Tax Refund = Studio Expansion

[wrave]

Hi! Yes, it's that time of year. I am looking to expand my home studio in the next month or so and I need some help. Less that a year ago I bought a Digi001, an AT822 sterio mic and because I couldn't get a signal that seemed strong enough into PT, a Blue Tube to boost the mic signal a bit.

Now with a tax refund soon to come my way (and it's already burnin' a hole in my pocket!) I am wanting to expand and improve my studio capabilities. I expect that my budget will be approx. $2000. I hope some of you can suggest some equipment that will help me round out my studio economically.

My music is mostly acoustic. Native American flute, acoustic guitar and some percussion. I do have a keyboard and elec. bass and guitar as well but I have not incorporated them much as yet.

I have been thinking that I'd like to have a bit better quality mic. I intend to find a better way to do my monitoring than the bookshelf sterio system I now use. I am also considering a small mixer primarily for the preamps but if there are sends on it I can add some processing later on maybe.

I have been looking at the AKG C3000B because I'd like a nice large diaphragm mic and I hear good things about this one. Anything that compares with this for less money?

I am not so sure about monitoring. Lot's of choices but I am leaning toward a power amp and a pair of good monitors, maybe Tannoy Reveals.

As far as mixers go, I kinda like the little Mackie 1202vlz but then I noticed the Roland VM-3100 and since it has effects built in I might
not need to buy separate processing later. Of course, there is always the tax refund next year...

If any of you have used any of this equipment I'd like to hear what you think of it. Maybe some of you are expanding along these lines yourselves. What are your plans? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[BradLyons]

Frank,

I'm sorry it's taken so long for anyone to answer you, I'm going to do my best now that I'm the Moderator of this group to answer every question I can. By the way, how did the government mess up and actually give you a tax refund??? :-) The State of Indiana still owes me $120. This isn't a big deal but that was exactly what I paid for H&R block to handle my taxes! :-(

Anyway.... So you want a better mic, better pre's/mixer, and monitors in the $2,000 range? Well, that is definitely doable. You mentioned the C3000B, great mic for the money!! Just so you have some options, you might want to look into the BLUE Baby Bottle. It's a funny looking microphone, but what a sound! It's actually the lowest self-noise microphone available. To my ears, this mic has a lot of presence that is very pleasing with the right preamp which leads to the next question.... If you would like to have a mixer and good preamps, you may want to look at the new SPIRIT M8. This mixer has 8 mono inputs with 4 stereo inputs, each mono input has a direct output...perfect for your Digi001. There is also a coaxial S/PDIF output so you can send everything through the digital domain into the Digi001!!!! But what I like best (as an engineer) is the faders are 100mm long... and the pres on here (I am told) are the same or at the level of those as the Soundcraft Ghost. These have a very nice, musical sound... by the way, the EQ is gorgeous!

As for the studio monitors, I've learned from experience....DON'T SKIMP on these! The Tannoy Reveals are really nice for the money, but you may want to consider the Genelec 1029A's in that same range (actually, I am comparing to the Reveal Actives). The Reveal Actives are some of our best-selling monitors and rightly so... they are affordable, self-powered, and are very clear. However, there is something about having Genelecs on acoustic instruments that I've always liked. But if you do go with the Reveal Actives, you're definitely not making a mistake.

If you have a Sales Engineer at Sweetwater, give him a call... he'd be more than happy to help or you can call me if you don't regularly speak with anyone. Hope this helps!! :-)

[wrave]

Thanks for the reply Brad. I appreciate it.

I do talk with Zack pretty regularly and did so just last week. We were talking mics mainly. I hadn't heard about the BLUE Baby Bottle, I was thinking they were a bit more than my budget would permit. The reviews sure make them sound very attractive though. I will reconsider them as well as the suggestions that Zack gave me.

I will definitly want to come in one day soon to give the monitor situation the ears test. I want to hear the Reveal actives up against a couple of others that advertise a more extended range.

Your suggestion with regard to the mixer is interesting. My primary reason for looking at a mixer was to give myself the additional pres and only that because I haven't managed to get a good level using the mic I have now and the Digi001. But I am planning now to go for the better quality mic and see what happens to my levels there before thinking mixer/pre again. After all, I am recording only myself and don't need to capture multiple tracks.

And now the interesting part. Tax Refund! It's simple, they rob me blind all year long...I guess they get to feeling guilty about my frequent trips to the soup kitchen. What they don't know is that over the many years as a starving musician I got to the point where I actually prefer mulligan stew to caviar. These days a trip to Micky D's is a stroll down memory lane...all those wonderful meals while on the road!