Dude you just don't know what you just said:)

Brien

kingofjeff wrote: I am an engineer

No you are not...unless you mean the Choo Choo kind.

kingofjeff wrote: who is very familiar with Pro Tools

You mean the recording program Pro Tools made by Digidesign? No you're not.

kingofjeff wrote: and use it mainly with VO, so I don't need much processing. So....I'm not too knowledgeable about outboard processing, what order they need to be linked, etc

Processing is processing whether its ITB or outboard. If you were, as you say "very" familiar with Pro Tools, then you would be familiar with chaining effects and processors. If you were an engineer, you would know how that would work with both plug-ins and outboard gear.

So let's get down to the truth. You don't know shit but you want to record some stuff and you want to know how to hook it up.

kingofjeff wrote: .....so i need to set up a home studio with : Dell Desktop (new)
Cool Edit Pro
MXL condenser mic
MDX 2600 (compresser,gate,EQ)
BBE Sonic Maximizer
M-Audio USB I/O interface

Cool Edit Pro? Did you pay for that?
Where is the microphone pre-amp? An engineer would know that they should have a pre-amp.
BBE Sonic Maximizer? For Voice-overs? In the recording chain???
MDX 2600? Why not use some plug-ins for those things?

kingofjeff wrote: The way I would think to start would be....Mic into MDX 2600, out to the Sonic Maximizer, out to the USB Interface, out via USB into the Computer. By the way, the person I'm doing this for would only be using one mic channel (for VO)....I'm looking for as much detail as possible!!! So any help/opinions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

WRONG.
Any engineer knows that a microphone should be plugged into a microphone pre-amp. You can't plug the mic into the MDX because the signal will be too low without a pre-amp. That device would be basically useless. Same goes for the BBE.
My guess is that the M-audio USB interface might have a pre-amp. If so, return or sell the BBE and MDX and hook the mic into the M-audio. Use the plug-ins in Cool Edit Pro for compression, gating and EQing of the signal AFTER recording so you are not printing un-editable crap.

Have a nice day.

wow- impressive aggression.

well thanks for being an asshole about a simple question...not too mention after not knowing all the details of the sitution....like all of the equipment i mentioned was stuff a friend of mine purchased and is asking me to set up for him. I have never used cool edit...I never said i knew it. I don't have much to work with and was just asking how someone else would do it. Thanks

If you had told the truth you might not have gotten the answer you did.

kingofjeff wrote: well thanks for being an asshole about a simple question...not too mention after not knowing all the details of the sitution....like all of the equipment i mentioned was stuff a friend of mine purchased and is asking me to set up for him. I have never used cool edit...I never said i knew it. I don't have much to work with and was just asking how someone else would do it. Thanks

Tell your friend to take all the stuff back to GC or where ever he bought it from and start over with some REAL equipment for doing Voice Over work.

Cool Edit Pro has been bought out by Adobe. So either this is a really old program or is WAREZ.

A MXL condenser microphone tells us nothing how about a model number? These are less than stellar microphones to begin with and I would not use one for high quality voice over work.

A BBE sonic maximizer is NOT something you will need for VO work. Spend the money on a better microphone

The Behringer may or may not be of value but you can do most of what it can do "in the box" . I have seen too many recordings ruined by this unit with people who don't know what they are doing but like the pretty lights.

I would concentrate on getting the best sound into the DAW by using a really good microphone (not MXL) and the best preamp you can afford. Then you can do most of your processing in the box.

Some hints....

Don't call yourself an engineer if you are not one.

Don't say you know Pro Tools if you do not.

If you post vague or misleading questions on a forum you are probably going to get some vague replies and if you show your ignorance someone is likely to call you on it.

Best of luck and let us know how things are progressing.

Tell your friend that the sales people at GC (or where ever he bought the equipment) are just that SALE PEOPLE- they are interested in SALES and what is on spif this week. Most of them were musicians yesterday and salesmen today and know very little. if anything, about what you really need for doing VO work. They are ONLY interested in their take for the week.

well i apologize for being unclear...although I did state my ignorance in my initial question, but anyway...thanks Thomas for actually helping someone instead of attacking them, I appreciate it. I guess the best thing to do as you said would be to have him return the uneccesary gear, upgrade his mic, and run straight into Cool Edit. Speaking of which, does anyone know how good/bad the plugins/processing is on Cool Edit Pro, as I said before, I have never used it. Thanks

kingofjeff wrote: well i apologize for being unclear...although I did state my ignorance in my initial question, but anyway...thanks Thomas for actually helping someone instead of attacking them, I appreciate it. I guess the best thing to do as you said would be to have him return the unnecessary gear, upgrade his mic, and run straight into Cool Edit. Speaking of which, does anyone know how good/bad the plug-ins/processing is on Cool Edit Pro, as I said before, I have never used it. Thanks

You are welcome!

Cool Edit Pro is a very good program. It has some native plug-ins but most of what you would use with it would be third part plug-ins and there are a lot of them that are available for free on the WWW. Suggest doing a search for DX plug-ins and what you are looking for.

Again best of luck! and do let us know how things are progressing.....

Microphones to look at would be the RODEs (Rode NT-2A), the Sterling line (GC had a big sale this weekend you got a USB interface plus the large diaphragm Sterling Microphone for the price of the microphone alone, the Blue microphones (Bluebird would be a good one to start with) or an RE-20 EV or a Shure SM-7. All in about the $500.00 range.