what's your recording rig

Discussion in 'The Bards of Poets' Circle' started by Veylen The AenigmA, Apr 25, 2015.

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  1. Veylen The AenigmA

    Veylen The AenigmA Avatar

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    As a bards that's trying to get an improved set I would like to ask what recording gear and software my fellow bards use. Currently my next purchase will be a midi controller or studio monitor but can't decide between the two, I imagine a midi controller would be more useful for a variety of production themes while a monitor would be better for production quality
     
  2. Kailef

    Kailef Master Bard

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    For note entry, my MIDI controller is a Novation Launchkey 25. It does a decent job and it's fairly inexpensive. Being a relative novice, I haven't worked with many others so I really can't say if it's a good choice or not, but it does well for my purposes.

    The DAW I learned on is Samplitude Pro X2, which is what most of my SotA songs are made with. I've toyed with others such as Ableton Live, Bitwig and Studio One, and even though those are "better" DAWs, my comfort level with Samplitude is very high so I keep going back to it.

    For audio recording I use a Shure SM7B connected through a Cloudlifer LC-1 Mic Activator to a PreSonus TubePro V2 box which provides the phantom power to the Cloudlifter and adds additional gain. From there we chain into a PreSonus Audiobox USB which is what I use to interface all that audio gear to my computer. This setup is by far the most expensive part of my recording rig. The difference between this setup and the Blue Microphones USB Yeti I used before is night and day. The Yeti was a great way to get a decent baseline of quality, but the SM7B (with the appropriate preamps) is amazing.

    I use Sennheiser HD 280 Pro studio monitor headphones which connect to the back of my PreSonus Audoibox USB. They are a bit heavy, but they isolate outside sounds well, and they are comfortable to wear over long periods of time if needed.
     
  3. potcorn

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    I'm the same way with FL. They'll pry it from my cold, dead hands.

    Also, does that have VST support? or is it like Reason, and all internal plugins?
     
  4. Veylen The AenigmA

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    Would it be better to mic up an amp or just plug into an audio interface and use daw effects ?
     
  5. Santa Clause

    Santa Clause Avatar

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    If you have a really nice amp, microphone, pre-amp, and a nice room to record in, nothing really beats recording an actual amp - especially a cranked up tube amp. I use a lot of amp emulators because I don't have those things and like to be able to choose the sound of the "amp" during mix down.

    A MIDI controller is only really necessary if you are going to be using a lot of virtual instruments and samplers. Studio monitors are extremely important and one of the things you should invest as much as possible in early on. I just sold a pair of M-Audio speakers and purchased Adam A5x's and it is a world of difference.

    Check ebay - Pro Audio Star. They sell a lot of B-Stock gear and I've had some luck finding good deals with them in the past.
     
  6. Veylen The AenigmA

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    well I have a standard 10x8 room pretty small, Ibanez 15-watt head/cab combo with tubescreamer circuit..

    no real microphone, I know good ones are expensive so it appears my only option would be direct connection to my audio interface via the 1/4 inch cable. I was on the same page you seem to be on as far as monitors go, I was looking at a Yamaha hs series. it sounds totally different when im mixing with headphones and then play it thru some speakers or car stereo, that's where my bottleneck is but thank you for your input i'll start saving for a studio monitor and not worry about mic'ing up my amp
     
  7. Santa Clause

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    The quintessential mic for recording guitar amps is relatively cheap - the Shure SM57 sells new for $100. http://www.guitarcenter.com/Shure-SM57-Instrument-Vocal-Mic-100038239-i1126420.gc I'm sure you can find them used on ebay. If you're not familiar with these, they are as tough as nails and sound great for recording electric guitar. Every single studio in the world has several of these on hand - they're just great workhorse microphones and they're pretty cheap (at least compared to $3000 tube condenser vocal microphones).
     
  8. mike11

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    You don't need monitors if you have good headphones (like AKG240 for example)..
    What you need is a great monitor channel such as a decent interface with ASIO drivers for your recording software.
    You can make beautiful music if your input chain is sh#t but you have a good monitor chain. ie good DA converters.
     
  9. Veylen The AenigmA

    Veylen The AenigmA Avatar

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    Well I got a beringer ur22 as my interface. If a mic was all I'd need it would be cheaper than an equivalent monitor. Am I have an all purpose gaming etc headset. It works good for its purpose but I don't know if it reaches acceptable quality for professional recording. I have heard good things about the shure sm line. I'm guessing if I went for a mic I wouldn't need a phantom seperate power supply for it. I know very little on the subject tho
     
  10. mike11

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    Well one thing you can remember is that if your going to be using a mic, you won't be able to use your monitors (speakers) because you will be then recording the whole track... :)

    That is why headphones are important... GL
     
  11. Santa Clause

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    Unfortunately, when you're first getting started, you kind of need everything. mike is correct about needing headphones if you're going to record with a mic, however, gaming headphones are not going to be ideal for mixing. I would be willing to bet that they are not "flat" meaning that they will add color to the sound, ie, they might add low end of treble or something to make them sound more pleasing. This causes people to mix to compensate for the added tone and then, when someone listens on a different source that doesn't have the same color, the mix is going to sound not good.

    Overall, flat monitors are usually preferable for mixing over headphones. They provide a better stereo field and make you work harder to get the instruments to separate. They are also larger than headphones and therefore can recreate the low end in a more accurate way.

    The best thing to do until you can afford a nice set of accurate monitors is listen to your music on as many different sources as possible (cheap earbuds from your phone, directly from your phones speaker, built in computer speakers, your car, etc) and try to get the music to sound balanced on all of them.

    You are correct that the sm57 doesn't require phantom power. You can plug it right into the interface and away you go.
     
  12. Razimus

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    I use 2 mics, an old Samson C01U, and an Audio Technica AT2020, w/ mic stand & pop filter.
     
  13. Veylen The AenigmA

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    Yeah I was wondering if I should just try to get some uncolored stereo headphones cause a good flat monitor pair will set me back too much.
     
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