud so I won't be shaking the entire building and since Im set up in bedroom that isn't that big I won't need to be at very high volumes to get "high" volumes.
anything else im leaving I will post up if you need more info.thanks.

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 2:15 pm

everything you say is to general. if you want to get answers here, you have to ask direct questions.

monitors: there are several threads on monitors on r.a.p. and here, use the search functionality. if you don't find what your looking for here, go to google groups. i have mackie hr824s and i like them. a lot of people on here don't. to each is own. i tried krks and i hated them. i'd really like to have genelecs.

interface: are you solely going to "produce" in your bedroom, or are you going to be working with professional studios as well? are you going to be recording other people or yourself? if you are going to need to interface with other people, you will want an industry standard like protools. if not, then do your homework and figure out which has the best reviews. there are a lot that will work for you.

software: depends on the interface.

industry standards: if you keep saying things like "[expletive deleted]", you will get very little help from people around here. there are many professionals here that do this for a living. industry standards are standards for a reason. if you want to record on sub-standard gear you will get sub-standard sound. unless you are the only one in the world that is gonna make your alesis sound like a 250k neve board. well, good luck.

a better outlook: see how much good equipment you can buy, cause your gonna end up buying it eventually, and your just gonna waste money going from prosumer equipment, selling it, and then finally realizing that pro equipment is what makes pro sounds.

you can believe me or not, but if you come on a board that has users who have been making music for 20+ years, and try to tell them they don't know what they are talking about, it is not likely to get you very much help.

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 3:04 pm

interface: are you solely going to "produce" in your bedroom, or are you going to be working with professional studios as well? are you going to be recording other people or yourself? if you are going to need to interface with other people, you will want an industry standard like protools. if not, then do your homework and figure out which has the best reviews. there are a lot that will work for you.

I plan on working in professional studios as well as working/recording with other artists

industry standards are standards for a reason.

I think that reason is cause there widely used in the industry which makes them "standards" but the "standard" doesn't mean its the best or only way...imo

industry standards: if you keep saying things like "[expletive deleted]", you will get very little help from people around here. there are many professionals here that do this for a living. industry standards are standards for a reason. if you want to record on sub-standard gear you will get sub-standard sound. unless you are the only one in the world that is gonna make your alesis sound like a 250k neve board. well, good luck.

a better outlook: see how much good equipment you can buy, cause your gonna end up buying it eventually, and your just gonna waste money going from prosumer equipment, selling it, and then finally realizing that pro equipment is what makes pro sounds.

I am well aware that a pair of $1500 monitors will not sound like 250k neve board,obviously If we all had the money we would get the best of the best but most of us don't.
But Im also of aware of getting gear based on the long run and the "bigger picture" and thats is what Im trying to do but unfortunately I don't have the money to get a pair of Genies,Dyno's, or a hd/tmd protools rig and a avalon preamp,etc.I cant get the best money can buy so I gotta get the best my money can buy.ie $1500-$1800 on main monitors,$1000-$1200 for a preamp,$1000-$1200 for a mic,$800-$1200 for a interface,etc im a regular person who has to sacrafice things to get even the things mentioned above.

you can believe me or not, but if you come on a board that has users who have been making music for 20+ years, and try to tell them they don't know what they are talking about, it is not likely to get you very much help.

I never did anything of the sort...when I said [expletive deleted] the industry standards I shoulda said fuck protools cause it's one thing I don't feel thats nesseccary to get "pro" sound/results it is the opinion of others that made it a "standard",Logic,Cubase and others provide the same quality that protools does.Unfortunatley if to be successful in this bussiness means using what everyone else does I'll have to retort back to [expletive deleted] the industry standards!

of course Im here looking for the help and opinions of others and not to stir up sh*t these are just my opinions...they don't call me Renegade for nothing.

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 5:24 pm

The "F" word is unacceptable! Use a little imagination. RO is a top site on the search engine pages. No doubt there are 10 year old kids reading this stuff. We don't want thier parents or teachers walking by the computer and seeing that kind of thing on RO do we? Thanks in advance.

I have edited the thread.

187. You have a pretty realistic grasp of what it should cost to get you to a point that you want to achieve. To reply directly to the question, my advice for you is;

Mackie HR824's.

PTle 002 system (all the inzanoutz you need and the software is there too). Perfect for moving projects between studios.

An Avalon 737 for the mic pre channel strip. It's the sound you want, believe me

The mic is the most difficult thing. If cost were no concern, I would suggest the AKG C 12 VR or even better, if you could find one, a vintage C12.

C 414 B-XL II. Close the the above, same capsule type but no tube. Much less expensive.

The street price on these may take you over the budget you have outlined but I would be willing to say you will be able to get someone to do this in an all at once package for something you can afford. Have fun and good luck! (I love buying gear!).

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 6:03 pm

sorry for swearing in on the boards...I think I may just have to go with my instincts on the whole gear thing,and to add to my problems i live in Canada,lol.but seriously things are much more expensive here and there are NO DEALS I have too pay the list pricing and there is no good places to test monitors and such the ones they have in store aren't the ones I wanna try so far theyve had to order everything in..so with the monitors Im getting I won't have any basis on why I choose them either than a flippin spec sheet and the ever cool apearence.I can't really find any valuable reviews on them.but what I did find on them were good things,but at the same time I get alot of people saying Alesis don't make very quality monitors but im going to be a reble and get them anyway if all else fails I will trade them in for something else.Hopefully I can find a diamond in the rough with this purchase.
I was actually going to get the 824's but there 1999 before tax so thats way too much for my budget,and after reading on them they were not as good as people say but then again nothing really is there's allways bad things about every product mostly nitpicking,any way thanks to everyone for "putting up" with me,I know how I come across sometimes hope I didn't offend anyone that was never my intention.If anyone has something to add to this feel free.

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 6:32 pm

OK so forget the Avalon for the time being ... that should leave budget for the Mackies and the PT rig and maybe a 414 B-XL II. Check out www.proaudiocanada.com - www.adkproaudio.com or www.littledogaudio.com

Really for doing urban and hip hop / rap the Mackies are the best for a small set up. Loads o bass - plenty of power!

PT is the only way to move your stuff between studios ... nothing else compares. If you want to forget being able to move into just about any studio when ever you wish, then there are other options. But if you want to interface with the industry, then you can't say "forget" them ... you need to comply to thier standards, because they won't comply with yours.

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:49 pm

The rumours of E-MU dumping the current product line are bogus. True, they have announced new, additional products for the laptop to compliment the desktop PCI audio interfaces as well as new keyboard controllers.

The E-MU 1820 is a real professional digital audio product and not your daddy's soundblaster. There is so much power and flexability built in to the product that it has a higher learning curve to take advantage of it's capability. Many to most of the people that have problems with it are don't have DAW's that are powerfull enough or properly configured and/or are down right stupid idiots that have no clue on what there doing in the first place or those that are usually trying to use the product in ways it was not designed to be used such as playing DVD movies, MP3's and games. All of which are non professional audio applications.

The E-MU 1820M along with the EmulatorX sampling software is the most flexable and productive product right out of the box that I have ever encountered. While not perfect, and having some issues as any 3rd party product that runs under windows has, it is still a joy to use and hear everytime I use it. My primary use is as a idea and songwritting tool, it interfaces perfectly with my project studio and yet is up to par on it's own to be used without powering up the whole studio.

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