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I have roughly $10,000 to spend on gear. I'm aiming for a setup that will connect with my firewire equipped Mac Book Pro. I'm looking to have a great setup for recording vocals/guitars/pretty much everything except drums. IE I don't need that many preamps, 2 at a minimum. I've got an idea for the set up that I'd like to have, I need some feedback or recommendations on some better gear that you think I should go with. Keep in mind that I want to get gear that can compete in a high dollar room and one can be able to hook up to an HD rig.

I'm looking to have Apogee converters. Either Neve, API, UA preamps. I need a leveling amp for the my vocal chain. A power conditioner for all the gear, a rackmount to house it all. Waves bundle that's great for mixing and mastering. 2 or 3 vintage mics for vocals and guitar amps. And cables.

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MadMax Tue, 12/08/2009 - 04:56

Sounds like someone forgot to do their homework, and the end of the semester quickly approaches...

Lemme see.... $10k, huh...

Put it in the bank or the stock market for a coupla' years.

At least let it double in value. By then there'll be better gear for cheaper on the market. That way you can get a better bang for the buck...

or

You will have out grown this brief stint of insanity.

RemyRAD Tue, 12/08/2009 - 19:14

No no no. There is a simple answer to this.

Alesis HD 24. Under $2000 US

3 racks of 8 input Presonus Microphone Preamps. $1200 US

Digidesign M-box mini with Pro tools included. Under $300 US

15 Shure Brothers SM57 & 5 SM58'S. About $2000 US

A couple of Shure Brothers small & large capsule condenser microphones. Another couple thousand dollars.

Headphones, yeah headphones.

Cables, stands and oh yeah, some self powered JBL or KR K. speakers for monitoring.

You're there man. (Beavis 1993)
Mx. Remy Ann David

anonymous Sat, 12/19/2009 - 13:39

There's no need to insult the guy's budget, MODERATORS.. of all people you should know how lame that is. That may be your opinion, but you don't need to be jerks about it.

Apogee converters are good, I second that idea but you need to understand (and i'll say this in a nicer way than before)... for that budget you won't be able to compete with the very best pro's but you can get damn close nonetheless (assuming you make up for the lack of expensive equipment with some know-how and good software).

I would start slow though, and buy things piece by piece as needed and after you have thoroughly used/understand what you currently have. You can easily get overwhelmed by buying it all at once and you won't know how to get the most out of your equipment.

Apogee
GOOD software (search these forums, but since you have an apple you're best bet is probably logic 9)
SM57/58 are a good place to start until you have experience with placement and have fully 'maxed out' their potential
Start recording and learning.

THEN you buy more stuff.

Bueno?

MadMax Sat, 12/19/2009 - 15:13

Beav,

No offense meant here, OK?? But for the last, oh I dunno... 6 or 8 years, now.. every Nov and Dec, there's a spate of "I've got a $10,000 budget" posts made by students finishing up a semester and of course, they don't want to do the right thing and do the work for themselves, and hit almost every forum asking the same vague question.

Oddly, when I started out, I didn't have a $10,000 budget... I had about a $2000 budget... then I think my next budget was $4500... then another coupla' $2000 budgets... then a $25k budget... then another $15k... then a $40k... Then I completely lost my mind and had a $120k budget... but NEVER did I have exactly a $10k budget... nor do I know ANYONE who's ever had exactly $10,000 for a studio budget.

It's possible sure... but knowing 2 professors at MTSU and a bunch of guys and gals who've gone through these classes... the classic assignment is a $10,000 budget.

Also notice that the OP hasn't returned to counter the comments from myself or the others... so I seriously suspect that this indeed another student being too lazy to do their own work, unless pressed by others to do so.

I mean... look at how this is phrased;

I'm looking to have Apogee converters. Either Neve, API, UA preamps. I need a leveling amp for the my vocal chain. A power conditioner for all the gear, a rackmount to house it all. Waves bundle that's great for mixing and mastering. 2 or 3 vintage mics for vocals and guitar amps. And cables.

If you already know exactly what you want... the just call dealer's for pricing. How do you KNOW you need a leveling amp and not know any model numbers... and still spec'ing Neve and API pre's?

If kfisher's really got a budget, he'll be back to fend for himself and ask better questions regarding his potential purchase. If he can't fend for himself, then he really doesn't have the balls to handle this industry anyway.

anonymous Sat, 12/19/2009 - 16:03

AHH, I get it now. I was wondering why you guys were all so mean about it. So, this is a common assignment for recording courses? Wow, thanks for the heads up -- I thought he was just a bit on the slow side, not attempting to solicit information for an assignment.

Sorry to jump the gun, but you have to admit -- I had reason to be confused. Especially since I've never heard of this, nor did we do anything like that for ANY of the recording classes/certification courses I've taken.

fascinating....

no hard feelings on this side, thanks for the clarification!

AudioGaff Sun, 12/20/2009 - 15:59

There's no need to insult the guy's budget, MODERATORS.. of all people you should know how lame that is. That may be your opinion, but you don't need to be jerks about it.

Well you wonder what someone is thinking with a max budget of $10K and at the same time is talking API, Neve, UA and Apogee hardware. It's a sign the OP has not doen even some basic homework and thus deserves any coments or remarks, kind or snind, from the peanut gallery.

RemyRAD Mon, 12/28/2009 - 19:00

Hey, I thought my suggestions were perfectly sound. It would provide professional results in a professional manner. And it's in budget. Most folks here start their recordings as a live venture. And for that you need an assortment of SM57 & SM58's. You don't need any condenser thingies. You need reasonable microphone preamp's to shove into a purpose built 24 track machine. A laptop plus ProTools to mix the entire shebang. I don't prefer ProTools, I prefer Adobe Audition & Sony Vegas but also have the ubiquitous ProTools. Especially since most folks who have gone to any recording schools have had exposure to ProTools. I think I'm making sense? I rarely do you know.

Senselessly sense full
Mx. Remy Ann David

anonymous Mon, 01/04/2010 - 18:17

AudioGaff wrote:
Well you wonder what someone is thinking with a max budget of $10K and at the same time is talking API, Neve, UA and Apogee hardware. It's a sign the OP has not doen even some basic homework and thus deserves any coments or remarks, kind or snind, from the peanut gallery.

Oh trust me, I get it now... lol

I'm trying not to post anymore until I've been around long enough to understand this kind of stuff -- I truly thought it was just a misinformed newbie that could use some guidance, when in reality (as you said) they really should have known better and done some real research. I was just trying to answer the core of their question, and didn't get hung up on the fact that they listed extremely expensive products, with a small budget. I just didn't see it that way.

Davedog Tue, 01/05/2010 - 00:10

TheBeaver wrote: [quote=AudioGaff]
Well you wonder what someone is thinking with a max budget of $10K and at the same time is talking API, Neve, UA and Apogee hardware. It's a sign the OP has not doen even some basic homework and thus deserves any coments or remarks, kind or snind, from the peanut gallery.

Oh trust me, I get it now... lol

I'm trying not to post anymore until I've been around long enough to understand this kind of stuff -- I truly thought it was just a misinformed newbie that could use some guidance, when in reality (as you said) they really should have known better and done some real research. I was just trying to answer the core of their question, and didn't get hung up on the fact that they listed extremely expensive products, with a small budget. I just didn't see it that way.

Naw.....Max nailed yet another lazy student with an assignment who thinks that getting the pros at some audio board to make their list for them is going to make their job easier.

For the record....If it is a serious newbie that has some cash and really wants some input, they generally talk about their plans to open a place and record their friends and do it in Mom's basement till they get out of school....school meaning highschool.

These are the ones that get help, though for the life of me, theres only one outta ten that actually listen and dont get into some kind of pissing match with people that were recording before their parents were born.

Go figger.

So we're really not so mean. The REALLY mean comment (and really really funny) was my compadre Moon suggesting he get in touch with Mercenary and run that by them.....

I'd actually like to hear the laughing for that one........... :twisted: :!:

MadMax Tue, 01/05/2010 - 05:32

Davedog wrote: So we're really not so mean. The REALLY mean comment (and really really funny) was my compadre Moon suggesting he get in touch with Mercenary and run that by them.....

I'd actually like to hear the laughing for that one........... :twisted: :!:

Yeah... I love that laugh of Fletcher's....

(Kind of a cross between Boris Carloff and James Earl Jones)

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