Building a pro studio- Need a little bit of help...

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 8:51 am

bobbo wrote:

my two cents, go get protools and one of their expensive little boards just like everyone else, or get a cheap ass pc and get nuendo and just quanize and sound replace all the drums and use guitar modeling for bass and all guitar tracks, and all you need is one or two preamps, or even one of them focusrite liquid preamps with like 40 preamps in one box, be realistic in 2008, why can't people just be realistic, seriously, if you have to ask people on here, then you're not thinking realistically then you need to get out of engineering and go serve fries at mcdonalds or work a call center where they tell you what to do, and you don't need to think for yourself.

I love the sarcasm. Thanks for the laugh.

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 4:09 am

JesterMasque wrote:

Also, an update on the interface: What do you all think of the Tascam DM-4800? From there, I would get the Firewire interface cards and go out into a Mac Pro. The Tascam looks like everything that I would need for inputs, DAW control, and the look of a console in the studio (which I have come to the realization that it is more important than I hoped). I will still be running the hi-fi pres before the Tascam, which I will post a list later probably.

What do you all think of the DM-4800? Short professional reviews? Other competition in the price bracket? I appreciate all of your input (as you all know). Thanks so much!

The API/DAV/TRP/Grace pre-amps into a pair of Auroras would be a whole level up in quality from running into the Tascam. If you need the Tascam for show, why not get it and then just use it as a control surface for your DAW?

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:16 pm

48 channels of simaltaneous input recording seems like over kill unless you will have a HUGE tracking room and plan on tracking a big band or maybe an orchestra. And yeah 48 mics to accomodate those inputs.

For me after drums are tracking I rarely use more than 3 channels at a time when over dubbing.

I think starting out small would be best and building up over time to suit your needs.

Good musicians, good instruments, a nice room and good songs/arrangements make great recordings, not gear.

The studio's design aka acoustics and layout and nice in house instruments are more important.

192khz...thats crazy. Record at 24/44.1

Get a Digi 003 rack+ some sort of 8 channel mic pre unit with adat outs, buy some nice additional plug ins, decent monitors, and a head phone
amp. Screw the console unless you plan to do some mixing OTB.

Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 2:23 am

I can't see even a big band or orchestra needing 48 mics? Unless you're crazy for control. Everybody loves power.

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 10:21 am

I CAN see a need for 48, or even 148 mic's... if you approach the microphone as a brush with which to pain the sonic picture.

API's are great all around workhorse pre's. Can't hardly go wrong there. Or with any other solid pre for that matter.

My next question would be that if you have 16-24 channels of pre's... do you have enough I/O (D/A) and outboard gear to handle a real pro level mix situation?

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 12:23 pm

As someone who owns a good deal many more than 48 channels of mics (worded this way because I have a few stereo mics - R88, SF12, NT4, etc.) I would agree.

However, I think the statement was made to mean - there's very rarely the need to use 48 mics at a time while recording.

Even on some of the largest Hollywood soundstages, 48 mics is a big number (not to say it's not used - a lot of scoring sessions use a great deal many more but it's still a large track count for a single take).

I can't imagine a general use commercial studio ever needing that many mics or open tracks in a single take.

Just a thought -
J

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 11:20 pm

Agreed Cucco, and thus my question regarding I/O.

My guess is that there may be some confusion between mic pre needs and I/O needs - e.g. comps, gates, fx, monitoring, summing, etc.

In which case, one would possibly want to consider making sure that at least a "few" of your mic pre's are capable of line level, or even some dedicated line level pre's. Granted, you only need 2-4 in most situations, as outboard gear usually has enough gas to feed the converters.... but for that odd piece its' something to be aware of.

In my humble little digs, I'm preparing to have 24 channels of simultaneous mic pre tracking. The reality is that 16 is probably overkill, but if I were to say... double up on kik, bass, and 2 guitars... that's 6 extra channels. Better to have it than not. (Without going silly overboard.)

My mobile rig, is the only time I've ever seen more than 24 tracks used at the same time... I typically only see up to 32-34. And most of the time, that's because of redundancy of double tracking and extra stereo pairs.

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 11:48 pm

I hear you-
At my best, I'm able to (without renting or borrowing) do 22 tracks simultaneously at up to 96kHz sampling (or 88.2 since I never use 48kHz derivitives.)

As for effects, I've gone to completely digital. Using either a combo of UA or TC plugs, I avoid the extra expense and extra heat generated by all of the outboard units. Happily, I don't feel like I'm missing anything this way.

Cheers-
J

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 12:16 am

To keep things affordable for both the client and me, I'm still kickin' around with the HD24's... so I'm pretty well either 24 tracks w/backup, or 48 tracks full up for a remote session.

I'm still a rookie at HD, and while I'm lovin' the McDSP, UA, Anthology, etc... I still miss the sound of good iron. The H3000 just doesn't quite have the sound that's as beefy as the real deal. Same with the H949 and the PCM's. Besides, when you really push the track count, easin' up on the CPU loading is a good thing.

Same thing for comps... I just can't live w/o my 160's, Distressor's or my Drawmer. Thumbs Up

So, having enough I/O for those on mix down are where some of my I/O is going. But that's just me and what my clients are looking for.

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 2:26 am

MadMax wrote:

Besides, when you really push the track count, easin' up on the CPU loading is a good thing.

Agreed - that's why I only use the UA and the TC (no processor load - or very minimal...)

I loved my outboard analog, but I hated that my mastering suite was always 10-15 degrees warmer than everywhere else. Plus, replacing the tubes and caps on the VariMu became ***expensive***
Smile

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