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i need a few suggestions for equipment for my home studio needed to do the following jobs

1 voice overs, vocal recordings for songs,jingles etc
2 instruments like sitar,flute,acoustic and electric guitar recordings through Micing cabs, and maybe live drums too.

please suggest me the best available equipment and also the medium range (in price) to do these jobs i.e what exactly do i need.
can't really tell my budget right now but i at least would buy those things that are used professionaly.

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MadMax Wed, 07/25/2007 - 04:47

Deusx,

Not busting you here, but you GOTTA have an idea on a budget. Your budget is EVERYTHING.

What you call medium price range and best may not be within my grasp, or it can be the bottom of the barrel stuff for me. Just a couple of examples; Pre's can run from $500-$3000/channel, (USD) with $1200-1500 being the norm. Console's can run from $2000 to $200,000 and beyond, with a realistic average being either $10k or about $80k.

What other gear do you already own? Maybe you just want to add to what you have, or if you've got the bucks to start over... you might want to go that route. Your budget will likely dictate which way you go.

But to help get your thought process going... I would suggest looking at the ability to capture at least 8 channels of audio at a time. That way you can at least capture a close mic'd drum kit.

A couple of things to really consider asking yourself are;
1. How much space do you REALLY have to build this studio?
(e.g. Is there really enough room to get a good drum sound, or is it going to be best to do replacements?, Will you have a one room studio or 2 or more rooms?)
2. Do you want to work via console, worksurface, ITB or hybrid?
3. Are you wanting to be a pro level private studio or a project level studio?
4. How much of the work can you really do by yourself?
(Can you do the construction, elecrtical and acoustic stuff or is some of it going to be contracted out?)

It's not that I'm discouraging you. Just the opposite. A studio is not just the gear, it's a LOT more than that. The thing that tells you how far into this you can go is your budget. It doesn't have to be a hard number that can't move. (You WILL end up spending more than you think!)

As an example, back in the day of pure analog studios, your wire for power and interconnect was somewhere between 25% and 50% of the overall cost. While the wire cost is essentially lower now days, there's that cost to calculate in too!

The reality is that you have to at least find a ballpark figure you can spend. The amount is quite significant in what you can do and expect. There's obviously a big difference in spending $5000 and $50,000. Which what I'm finding is that $150,000 sure doesn't go very far for where I want to be, and you may find that $5000 will give you everything you need... not likely, but it just might.

X

moonbaby Wed, 07/25/2007 - 06:18

Also, where the hell do you live? You didn't add that to your bio, so suggestions about equipment at a given price point are practically moot. Example: a Shure SM57 microphone here in the USA costs about $80-90.
That same mic in other parts of the world can cost twice that easily. In certain parts of Europe, a Sennheiser or AKG mic can cost 30-40% less than it does in the USA, so...give us more pertinent information, man.

Deusx Fri, 07/27/2007 - 19:52

thanks for your replies guys.
the studio would be a pro level studio at least for the tasks i mentioned earlier.
as far as equipment is concerned i am goin for a DAW TASCAM 1884 and Neumann u89i mic, i have a friend of mine who uses this DAW in his studio and Neumann mic (u89i) but they use it for vocals and voiceovers, and an AKG mic for micing guitars, etc. they don't have a seperate compressor which someone told them to get one, so i was wondering since i want to do the same work i should also get a decent compressor, other than that they have a computer and two lcd monitors, genelec monitors.
and their work through this kind of setup is pretty good.
what i am not sure is that if i also want to record acoustic drums in the studio would this DAW be enough for a decent acoustic closed micd kit.
as far as space is concerned we have enough space to put a drum kit.
howere right now i need to find out decent equipment under the budget
lets say if it is just for the equipment i.e 6000$

dementedchord Fri, 07/27/2007 - 22:52

ok you mention the tascam... incedently i own one... so that means your going to have to decide what software you want to get into... and frankly that should be your first decision... you see your not going to get alot done if ya can't wrap your brain around the software.... the 1884 BTW has a crippled version of cubase included at the price... check the steinberg site to find out the differences...

MadMax Sat, 07/28/2007 - 08:39

Deusx,

OK... you've got about a $6k budget. Not great, but definitely better than many.

First things first... IMHO, you need to get your room in order. If the room sounds like poo, I don't care what you have in the way of gear... it's gonna sound like poo.

Pop up to the acoustics forum and see about making sure you're on the right track with your acoustic space. (Be sure you update your profile and read the FAQ)

THEN get on with your gear purchases.

Now, about your gear... definitely decide on your DAW software first. Then you can look into pre's.

Your mic locker is a bit thin for tracking drums. You can easily get away with a 3-4 mic setup on a kit if you're room is big enough and not have to sample replace the kit. Generally, it takes a LOT of space to have a kit sound great in a 3-4 mic setup. (16x20x10 is a good volume to shoot for)

If you're room isn't big enough for a kit to sound good, you'll really want to look at about an 8 channel pre and enough mic's for a standard kit... kick1, kick2, snare top, snare bottom, Rack1, Rack2, Floor, and OH or drop kick2 and do L&R OH's.

It's a pretty tight budget to do 8 channels of good pre's and 8 mic's... as well as your DAW software, stands, mic cables, a summing box, comps and acoustic soundproofing and acoustic treatment. It's doable though... so all is not lost.

I'd definitely look at used pre's and new mic cables. It's kind of a toss up on mic's. Get your room(s) sussed out before you commit to much of anything though.

x

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