how mutch money/time do you have to spend and what do you intend to do with your studio? also why limit yourself to you one or the other? use bolth to your advantage.

I'd say around £15000 for everything.

I intend to do mostly recordings for local bands and perhaps some radio voiceovers.

Also some live recording could be possible at gigs.

IMO, analog always sounds better but 150,000 pounds (or dollars) won't go too far to buy a really good analog console, tape machine, mics and outboard ... Go digital ...

That's what i was thinking - get a O2R, decent active monitors, 24 track HD recorder and the mics.

With that budget you could get a Radar and some nice mic pres also ... that way you could go straight to the Radar and bypass the Yamaha ... (a good thing IMO). Another alternitve is to go DAW with a screaming PC and Nuendo or Cubase (my 2 favorite programs) and mix "in the box". It would all depend on if you want a stand alone system or not ...

a DAW would be the best bet i think (i to love cubase and nuendo) how ever you mentioned live recording how mutch of this would you be doing?

Lots to think about, thanks.

As for live work i don't really know how much i'd be doing.

You might be interested to know that Air Studios are selling two of their 24 track Studer A800s. One is going for £6000, and the other for £7000. Given that this is one of the most prestigious studios in the world, you can be sure that they were well looked after. However, it's difficult to know how much life is left in it, and the upkeep of these things is costly. If I could get a sufficient credit limit extension from my bank, I'd buy one just to look at and worship :wink:

Regards,
John Stafford