1. I don't know too much about comps, I'm running PT LE8 through a newer generation iMac that runs great and handles RTAS DSPs pretty well. For LE, I'd recommend a decent amount of RAM and a sizable duo-core. A refurbished Mac would suit well.
2. I don't recommend anything lower than an MBox 2 Pro, primarily for the sake of the firewire interface that the 2 Pro has. Lag becomes a huge issue when recording anything externally, especially during record/playback. The USB interfaces make it feel like you can be playing up to an 1/8 note behind the record playback, which sucks and means that you have to do more takes and quantize.
3. As far as mixing consoles are concerned, I'd look at the Yamaha MG124CX. It's affordable and comes with a 12-channel and 4-bus channel capabilities and has a built-in compression system. That or I'd look at the smaller Behringer Eurorack series, it's what I use and it's perfectly fine for a bedroom Pro Tools setup.
4. As for affordable cardiod mics, I'd personally recommend, the Beta 57a. It's a go-to for almost any instrument setup (sans drums obviously, vocals and acoustic guitar). If you're looking for a good, rich and most importantly, affordable condenser mic I'd recommend the KSM27. It's pretty cheap and good all around. I would recommend, that whatever mic(s) you go with to run a HPF somewhere around 75-90Hz to cut the room noise that you get in home recordings.
But I digress. Seattle's insane. School's amazing. I love showing up for class everyday, even though I wake up a few days a week at 6am to catch the 7:15 bus. My history degree was in vain. I'm still settling in, but I've adjusted to the city exceptionally. Some photos of the things I've been up to:
Dinner: Fettucini with fresh clams. Did you know that "Buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo Buffalo." is a complete sentence in the English language? Damn right!
Cribbage night at the Hop Vine Pub, up on Capitol Hill.
Cribbage and beer, hooray! Did you know that Cribbage is the only game that you can legally bet on in pubs in Britain? Brain food yo!
Bought a soprano melodica, it's fucking awesome sounding.
The studio in my bedroom. Clustered with homework and music theory books.
Mt. Rainier from my balcony. My view's insane, you really have to see it to believe it. This mountain may blow up and kill me one day but at least I'd have a great view of my impending demise.Anyways, not much else is new. I'm going to see This Is A Process tomorrow at Chop Suey (that one's for you Ben) and I'm waiting for Tony to get up here soon so we can make some music.
3 comments:
Thanks a muchos! I always forget that yamaha (minding its hit/miss track record) has incredibly durable shit on the cheap. For price and compression and such, thats a fucking good deal. I also cant believe how cheap those Sure's are...were'nt those like 700$ a couple years ago?
Yea, Shure's condensers have gone down recently and dynamics were always kind of cheap (relatively speaking). Shure makes time-tested mics and backs them with a decent warranty, their signal to noise is mediocre but they're a standard no matter where you go. There's a company out here that began manufacturing really quality ribbon mics for $99. One of my instructors really recommends them. I'll let you know what company they are when I see him next. If you're recording vocals, the KSM27 would work well. If you're recording acoustic guitar look for a bi-directional mic, and position it near the lower body. Yea, Yamaha is really hit/miss but having some sort of outboard compression (whether it's a high-end rack component or incorporated in the mixer) is invaluable, it'll save you processing power when running LE on our home computers. Until we can all afford HD systems, if that day will ever come, we are at the mercy of our computers' processors. The less real-time DSPs we can use, the better the bounces and playbacks will turn out. Enjoy NY Jared. I look forward to hearing what comes out of there.
Nice. Thanks again-I've been a little out of the loop on gear having had free a studio to use for a long time. I'd be curious about that ribbon mic-no hurries though. Jealousies for your city getting Tony aside, I am excited to hear what you guys get happening-cheerz!
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