I've made a pile of old gear I won't need or want and am investing in new. The berringer power amp and patch bay are in the 'going out' pile. Along with some compressors, an ampeg bass amp, Mesa cab, possibly a tascam reel to reel, and a rode mic. Somewhere around 3k worth of metal just sitting there, some of it barely used. Old cables are in a bin as extra. I'm actually keeping very little. Just some 57s and the 414 and some stands and my guitars, a radial re amp, and a power conditioner and tuner. I will also be keeping my beloved tascam 424mk3 portastudio, which was my first recording device.

I'll be using that money for a new Marshall dsl combo amp, my new computer I speced out a few months ago, and a bicycle (which I'll need after I buy the burl mothership) because I will have no gas money lol. I'm hoping to squeeze a DBx 160x out of the consolidation. And say farewell to my dbx166xl which I surely got my $50 worth out of. I purposefully took a few years off from gear purchases to see what holes I could fill at the studios, and got them built.

As I evolved into a professional I had less need for some of this stuff, and I don't record clients at home, so my needs are minimal. No more prosumer stuff for me. Gonna get a couple high end mic stands and eventually a neve pre or two. When my interface takes a ride out D has dibs on it.

I'll be purchasing my first home in the next year or two and my main focus will be mixing and mastering remotely, as well as some overdubs/songwriter stuff.

I've yet to ever regret spending 4K on my full stack, the triple rectifier head, which I traded for a years worth of booze and fast food (that part I do regret somewhat but se la vi). The money even at premium prices has never outweighed the enjoyment I've gotten from the gear, and the satisfaction of 'best it really good'.

My skills have developed to the point where the gear has become a limiting factor. I've been lucky in that most of the stuff I've bought has held or (sometimes greatly) exceeded what I paid. I tended to lean toward tried and true on mics, and just got lucky with a few boxes.

I'm minimizing wasted space, and gear I don't need, and jumping forward into the higher end only stuff. The trade off being I will only have a few select prices to start with.

After the basics are covered my next purchase will be big 'mains' style speakers and/or a pair of B&w speakers. Sterling sound has a 5.1 set. Eddie Kramer either endorses or used the burl converters on some Hendrix re-mixes and they sound true to both the classic sound and modern standards. I'm trimming the fat, and looking forward to the next phase in my career as a hybrid staff guy (at triad/Normandy) and freelance as owner of 'boundless entertainment'.

I'm using what I have as an asset or equity to make my rig much smaller and much much more powerful.

I also need to skin up some unused gear. Have some live gear that I don't need anymore, Wireless mics and in-ears monitors...
It's hard to seperate from gear that were and still are top of the line.. but I guess we all need to move foward ! ;)

I had an AT4050 and a UA Solo 610 in the same room for months before I thought to try them together. Now it's my habitual setup though I'm now liking the AKG C535 into the 610 as well.

Never heard of a c535. What are you finding you like it for ??bouldersound

pcrecord, post: 434244, member: 46460 wrote: I also need to skin up some unused gear. Have some live gear that I don't need anymore, Wireless mics and in-ears monitors...
It's hard to seperate from gear that were and still are top of the line.. but I guess we all need to move foward ! ;)

The good thing about the higher end gear is it holds or grows in value quite well. It's almost an investment of sorts.

kmetal, post: 434251, member: 37533 wrote: Never heard of a c535. What are you finding you like it for ??bouldersound

It's a cardioid SDC in a handheld vocal mic format with a four position switch for low cut and pad. I like it for vocals. I even recorded a singer using it handheld so she could work the mic, which she couldn't do as easily with a 4050. I think people also use it for group vocals, snare and various other instruments.

kmetal, post: 434241, member: 37533 wrote: and a rode mic

What type and how much $ Kyle???

It's a rode Nt-1a. Has less than 5 hours on it. I'm looking for $175, which is slightly higher than some on eBay which Have completed any from 80-180 in general. Mine has the shock mount but didn't include the pop filter. I might have an extra laying around I could toss in if your interested in buying a bunch of my clients spit.

I paid $230+tax so taking much more than a 55$/25% hit, is just going to keep it as a soldering project for me. Pm me if your interested and we can probably work something out, I'd rather see someone get some enjoyment out of it than have it go into guitar centers vault.

I bought it along w an audio technica 3035 on the same day, and they have a no-return policy on mics cuz of contact w the mouth/germs. Lol if they only knew where guitars have been...

Within a few months I bought a 414, and just haven't found much use for the rode other than on a handdrum a few years back. 'Nuff said.

bouldersound, post: 434253, member: 38959 wrote: It's a cardioid SDC in a handheld vocal mic format with a four position switch for low cut and pad. I like it for vocals. I even recorded a singer using it handheld so she could work the mic, which she couldn't do as easily with a 4050. I think people also use it for group vocals, snare and various other instruments.

Sweet, I'll keep my eyes open for one. I don't see a lot of SDC handhelds, sounds interesting. I'm a huge Akg fan, although less and less as Harmon slowly turns everything into mackie.

I don't think there's anything wrong with using a Rode NT1, I've seen them in just as many "real" studios as I have in home setups; the difference there is that the pro rooms also have a slew of higher end mics to choose from as well, while most home studios are relying on the NT1 as their main - and sometimes their only - LDC.

Guys I know who bought them when they first came out - the black models - aren't letting them go all that easily; according to them, the "original" NT1's are smoother on the top end and warmer sounding in the lower mids, ( although we all know that this also depends greatly on what pre you're using with it, too) while more than a few who have used the "newer" NT1 versions claim that they aren't even the same mic as those first-years models, that they don't sound the same, when compared apples to apples and using the same pre's as they do with the older NT's... Having recorded with both, my personal opinion is that the differences between them were actually very subtle, and not nearly as noticeable as those who've claimed it to be.

Ear of the beholder, I guess.

I've always found the nt1a a bit too nasally or sharp in the 1-5k range. I've used it once or twice on djembe with good results, and as part of an array on acoustic gtr. I think it could
Be a lot better. I think replacing the ic chip(s) and wateve else mod heads would do, could make it reach its potential.

I thought rode was just a junk company based on hype, but after a dissapointing experience with nt-1a, the nt5, and nt2, were impressive. Sean mentioned in a pm he got the nt2a, I'm curious if the differences are subtle, between the 2 and 2a, as with the 1 and 1a.

I don't know what it is with mics but it seems they get progressively worse as models change. From 87s to 414s it seems to hold true across the board. Look out for the sm57a!!! Lol. One of my co workers says even 57s have cheapened the transformer or some part, over the years. I've heard differences in other mics, but all 57s sound the same to me.

kmetal, post: 434457, member: 37533 wrote: Sean mentioned in a pm he got the nt2a, I'm curious if the differences are subtle, between the 2 and 2a, as with the 1 and 1a.

That would be a good comparison to test, If only I had an NT2 floating around....:(

- I have used 57's for a while for live stuff, I did have an older model that when compared to a newer one did seem to have more punch, so much so that I used to take it to rehersals where the studio we practiced in had rooms full of them, newer, shinier models and I always swapped them over and used mine...

- And, you guessed it, thats where I left it by mistake one night, on our last rehersal before a christmas break, not realising until we got back together after everybody came back from their respective holidays in the new year...

- And, you guessed it, the owner of the studio denied any knowledge of finding an extra 57 and one of his left next to the mixing desk after our rehersal.

Now I have a distinctive, hard to remove red dot I place on all my mics when they leave the home studio...damn I miss that Franken57 !!!:mad:

kmetal, post: 434457, member: 37533 wrote: One of my co workers says even 57s have cheapened the transformer or some part, over the years.

I don't know if its also the case with the 58s' too, but I have one from the 80s' that sounds heaps better than later model 58s'

Interesting you describe the older one as having more punch. Usually the older mics err on the side of duller. I'm wondering if it has to do w dynamic vs condenser.

That's a total bummer tho Sean. I once left a whole pedalboard at a gig, and actually got it back, cables too.

it's a shame to have to mark up gear, but it's a necessary evil I guess.

Anyone ever seen or used one of these?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SHURE-SM57-TAB-Funkenwerk-Transformer-Modified-by-Mercenary-PRO-microphone-RARE-/272053083576?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=A7VJ9blu9ldl8rfxObvC9stNwks%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

- I saw it the other night and thought of my Franken57

I'm sorry to say I don't rate the Rode NT1 particularly highly, at least in its ex-factory form. On the other hand, the pair of NT2-As that I have are real quality, and perform excellently on a wide range of sources from acoustic guitar to vocals. I've mentioned in these forums previously that using the pair to record a top acoustic guitar player was one of my career highlights.

Sean G, post: 434461, member: 49362 wrote: Anyone ever seen or used one of these?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SHURE-SM57-TAB-Funkenwerk-Transformer-Modified-by-Mercenary-PRO-microphone-RARE-/272053083576?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&nma=true&si=A7VJ9blu9ldl8rfxObvC9stNwks%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

- I saw it the other night and thought of my Franken57

No, but I do work with one of the former investor/partner/cohort of mercenary. Fletcher who owned the company is from my area.

In reality it's probably a $2 part they upgraded. Fletcher whom I've never spoke to personally, and Phil (Greene) his buddy/partner who I work with, are all about fidelity. Fidelity. Fidelity. I've heard many a no-expense-spared stories from Phil about the mercenary days and prior. Those guys didn't leave anything in the factory condition. From ssl console mods, to revamping la 3's, to McIntosh power amps, it's all about clarity and power whith those cats. Nothing but expensive boutique gear modded to be 'better' which is always subjective.

In particular (with Phil at least) you'll tend to hear a lot about chips and caps being replaced and a keyword being headroom, and power. This guy took a razor knife to a uerie coaxial tweeter to cut the little screen dust screen off of it. Shit, he'll tell you exactly what brand bob clearmountain used over his tweeters on his ns-10s, and why it's superior. (Truth is its whatever brand they had in the bathroom that the assistant grabbed in the powestation)

Anyways enough rambling, I've been meaning to do a documentary on Phil while he's still with us, as he's an eccentric, and Important part of New England recording history, and a part of the top tier club in the 85'-95' era of recording.

pcrecord, post: 434235, member: 46460 wrote: Hi gang,

I thought it would be fun and instructive to share our latest optimisations in all aspect of our studio.

Here's my latest realisation :
For years, I've been using a behringer headphones amps and with the limited outputs of my audio outputs interface, it was a fair match but those 4 mono AUX inputs always bugged me. For years I had mono headphone mixes, not a big deal since I can't remember one customer who complained about it.

Last night I had free time in the studio and was checking up my setup and I realised I wasn't using digital outputs much. I use a FF800 that has a headphone output with a Saffire 56 in standalone mode that has 2 headphone outputs. So get this, to make use of the 56's outputs, I used the Adat out from the FF800 to the input of the 56 and created 2 mixes in Totalmix and in Mixcontrol. So I now have a routing that puts to use those 2 headphone jacks of the 56.. I then redone the soldering in my pannel to have a pair of stereo headphones for the musician. Also, I just realise I could use my spdif output to send to my home theater amp and have another headphone mix.. So I now have 4 mono and 4 stereo headphone mixes. All that without spending a dime !!! I just needed to re-think my signal flow !!

Now what's your latest optimisations ?

Well.. not necessarily a re-skin but more of a studio b... My youngest wanted to produce some Eurobeat, club music ( where drums are 4 on the floor) and didn't want the complexity of using the home studio .... well I hit the "gear storage " in the house ... I have come to the conclusion I am a horder when it comes to audio and production equipment and don't give up anything ... (it really is a sickness)

I managed to set her up with:
an old Art Pro audio vocal strip
An Apex 460 tube mic
A tc helicon voiceworks Plus
A Moto 2408 for audio interface
A motu midi express pro for midi interface
A set of Yamaha HS 80's for mixing and an old set of senheiser headphones
An Emu Orbit "dance planet" rack synth
A novation bassstation rack
An alesis d4 drum rack
A novation 61 key midi keyboard controller

I had an old copy of abelton live and updated her to the latest revision as a Christmas gift.

Also picked up an Ableton push controller used of f the music boards ...

So she is good to go ,

Personally this exercise pointed out to me that I need to thin out ... I have some soul searching to do LOL.
I think I keep the stuff as a result of some intrinsic value in the gear. Some quirk or oddity that makes me want to keep it as it offers some uniqueness. And has more value as gear then to let it go..

I told her to go nuts with it...

I think what you have done above is one of the very reasons we keep gear as opposed to parting with it when its not part of our primary setup anymore...

Who knows, you may just have started something big(y)

I'm ashamed to say I, had a ton of gear scattered all over the house, when I started rack mounting gear in the studio,, my wife finally commented "how much money did you spend on this gear"...

I guess if you have it scattered around enough it doesn't look as expensive lol

Hide it under the bed...I do...thats how the Minister for War & Finance is oblivious to my guitar collection...

Or sneek it in like I do with every new guitar, or rack mount piece of gear, or new mic I buy...its called keeping the peace

"I swear dear, I had all this stuff when we met...I just hadn't unpacked it until now...."

"You don't take enough of an interest in my music to notice all the gear I have....lol"

Just remember to hide the receipts lol :D

Were doing that now :))

Guelph_Guy, post: 434915, member: 47293 wrote: I'm ashamed to say I, had a ton of gear scattered all over the house, when I started rack mounting gear in the studio,,

Oh yeah... me too.

Model 103 Aphex Aural Exciter (silver face)
Rockman Sustainor/Chorus/Delay ( original 1985 rack model)
Lexicon Prime Time Digital Delay
MXR dual 16 band graphic EQ
Digitech TSR12
MOTU 2408
Music Quest 8 Port Multi Midi i/o
Audio Labs MT66 Stereo Comp/Gate
Alesis D4, Microverb, Multiverb
Proteus FX and Ultra Synth Modules...

I'm sure I'm leaving a few things out... I'm just looking at the rack as it sits to my left at the moment. I'm sure my attic holds a lot of other stuff that's dubious in value.

Oh.. and I also have a closet full of 1/4", 1/2" and 1" mid-80's to early 90's Ampex 456 ( I sold all my 2" stock off years ago to one guy, he wasn't interested in the other sizes).

What I'm not including in the list above, is the older gear I have that I still actually do use; mics, a dbx 163 compressor, a 1964 Crown power amp... and, both the Rockman and the Lexi PT still see some action from time to time, just for something different or for fun...

So why do I still have all this stuff? Probably the same reason that all you guys still have all the gear you have, I suppose.

Or, because I can't answer the question because I honestly don't know. LOL

;)

DonnyThompson, post: 434932, member: 46114 wrote: MXR dual 16 band graphic EQ

Lmao those poor graphic style eqs barely have a home in FOH racks anymore.

If you ever get rid of any of the vintage synth based stuff let me know, my buddy is an avid collector of that stuff. He's got 1.5 rooms stuffed floor to ceiling and counting. Lol

Now what do we do with our old pluggin and daw licenses??? I'm not envisioning a vintage market for those, but who knows? Windows 98 anyone??

Darn, I've got the Yamaha equivalent, tried it and its not working... another repair project lol

Sean G, post: 434916, member: 49362 wrote: Hide it under the bed...I do...thats how the Minister for War & Finance is oblivious to my guitar collection...

Or sneek it in like I do with every new guitar, or rack mount piece of gear, or new mic I buy...its called keeping the peace

"I swear dear, I had all this stuff when we met...I just hadn't unpacked it until now...."

Or -

"You don't take enough of an interest in my music to notice all the gear I have....lol"

Just remember to hide the receipts lol :D

I told the wife I wanted to get a bigger house.. around 3700-4000 sq feet ... (that way I would have more space to hide stuff)
Lol..

Guelph_Guy, post: 435571, member: 47293 wrote: I told the wife I wanted to get a bigger house.. around 3700-4000 sq feet ... (that way I would have more space to hide stuff)
Lol..

Thats why I bought a place with a basement...after converting it I can hide plenty of stuff down there...its my studio / man-cave.

I had a picture of the studio as my background screen on my work laptop. My boss plays finger picking guitar and also owned a studio out west in the analog days.
he was building a small soundproof room at his house for recording...

When I was presenting a report on my laptop in the boardroom, at the end of the presentation I closed out the application and the screen background was visible on the projection TV. My boss said "Is that your studio?"..I said "yes"...

He said "We're paying you too much!"..lol

Sean G, post: 435589, member: 49362 wrote: Thats why I bought a place with a basement...after converting it I can hide plenty of stuff down there...its my studio / man-cave.

I'm currently out looking at properties and some of the ones I've been in have 10ft and 12ft finished ceilings in the basement!

Guelph_Guy, post: 435590, member: 47293 wrote: I had a picture of the studio as my background screen on my work laptop. My boss plays finger picking guitar and also owned a studio out west in the analog days.
he was building a small soundproof room at his house for recording...

When I was presenting a report on my laptop in the boardroom, at the end of the presentation I closed out the application and the screen background was visible on the projection TV. My boss said "Is that your studio?"..I said "yes"...

He said "We're paying you too much!"..lol

See, my immediate reply would have been "If you were paying me enough, I wouldn't have to rely on my music & production skills for additional income...."...lol;)

That's good too lol , actually I kidded him about his 36 foot yacht . You got your boat .... I got my studio!

Getting a place with a basement was a great addition when it came to having my own place for a studio...

- Every time the missus was out of town either for work or away at her parents place for the weekend (a 4 hour drive away) I would sink time and money into prepping what was once a dank, dark place.
One trip away allowed me to get the water-proofers in to put a membrane on the walls (its sub-terrainean like most basements), another trip the painters & carpet layer, another was for the AC guy to add to the ducted system already installed in the place to control the humidity.

All was coming along smoothly until I went to play golf one Saturday and left the light on downstairs, and low and behold she had to go down there and turn it off....

- And found an Alladins' cave of gear and equipment...including a grand piano and two uprights, 20-odd guitars, my Pearl drum kit set-up and a plethora of other music and audio stuff too vast to mention.

" I swear Dear...I had all this stuff when we first met,....I just hadn't unpacked it or bought it over from the storage locker...."

- Needless to say the new car it cost me in the end help smooth over the whole ordeal.

And for the record, come the day when she & the new car are long departed (hopefully sooner than later), I'll still have that man-cave.

I had a nice studio I put together in the house before I moved to the basement.. after I had finished the room , she said "its really nice and quiet in here it would make a great reading room ... at that point I got sent to the basement..

I Sent the family to. Week at a cottage at a beach , they had not left the house by more the 20 minutes when the delivery truck

Showed up with the building supplies

Guelph_Guy, post: 435591, member: 47293 wrote: I'm currently out looking at properties and some of the ones I've been in have 10ft and 12ft finished ceilings in the basement!

That's the real deal ceiling height for good acoustics. Definatly want to invest in a drywall lift and some staging w wheels, but it'll be $ 500 well spent.!!! Can't wait to see the build thread!

Well, have to buy the house first lol... Actually I did find a home that had a studio in it at one time , when I took the tour of the open house, there was a vocal booth in the basement!..

Yes tall ceilings in the basement seem to be in , and the stairs down are like 6-8 feet wide. The realtor said you needed this because multimedia sofas are huge and in some cases will not fit down a stairwell. Or your 75-80 " flat panel TV...
When you enter one of these basements that's finished it doesn't even feel like a basement..

When you see a room 15x25 you automatically start placing equipment in the room in your head loll..to heck with the kitchen!

Hey kmetal, a second Roland just showed up today, the A-90 was earlier in the Week..Strangely enough a Roland-A50 just showed up on the stand (I love magic)

Its very close action wise to my super jx10... Anyhow, no more toys for a while... my daughter is getting braces ....!!

Guelph_Guy, post: 435613, member: 47293 wrote: Hey kmetal, a second Roland just showed up today, the A-90 was earlier in the Week..Strangely enough a Roland-A50 just showed up on the stand (I love magic)

Its very close action wise to my super jx10... Anyhow, no more toys for a while... my daughter is getting braces ....!!

Man that's awesome! Lol sorry I jumped the gun on the studio, I salivate at studio construction :) you've got me very interested in the Roland a-series stuff, as I realized I nice sample set isn't much fun without a controller! I'm glad your enjoying your new toys man, it seems there is always 'one more thing' that'll be the last one!!! Cheers buddy, enjoy!!

No problem, The A-50 is in great shape but it needs the Light behind the LCD replaced, so I pulled the keyboard apart, got the display board out and ordered a new backlight. Nine dollars... not bad... took about 30 minutes to get it all apart. There was also. A problem with one of the bank select switches and that was one dollar..

Sounds like a good deal to me! Although I think I'd have to start a thread about the backlight and button if it happened to me. Lol working on gear and soldering is my next area of interest, got my whole soldering kit (except the weller iron, together last year.
I got to bring some stuff down to dan zellman who does work on abbey roads tape machines in NYC one time. The guy rebuilt a power supply for a mackie D8B while I went out to the car to grab more stuff! Nice guy too.
Lol I'm sure a shop woulda charged ya around $ 50 and taken a week or two. Waiting is the hardest part. Sounds like ya lucked out so far.

I've been soldering stuff up since I was AKa kidbuilt a ham radio at 15!