Hi,

I'm in the process of figuring out how to upgrade my studio to be used for 1) semi-professional audio mastering (meaning I'm keeping my day job, not that the work isn't professional) and 2) electronic-based recording with some acoustic sound such as guitar and vocals. What I'm after, overall, is an upgrade in sound quality, a substantial one, if it won't break the bank. What I currently use creates good and clean recordings, but they are missing that elusive pro studio sheen. I've also been very hardware based for recording over the years and I'm a little leery of entering the world of computer-based recording. I've had my Mac freeze up or crash on me far too many times (Mac OS 9 and earlier) over the years, and my hardware recorders have never been a problem. But Mac OS X (been on it for 6 months) has been remarkably stable and I think I have enough confidence to pursue recording multitrack audio with it. I don't think I can completely let go or should let go of all the hardware, so I'm after a versatile system where I can record inside the computer (I will let go of digital hardware recorders) with enough outputs so that I can make use of traditional analog processing / mixing if I so desire. I'm kind of looking for the best of both worlds so that I don't have to rely entirely on plugins (of questionable quality) for processing and record and mix in what seems like a very claustrophobic environment. I'll get a second and larger computer monitor to open things up a bit.

Things I plan on keeping:
- Dual Processor G4 867MHz
- Digital Performer 4.52
- Ensoniq DP/4 FX processor
- Roland SRV-3030D digital reverb (one thing I'd like to use with DP4, since this has digital I/O and great reverbs, probably sending and recording different reverb tracks for different groups in the mix)
- dbx263X de-esser (x2)
- Symetrix 525 compressor
- Symetrix 425 compressor
- Mackie LM-3204 stereo line mixer (for keyboard and sound module monitoring, and possible mixdown)
- AT4033
- Shure SM57
- K&K Dyna B 07
- Panasonic SV-3700 DAT (keeping for legacy purposes, probably won't record with it too often anymore)

Things I plan on selling:
- Roland VS-880 (It's been a great workhorse, but I think I want all audio tracks in one location, on the computer)
- Emu Darwin (Sounds great, easy and fun to use, but I'm committing to getting rid of hardware recorders, and the sound / sync problems with locking up multiple recording platforms.)
- Mackie CR-1604 with OTTO (I've recently disabled the OTTO, I finally realized how much it was limiting the mixer headroom and how much better it sounds without it. The CR-1604 was probably great for it's time, but I think I can do better in 2005. The replacement mixer will be mainly used to combine sources if I choose to not mix so much inside the computer, or do some sort of hybrid mixing, some in, some out.)
- Digi002 Rack (This was an upgrade from a AudioMedia III PCI card. I'm committing to DP, so I won't be using Pro Tools LE. I need a strong MIDI environment, with a good audio environment, and DP seems to give me that. It works with DP, but I think I can do better.)
- Tannoy Reveals (passive) and PS110-B sub (Not up to mastering and critical audio listening. I'm actually not going to sell them, I'm going to move them into my home theater system, and use them for secondary monitoring. The Tannoys are great all-around Hi Fi speakers, thus making them not so great as studio monitors, at least that's been my experience.)
- AT822 stereo condenser (Great as a drum overhead, but noisy for more quiet things. I have no plans to record drums again.)
- AKG C1000S (neither good nor bad)

Things I plan on purchasing (this is where I'm mostly looking for feedback):
- Dynaudio BM5As w/ BM9S sub (I hope they are up to the task of audio mastering, both are too new to tell from feedback / experience.)
- Waves Masters Native Bundle (My mastering starter tool kit)
- RME Fireface 800 (The replacement for the Digi 002R, hoping the A/D and D/A are good enough so I don't need, at least, a separate A/D.)
- Allen & Heath MixWIizard 3 16:2 (The Mackie CR-1604 replacement. I think I can still use the Mackie LM-3204 since that's line level and use of EQ on that is none to minimal. And I would have a hard time finding 20 stereo inputs in one package with another product.)
- Vintech 273 (At least one crazy mic/line preamp for adding a little something extra and refined to sound when needed. I'm not sure I want or need more extreme tube coloration and warmth, but more subtle refinement of sound. And it has to work at line level.)
- PreSonus Firepod (A secondary audio interface for additional analog outputs. I won't buy a second interface until / if I need one, the Fireface might be enough. It's hard to define my workflow until I start working with the new tools.)

Overall I would like to embrace the philosophy of re-use to achieve sound quality. Since I can't afford a $XXX,000 recording setup, I'd like a few high quality pieces that I can use/re-use to effectively simulate the big studios sound. That's where something like the Vintech comes in. I'm used to mixing with the MIDI tracks live (my main source of music), but I'm thinking of tracking the MIDI gear through a great pre into DP, and then mixing with all recorded audio tracks, no MIDI. If the quality is captured and retained within DP then it should, in theory, still be there in the final mix. Does the re-use theory work in reality? I might need a better pair of A/Ds to make this reality than the Fireface has to offer. I only need a pair for the way I work.

Any thoughts on my plans to keep, sell and purchase would be great. In case I'm making some really bad choices. The embrace the future but hang onto the past a bit philosophy seems to work the best for me.

Thanks,

Robert