A budget would be nice, as it is a guide line, and also the quality you are looking for is also worth mentioning, whether its for demo purposes, or for commercial applications. The number of tracks you are interested in and if you really want to go through a computer or do everything from hardware are also important factors to let us know.

Giving the guys on this forum free reign with budget is like telling the devil 'I'm all yours" !!

From my point of view, a poor guy interested in this as a hobby and to try and get good demos, I look at budget gear. I have heard didly squat and can only recommend on reviews that I have read.

A home built PC might be better than a brand name like Dell, taking special care with hard drive, RAM, sound card, and making sure that you have adequate cooling and a quite power supply. You may also need a good burner. You can also go the MAC route which will cost more, but they seem to be considered the standard by which all computer based DAWs are judged in terms of stability and efficiency.
Software is upto personal taste.

Soundcards depend on howmany tracks you want to record and how much money you have to spend. for only two analog channels, I have heard good things about EMU 0404 and M-Audio Audiophile 2496 cards. For more ins and outs the Emu 1212m seems to be getting good praise.

Monitors are again subjective. i have none, but have heard some JBLs and Yamaha NS10s a while back. Cant remember much to be honest. Dependent on budget and needs.

as far as effects go, will you use hardware or softwae effects?

Do you see where this is leading?? Be more specific in your needs and wants, your space, your budget, and any and all info you can give and then you may get a proper answer. Probably not from me as I know very little, but from some of the more experienced guys who are experienced in this and can give you worthwhile opinions.

D

Do yourself a big favour and avoid Digidesigns LE crap. It sounds bad, it breaks down constantly, it needs constant updating, and did I mention that it sounds bad..... Buy a Mac G5 and some Motu gear "896HD and midi express 128", Cubase SX 3, an M-Audio controler Keyboard, studio projects and Cad mics, a Sebatron Pre or two Tampa's, and maybe a Yamaha Motif rack.Top it off with some KRK active monitors, that should get you up and learning, and allow you to grow later on. The Sonitus Plugin pack might be a good way to get started with plugins cause its cheap but still ok.

Got all that? Now wait for the next few posts and get some other ideas too.

Good luck...

Any replys and/or advice is greatly appreciated.

Search the archives, read, learn, absorb, read some more. Ask very specific and focused questions. Don't expect to get all the answers quickly or all at once.

BOSS BR-1180 CD

This recording tool is very useful/effective. Its around $900 - its a 8-track digital recorder with about 64 virtual tracks. It burns right to a CD, or you can put a LINE OUT to a PC with Sonic Foundry software of something - which is what I have.

BOSS BR-1180 CD (everything YOU would ever want!)

Get a good mic too... I have a NADY TCM 1050 Tube Condenser Studio Mic and it is a BEAUTY!!!!!!! Only around $250 now a days.

Hope this helps a little - its basically what I have, doesn't mean its the best, but I think its the BEST DEAL!

I must admit that i have witnessed the pt le package and have found it extremely efficient with superb sound quality. I would never put down a pc as i use one myself but i also own a mac and it is a dream compared to a pc!

Yeh a good mic is definatly reccomended!

in my humble o, the first thing you need to ask yourself is "self, what exactly do i want to achieve with my studio"

meanin are you a songwriter that just needs a quick cheap digital means of layin down some trax? or are you tryin to make a full blow cd production?

if its the latter, rent some studio time, the results will be better and lessin' ya got endless pocket of money, ya just can't get whats needed to produce a top notch production. thats not to say some great things have not been achieved on a simple tape deck or four trax recorder.

if your lookin for a cheap way out. and you have a mac. garage band. especially if ya don't have a drummer. best atrribute of GB is the drum loops. imo, GB it is one of the most powerful "songwriters" tool out there, for the money.

just my opinion

re what you need

Buy an Akai DPS24,

It has 24 tracks, 12 xlr inputs, you can record at least 12 tracks at once. It has the built in cdrw and can be hooked up to a computer and monitor to edit tracks and all that jazz. Plus it has stuff on it that doesn't come with some other daws such as a nearfield and farfield monitor switch and talkback mic. You can even do 24bit 96khz recording on 12 tracks. Plus it has amazing preamps for the home studio user. a compressor/expander and gate on each track, 4 built in 56 bits effects processor effects.

Then you just need to get a good basic mic set up:

3 sm57's
audix d6
overhead condensers, you choose I am using some akg's but i've heard good things on the octava mics and the rode nt5's
then a good large condensor mic for vox and such mabey an all around unit, mxl has some cheapies but for the money i would go with studio project mic's, they have a pretty good sound when starting out.
plus I would think about a guitar mic, you could easily overdub the guitar with a sm57 but on basic tracking you need to have a guitar going through the headphones, so i suggest maybe a Sennheiser e609, or another sm57, maybe even try a beta 57a.
for bass guitar you will want to pick up a DI box to convert from the instument level into a balanced xlr to run to you recorder. or you could pick up something nicer such as an ART Tube Pac, which is a tube preamp and compressor/limiter, this will allow you to record your bass directly to the mixer and control the dynamics of the bass guitar which is a pain in the ass track. Plus you can always overdub the bass guitar and micing the bass cab with the audix d6.

then comes monitors, That is something you would just have to shop for, see what size you need, how much space you have, how much you have to spend. You could look at some of Alesis's powered monitors which are priced pretty good for what kind of reviews they've been getting.

Then comes cabling, lots of cables, don't forget them. Nothing can be hooked up with out them.

There you go, it may take you a while to get everything but its worth it in the long run.

bobbo

Thomas_Fodor wrote: Do yourself a big favour and avoid Digidesigns LE crap. It sounds bad, it breaks down constantly, it needs constant updating, and did I mention that it sounds bad..... Buy a Mac G5 and some Motu gear "896HD and midi express 128", Cubase SX 3, an M-Audio controler Keyboard, studio projects and Cad mics, a Sebatron Pre or two Tampa's, and maybe a Yamaha Motif rack.Top it off with some KRK active monitors, that should get you up and learning, and allow you to grow later on. The Sonitus Plugin pack might be a good way to get started with plugins cause its cheap but still ok.
...

i too am thinking of building up a professional sounding home studio since i m fed up with demo quality sound setup and i want to upgrade the quality of my music. I though a Pro Tools Digi 002 LE would be a nice choice than to get a DELTA 1010 and connect it to a mixer! (i wouldnt buy mic pre amps since 2 mic ins would be enough for me and i d use the rest of the ins as line ins!) but after having read what you ve written about digidesign a virus crept into my mind..which option would be better then?

:?

Protools is very good at audio recording, and increasingly adept at midi with the 6.7 version. I have used Cubase, Logic and Protools and find it to compare very favourably. Being rewire compatible also allows the concurrent use of loop-based software like Ableton live, and midi-based sonf writing software like the excellent Reason.

With Fxpansion's VST to RTAS wrapper, then the world of VST is open to you, so the previous draw back of requiring RTAS-only plug ins no longer applies.

I use Digi002 with Powercore DSP and it works very well for tracking, mixing and mastering. I work with a colleague in London who uses Logic. We exchange wave files regularly, and I see/hear no discernable sound difference.

rhydian wrote: :?

Protools is very good at audio recording, and increasingly adept at midi with the 6.7 version. I have used Cubase, Logic and Protools and find it to compare very favourably. Being rewire compatible also .

what about a DELTA 1010 connected to a mixer? can it do the job as efficient as a protools le?! and it ll be inexpensive..