first post in production/tech forum, studio build

Tips, hints, help, tech support, setups, systems and all things related to making phat beats. Post your latest production for all to hear & review. Or quiz the resident nerds about that tech problem you just can't figure out.
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cammo
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first post in production/tech forum, studio build

Post by cammo »

hello.
im am finally building a little studio n gonna have a crack at some beats n bass, simple.

so far i have krk v88 which are way to big to place anywhere near my head. so going for some small genelic n sub combo in the near future.

mainly gonna be recording n storing my records in digi format n also dig for samples. having the turnies serviced n mixer fixed since it blew to power surges, so need to get a uninterrupted power supply.

have a native instruments machine next week n a little allen heath zed10, to control wot comes through the mixer n comps. should keep me busy for a few months.

still tossing up about sound cards, options are apogee duet, rme 400 or rme babyface which is usb2 but can be upgraded to usb 3 once becomes more available in future, still dont know wot to get, suggestions?

software wise, abelton live seems more user friendly for me, not sure if i could be arsed getting my head around logic. plugs in when i need em.

usb keyboard? suggestions?

have a black mac book so far, but will upgrade when i see a mac in the future i want.

n a sony portable dat to record sounds around town. thats it me tinks


so yeah bare minimal set up. any tips or suggestions would be dope. wish me luck
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unsoundbwoy
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Re: first post in production/tech forum, studio build

Post by unsoundbwoy »

everything you have decided makes good sense.
apogee duet is a great sounding card, has two wiked mic pres, no real i/o flexibility, but its most likely not gonna be an issue in the forseeable future, and if it is the apogee will likely hold value for a while.
novation keyboards have great keys and are built well, but if you got the maschine, maybe you'd be better off just fucking with that rather than being in toy overload?
can your macbook take 4gb of ram?
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flippo
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Re: first post in production/tech forum, studio build

Post by flippo »

big news cammo! Ni Machine will do you well I think. As for audio interface, wouldn't stress too much as long as it's stable with your setup, all those options are good. You're probably not going to need many I/O to start off with, but I'd hazard a guess that down the track you may be interested in having someone throw some vocals around so that might be a consideration.

The akai range a pretty solid for midi keyboards, good build quality and plenty of controls. Could probably get away with something more simple in combination with Machine.
cammo
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Re: first post in production/tech forum, studio build

Post by cammo »

cheers guys. yep have 4gb ram in the macbook so it will cope for the next few years.
keyborad down the track when i need it.
soundcard in a few months when i get the genelic's. so still tossing up about that, leaning towards apogee but not sure it has enough ins n outs for future needs.
mic wise if i need vocals go to a studio or mates place that has a good set up.
just wanna keep gear to bare minimal
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Direkt
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Re: first post in production/tech forum, studio build

Post by Direkt »

flippo wrote:The akai range a pretty solid for midi keyboards, good build quality and plenty of controls
They're also around half price at the moment.
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youthful_implants
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Re: first post in production/tech forum, studio build

Post by youthful_implants »

get a good soundcard. aside from your monitors its pretty much the most important part of your set up.

you really do get what you pay for and the cheaper interfaces will leave you with higher latency, less options in terms of inputs and outputs and slower processing.

focusrite do a good range I have been using one for the last 3 years and its faultless. their microphone pre-amps that are built-in are second to none.

http://www.focusrite.com/products/audio_interfaces/

for software I would definitely recommend Ableton. I have fairly recently switched after 10 years from Cubase to Ableton and I'm having so much more fun.

more intuitive routing, automation and quicker workflow means the ideas can blossom without stalling due to technical or software interruption.
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unsoundbwoy
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Re: first post in production/tech forum, studio build

Post by unsoundbwoy »

i'm a happy focusrite pro 56 user,
but since he has the zed 10 the duet should be fine
just go out of the duet into the zed10 output to monitors
and use the aux, sub or tape outs back into the duet for
effects or synths or whatever, the duet is cheap on ebay and
its just skimping on i-o not converter or pream quality and
can be upgraded later if he needs?

not that i'm saying dont spend 1200 on a ff400 or focusrite...
tactik
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Re: first post in production/tech forum, studio build

Post by tactik »

mmmmm... +1 for RME fireface deliciousness.
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Blaxter
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Re: first post in production/tech forum, studio build

Post by Blaxter »

Go the Genelecs.
Livewire
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Re: first post in production/tech forum, studio build

Post by Livewire »

Hey Cammo what did you end up going for soundcard wise?
audioblue
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Re: first post in production/tech forum, studio build

Post by audioblue »

Hopefully he went for the RME ff400, I have had an ff800 for a few years now and must say that it is one Rock Solid piece of kit, sounds fantastic and super flexible.
I listened to a test recording made through various hi-end sound cards(Lavry, Prism, Mytek, Lynx etc..), the ff800 being the cheapest on test, and I must conclude that it held it's own.
Also, having more IO then you think you need is always a good thing, believe me they will come in handy. Like the 1st time some one wants to have a jam with you and you'd like to capture each part on a separate track or when you want to master OTB, may be not right away but you'd be surprised how quickly things can change.
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