go for the monitors, I found my old bx5's held me way back, when I got my events my mixes instantly got better.

the monitors are pretty high on the list, however I really need all that stuff, like, ASAP......and pretty much all equally.....like, what good do the monitors do if I can't record what I need to. What good does the preamp do if i dont have enough mics to do drums and stereo acoustic, what good does having more than 2 mics do if I only have 2 pre's on my interface,etc.......It looks as though the uad-1 card will be last on the list for now, but I need some quality plugins pretty bad.....

What kind of Ideas can you give me to make the upgrade process more fruitful? Im thinking I can get the 428 through american musical supply for 5 interest free payments.....that will leave me about 450$/mo disposable income....so it seems i can aquire the mics i need over a couple months.....as far as the monitors, those will have to come after I get another car and I'm done paying for the 428...maybe I'll start with the uad project pak, and get some of the other plugs seperate if i need them.....that may be the way to go.

any additional thoughts, comments, opinions, etc would be welcome....

public transportation is cheaper and better for the environement....don't buy a car.

"public transportation is cheaper and better for the environement....don't buy a car."

Amen.

And... If things cannot wait to be recorded, then they cannot. If you must get anything, get the mic pre and something to plug into it...and get recording. You have enough equipment to get some coloration and individuality from different instruments in each mix, and if you could get some nice clean vocal tracks to boot (GT Brick?) that could, well, tide you over. I could have taken out a loan for a new interface and mics and whatnot to record my friends band but instead I used every stereo input as a way to input two different mics/instruments and hooked up a little Fostex MR-8 to what was left over (hit both records at the same time and lined it up after). Then we overdubbed the vocals. With proper placement of what you have, overdubs, and a little plugin magic, you could have a very respectable recording. But on the other hand, I just say this because I don't have $800 a month in "disposable" income.

By the way, yes monitors are important...but if you KNOW the ones you have that is better than not having lunch for a month. Listen to albums and songs that sound correct, or even better -- ARE correct, and then give your mixes the same qualities. If you aren't sure...do a frequency analysis of a sine wave sweep once you get your new place set up and hook up a 30-band EQ just before your monitors...or, go to a studio or mastering house with professional monitors and see how one of your projects sounds. BUT be sure you pay extremely close attentionto what needs to happen to the music when you get back home.

This, of course, is all a matter of opinion.

hmm, wonder why this got moved......

I asked not of advice on DAW's or computing......

I asked advice on buying "pro audio gear"........

if my question was "i need help with my DAW and have some computing questions" i would understand......

eh...whatever...

I agree on the no car thing, believe you me, if this town had even a remotely usefull public trasportation system id be all over it. as it is now i might get a bike>>>

and here in DAW's and computing my thread will die...

I.A.,

You sound a bit, ahh -- hyper. I don't know why you got moved... Maybe not such a bad thing..? My thought is that you are talking of spending thousands of dollars on stuff RIGHT NOW!!! Someone might be hinting that you need to drop back a bit... and relax..?

I suggest a nice deep breath - in at the nose, out at the mouth...... yes, that's right. Now, let's review.

You've got a decent computer, I guess, and some of the world's most-respected recording software. Good!

Now then, working outwards(Gotta' start somewhere, may as well be at the beginning.), a first suggestion might be to upgrade your sound card to something more worth what you have so far... When you speak of putting a 2000 dollar mic pre on a 200 dollar sound card, your "educated guesses" begin to look like they need a bit more education, certainly before you get into any serious debt.

You could spend the 200 dollars per week that you have, as you get it - or save for a month or two and spend 800 or 1600, etc(I like that option.). As you spend, take the time you have until your next expenditure to learn ALOT about what it is you last bought and how it now fits-in with what you have, so far and critically analyze what you REALLY need next - or even if the last purchase you made(Or any up to now) was even as correct as it could be - things do change, often with better insight, if we let them, as we go along..

For one thing, if you got all the stuff you contemplate NOW, even if it's all correct, it would take you a l-o-n-g time to put it all together and really figure it out - forget making money on all this stuff you don't even really understand, yet... Nuendo alone would have to take someone REALLY, REALLY into it a couple of years just to get fairly good with it.

Try desperately NOT to spend money! And when you do, try to be VERY sure that you are doing the right things with it(You'll still be wrong at times, but at least you won't blow your entire 5 year budget on one huge - potentially wrong - move.). As you learn, you will, of your own accord, know far better what should come next and how much you'll likely need to save up to pay for it. This is a lifetime pursuit, not a one weekend spending binge.

BTW: Saving up for and purchasing good speakers(After you tune the room in anticipation of them, of course.) is not such a bad idea as an early-on expenditure. Those speakers will allow you to hear whatever else you have properly, giving you the opportunity of knowing better, by actually hearing, what else really needs improved now and what is good enough for now.

Need to make a little money and get some more education NOW? Buy one of the new Marantz "Flash Card" recorders and a Rode stereo mic(The one with the cool mic head.), and hire yourself out to record on-location high school concerts - you already have everything else you'll need!(Nuendo, decent 2-channel sound card, CD recorder, etc.) You'll learn alot and maybe make a little additional money. Save the "studio work" until you have one and know how to use it - it really won't take that long......

TG