hey, iv been taking in what u all have been saying and it turns out, the original question asking applies to me also. so i was wondering if any1 could post a link or pic of a good preamp or compressor for someone who has...a budget...so inexpensive is the word.
anyway, i record my friends bands and mine on a little bottom of the line fostex mr8 if anyone is furmiliar and i run 5, 6, 7 sm58s or sm57s into a mackie 12 input mixer. i was wondering what the next step would be if i want to get better with equipment...would it be a new recording machine all together...or just things to add. and is there a way to get rid of the fuzz i have behind my recordings? and what exactly are all the uses of compression? and where do you plug the out boxes (compressor, preamp, eq, ect) into? your mixing board? recording machine?
alot of questions there it would be heavily appreciated for answers
thanks
what to buy next?
12hey, iv been taking in what u all have been saying and it turns out, the original question asking applies to me also. so i was wondering if any1 could post a link or pic of a good preamp or compressor for someone who has...a budget...so inexpensive is the word.
anyway, i record my friends bands and mine on a little bottom of the line fostex mr8 if anyone is furmiliar and i run 5, 6, 7 sm58s or sm57s into a mackie 12 input mixer. i was wondering what the next step would be if i want to get better with equipment...would it be a new recording machine all together...or just things to add. and is there a way to get rid of the fuzz i have behind my recordings? and what exactly are all the uses of compression? and where do you plug the out boxes (compressor, preamp, eq, ect) into? your mixing board? recording machine?
alot of questions there it would be heavily appreciated for answers
thanks
i worked with your basic setup for about 2 years. no condenser mics, 4-input beringer board, tascam cassette 4-track with NR. i was always a make-do-with-what-you-have kind of guy. getting a better machine would be my first choice in your situation, although you might want to exhaust all the possibilites out of your fostex. squeeze every bit of sound you can out of it, and try to reach a level to where you can say, with a clear conscience, "i have done the best i can do with what i have. its time to move on."
i would look into getting a few different mics. like a pair of condensers for the drum overheads and vocals. if you dont get the cheapo ones like i did at first, you'll be suprised at the difference. but your board needs phantom power to run them, remember.
if you can afford it, dbx 166x is an awsome compressor for around $230.
-wiggins
what to buy next?
13It's sort of an odd spot to be in to have a cheap recording setup, cheap mics and at most a couple of cheap outboard boxes. The "what to upgrade to next" question seems really tricky. You can argue either way on just about any piece of gear you want. For example....
Mics..
Better mics will be able to record...well, better, but they'll also highlight the inadequecies of your other gear. In some cases, they need better preamps and eq to sound their best. This is in addition to phantom power if you're talking condensers. But, if you get good mics now, you'll be able to use them forever...if you buy right. But, if you buy cheap condensers, etc, you'll outgrow them too in a few years.
Mic pres....as you say, might not make too much a difference with your current recording medium, but, again, you'll have them for later when you get the other pieces upgraded.
So, if it were me, I'd look into upgrading the recording medium first. Do you want to record to a PC or Mac? Which software do you want to use...PT, Cubase, Nuendo? Then you've got to probably upgrade your computer to do this.....additional audio interface, midi interface, etc. Or if you want to go analog, get a decent tape deck. I'd even suggest skipping the cheapie Tascam and Fostex stuff and saving up for a decent Otari, Ampex or other high end deck. The prices are dirt cheap these days, but to really gain the benefits from tape, you'll need to have your machine set up properly and maintained. Otherwise, the signal quality is little better than cassette.
You can also pick up ADATs or other MDM's for cheap as well. I see ADATs for as little as $200ea.
So, get this nailed down and then next, look into a board. If you're going digital, you can maybe bypass the board and just use outboard pres, but that's going to be expensive too. For about what a nice two channel preamp costs you, you can find a decent 16 channel board if you look hard enough.
Then, once you've got your recorder (or recording device) and board, then you can look into all the other stuff.....new mics, pres and finally move into compressors, limiters and last on the list...effects. But, don't forget, good mic stands, cabling and possibly most important...room acoustics....
Oh yeah, a decent monitoring system is a must to actually hear properly what you're recording. Otherwise, you'll spend all your time burning mixes to run out the the car to check them, only to be discouraged because they sound nothing like what you just heard in the studio.
This might not be what you wanted to hear, but to do this stuff right, it ain't cheap. Fortunately, it's a lot cheaper than it was 15-20 years ago. What you can do with $10-20K worth of gear would have taken a million dollars in the 70s.
later,
m
Mics..
Better mics will be able to record...well, better, but they'll also highlight the inadequecies of your other gear. In some cases, they need better preamps and eq to sound their best. This is in addition to phantom power if you're talking condensers. But, if you get good mics now, you'll be able to use them forever...if you buy right. But, if you buy cheap condensers, etc, you'll outgrow them too in a few years.
Mic pres....as you say, might not make too much a difference with your current recording medium, but, again, you'll have them for later when you get the other pieces upgraded.
So, if it were me, I'd look into upgrading the recording medium first. Do you want to record to a PC or Mac? Which software do you want to use...PT, Cubase, Nuendo? Then you've got to probably upgrade your computer to do this.....additional audio interface, midi interface, etc. Or if you want to go analog, get a decent tape deck. I'd even suggest skipping the cheapie Tascam and Fostex stuff and saving up for a decent Otari, Ampex or other high end deck. The prices are dirt cheap these days, but to really gain the benefits from tape, you'll need to have your machine set up properly and maintained. Otherwise, the signal quality is little better than cassette.
You can also pick up ADATs or other MDM's for cheap as well. I see ADATs for as little as $200ea.
So, get this nailed down and then next, look into a board. If you're going digital, you can maybe bypass the board and just use outboard pres, but that's going to be expensive too. For about what a nice two channel preamp costs you, you can find a decent 16 channel board if you look hard enough.
Then, once you've got your recorder (or recording device) and board, then you can look into all the other stuff.....new mics, pres and finally move into compressors, limiters and last on the list...effects. But, don't forget, good mic stands, cabling and possibly most important...room acoustics....
Oh yeah, a decent monitoring system is a must to actually hear properly what you're recording. Otherwise, you'll spend all your time burning mixes to run out the the car to check them, only to be discouraged because they sound nothing like what you just heard in the studio.
This might not be what you wanted to hear, but to do this stuff right, it ain't cheap. Fortunately, it's a lot cheaper than it was 15-20 years ago. What you can do with $10-20K worth of gear would have taken a million dollars in the 70s.
later,
m