Beta version, to be updated 22th of january
So you want project studio of your own
God idea!
In the following text you will get
a more or less complete hardware suggestions of what to buy. There is one suggestion
for the beginner and one for the intermediate-
This could also
serve as a suggestion for schools that want to get a basic computer music/recording
setup.
Its not a complete list of equipment. Their will be things like cables and connectors
that's not listed in my text, and microphone stands, speaker stands, furniture....and
a lot more.
There is no instruction how to connect and setup the hardware, which
can be complicated if you haven't done this before. And finally, there is nothing
about the room, about the acoustics, something that is very important.
What is a Project
studio?
Its a working environment for someone that works/produce/record mainly his/her
own music. A project studio is a working environment for personal use, for you and
your friends.
I will suggest hardware for two types of user
1. For the beginner, that
already have a laptop or stationary computer.
2. The Intermediate, someone that wants
to produce his own music and record his, or his friends, band.
2b. The “professional” project studio, the expanded project studio
A studio for someone
that plan to make a living using music technology. Someone that already know a lot
about music (probably a professional composer, musician or music teacher) someone
that has worked with music technology a bit.
But first, I do not recommend Pro Tools
Pro Tools is expensive, and as far as I see
it, way overpriced compared to what you get (except for the M-
But there are things happening with prices on Digidesign products right
now. Digidesign is dumping prices! Some of there upgrade are more than 50% off compared
to what used to be. If you think you need a big PT system, now may be the time to
get one.
Having said that, the huge price dump may indicate that there are something new on
the horizon. And knowing Digidesign, it will not be downward compatible......so you
should be carefull......there has been talk about new hardware for years......I even
have seen pictures of what to come....
Pro Tools is also a closed system, its hardware
only runs Pro Tools (and 3 party plug ins). To me this is a huge drawback, not being
able to use other software.
As I see it there is only one reasons for buying a Pro
Tools system and that is because you are going to rent out your studio to others
and therefor need to be as compatible with other professional studios as possible.
Pro Tools is a market leader in its field, “everyone” has Pro Tools. But ho wants
to be like everyone else? And we are building a personal studio something that works
for us, so 100% compatibility is not a huge issue.
Pro Tools is for those who ONLY
need audio recording and basic MIDI recording (I know the last version 8 has more
than the basic MIDI function, I knooow that).
My project studio hardware suggestions,
are based on:
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instrument/plug ins. It has to compatible with most types
of hardware and software.
Project studio hardware for the beginner, someone that already have a laptop.
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M-
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Headphone.
Beyerdynamics DT 770
Microphones.
Studio Project B1
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This is a really god audio interface with
all the basic input and outputs you need. It is not complicated to connect, set up
and use.
It has two microphone inputs, a headphone output with volume control on the
front, a master output with volume controller for your loudspeakers and a MIDI in
and out.
I have used Fast Track Pro for almost a year and have had zero problems.
Its a USB interface. In real life this means its MUCH more compatible with computers
than a firewire audio interfaces. The Fast Track Pro has worked on all computers
that I have tried it on.
If you can afford to invest some more, its big brother (or
is it sister?) the Fast track Ultra is a nice upgrade. It has 4 microphone inputs,
two headphone outputs with individual volume and its capable of a resolution of 24/96
on all inputs and outputs. The only downside of both of these interfaces is the headphone
outputs level, is a tiny bit weak.
It has a god low workable latency. The lowest setting is 128 samples, It doesn’t
draw a lot of CPU power at this low setting. I usually leaves it at this setting
but for some sampler work (like Kontakt) you may need to go a step up to 256 samples
to get a glitch free sound, as you have wave to do with all audio interfaces I know
of (that is if you are reading from disk (DFD mode).
The fast Track ultra is what
I use at home, when I travel and for live use.
When it comes to fire wire audio interfaces I would go as far as to say:
Stay away of Firewire audio interfaces!
Firewire is a computer compatible hell. There
is only one way to be almost sure that they work, and that is to have a computer
has a Texas T1 firewire chipset, and very few laptops has!
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I’m
a Genelec fan I have used Genelec:s for a long time, almost 30 years. I know how
they sound and I know that you can trust them. You find Genelec:s every where (when
it comes to loudspeakers you want to be like every one else, don’t you?).
Loudspeaker is not like computers. They don’t get out of date in 3-
If Genelec 8030 is to much money to spend you could get something
less expensive. One that I use is Blow 5D which is less than a quarter the price
of the Genelec:s. They are fun to listen to, easy to work with, but they have close
to no real bas response. I wouldn’t trust them for a final mix.
You should definitely
buy an active loudspeaker. Its not only more practical, but also represents a much
better value for money than a passive (separate loudspeaker and amplifier) system.
These days here are so many inexpensive active speakers. And as always, what you pay is what you get. The inexpensive speakers usually sounds ...inexpensive. Having said that the last week I have used a set of Behringer 2030 witch is really inexpensive monitor. I wouldn’t mix on them but they sounds pretty god.
Headphones may be an alternative to loudspeaker. I find it hard to mix on headphones, but if this is your only alternative, and you are looking for something really good, I would suggest Sennheiser HD 600 or HD650. They are both excellent headphones. I use HD 600 and have had them for years. They are open so they work less well for tracking as they emit sound to the surroundings more than what closed types do.
Headphone.
Beyerdynamics DT 770
End of story! They can definitely be used for mixing.
They are off closed type, so they work great for tracking.
Microphones.
Studio Project B1
I have compared this microphone with a microphone (new
tube mic) costing 40 times more, on close miced male and female vocal and solo instrument
(like guitar and violin) . Some of the singers actually preferred the B1 over the
more expensive microphone. In some cases I didn’t really hear any difference worth
mentioning.
Amazing value for money. Works on most sources. Buy one or two!
MIDI Keyboard.
Anything with a usb interface.
If you are a keyboard player you may
want to get something that feels god to play. M-
In real life there is not that much difference between different
brands in the same price range. Personally I don’t like the small ones, the ones
with less than 25 keys, <49 is much more practical. But tgen I use the Korg nanoKey
a lot........
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The Intermediate-
And need a flexible hardware
setup that can do almost anything (within limits). Someone that also works with a
lot of VST synthesiser. The main difference is:
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Audio Interface
RME
The RME PCIe cards have a very low latency. For audio recording you could go down to 64 samples. But then again, for sampler work I usually go up to 256 samples.
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Headphone/headphone amplifier.
Beyerdynamics DT 770
Microphones.
Studio Project B1, 6.
Shure SM 57 (for snare and electric guitar), get
2.
Expandability and reliability.
The main idea here is expandability. The main area of expandability is the number
of inputs and outputs. I don’t think that the project studio need much more than
8 microphone inputs and 6-
Do you have a recording space that gives you the
possibility of using up to 16 microphones?
Lets say you are using:
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And finally
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That's 16 microphones and 11 Players! You need a big room to record them in.
Remember
I’m writing about stationary project studio. So, do you really think you need 16
microphone inputs ?
Recording a band live you say?
4 microphones on drums (2 overhead
1 snare and 1 bas drum)
1 guitar
1 bas
1 singer
1 extra (is that the saxophone player?)
The keyboard player uses the stereo
line input on your audio interface.
My hardware suggestions below have 8 microphone inputs but it can easily bee expanded
to 16, 24 32 or even 40 microphone inputs.
Computer and computer noise.
You could build this type of project studio around a
laptop but I suggest not to. First, you need a stable and reliable system, something
that not require cabling and set uptime, the studio should be ready to use in a minute.
Then you need a stationary computer. A PCI(e) audio interface is more stable than
any firewire or USB interface I know of.
You could get either a PC or a Mac. The only
thing with a Mac is noise, the big Mac:s (witch you need) are not quiet enough (you
could put it in an other room).
Computer noise is an issue. You definitely need a
very quiet computer. You are probably going to do audio recordings in the same room
your mix in, and both recording and mixing benefits from having as little background
noise as possible. You wouldn’t do any mixing in a train station would you?
You could place the computer in an other room. This is definitely the best idea.
Drill a hole in the wall that all the cables could go trough and put the computer
in an other room. Don’t put it in a small closet, you need space and ventilation
otherwise the computer may overheat.
The big manufactures like Dell and HP don’t have quiet enough computers. There are several companies that build computers for music, computers that are very quiet. They usually cost more than what you expect to pay, but they are probably worth it.
I have no experiments of their services.
An excellent idea is to build your computer
yourself, this is what I have done. Its not hard and there are several guides on
the Internet how to do this. Make a search, spend a couple of evenings to research
this. Remember, things change fast in the computer world so look for information
that is as new as possible.
The best one, how to build your own computer for music,
that I have read is (I’m sorry to say) in Norwegian.
http://www.notam02.no/projects/index.php?title=Lydl%C3%B8s_PC
Computer spec.
I wont go in to specifying a computers, things happens so fast here,
I
would suggest that you get a computer with an Intel i possessor and chipset an i3,
i5 or i7, higher number is better :-
At least three PCIe slots. It should have the
possibility of 16 Gb of RAM. You don’t need more than 4 Gb of RAM to start with.
You don’t need RAID but you may need 3 or more hard discs. Bigger hard discs is better
but you need at least to of the same size. That is, the second one is for backup.
Try to find quiet ones.
I would suggest two screens, almost every stationary computer
support two screens from the start. 21”-
Audio Interface.
I have been using audio interfaces from RME for a very long time
(must be way more than 10 years....). Their PCI(e) cards are probably the best there
is. They usually makes cards that are compatible with each other so you have the
possibility to use more than one card.
I will not recommend their fireface interfaces as I don’t recommend anything that's fireface! RME is also very unsupportive when it comes to their fireface audio interfaces , they sell them and then your on your own.
My hardware suggestion below will allow you to record 10 analog inputs simultaneously at 44.1 kHz samplings rate with 24 bit resolution.
You have heard that a resolution of 24/44.1 is not enough?
Someone said that this
resolution is not god enough? What you heard is wrong!
Well its not that simple.
There are a lot of very high profiled and very knowable people that say that 24/44.1
resolution is not enough and that a higher resolution, like 24/96 or 24/192, sounds
so much better.
I have done a couple of 24/96 projects and I have tested higher resolutions on more than one occasion. My opinion is that the audio quality benefits of higher resolutions, are very, very hard to hear. I would go as far as to say that I wont use any other resolution than 44.1/24 bit on my recordings if I don’t have to (the customer asks for it).
What higher samplings rate does, is to limit the number of plug ins and the number
of tracks I can record, witch to me is way much more serious than a extremely small
improvement in audio quality (that I hardly can hear).
HDSPe AIO
I haven't used this card myself but its based on cards that I use. Its
a PCIe card so you have to have a computer with a PCIe slot.
AO4S-
This card provide 4 stereo outputs of
very high quality and connects to the HDSPe AIO card. Its here you connect your Main
monitor, small monitor and your headphone amplifier.
RME Octamic II
8 Microphone inputs.
It connects to the HDSPe AIO with ADAT cables .
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If you can afford it, I suggest you move up to 8040 or 8050.
They will both give you an extension of the lower frequencies. Personally I would
go for the 8040 or even better the 8240 (se “expansion” further down in the text).
Headphone/headphone amplifier.
Beyerdynamics DT 770
End of story! These headphones
are closed type. That means they don’t spill sounds as much to the outside world
as an open type headphone does. This is good when you record (tracking). You could
mix on these headphone.
Presonus HP4
If you are going to record more than one musician, you will need an amplifier
that has more than one headphone output. Presonus HP4 can drive up to 4 headphones.
That means that you and you musicians can have your separate headphone volume.
Microphones.
Studio Project B1
I have A/B tested this microphone on close miced male
and female vocal with a microphone (new tube mic) costing 40 times more. Some of
the singers actually preferred it over the expensive microphone. In some cases I
didn’t really hear any difference (worth mentioning) at all.
Amazing value for money. Buy one, two or even more!
This setup I’m writing about has
8 microphone inputs. I would start with as many of the B1 microphone I think I need
to use simultaneously. If I needed 8 microphones recording simultaneously, lets say
recording a drum set or a small band, and budget would be an issue, I would buy:
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With these 8 microphones it will
be possible to make really god recordings of most instrument.
Wind noise (like breathing
from a vocalist or flutist) will be a problem. A “half decent” windscreen is included
with the B1 microphone.
MIDI keyboard
At this level I would go up a step and buy a MIDI keyboard from Novation.
Novation Remote 61 SL mk II Is a god choise. its pretty expensive but it has e generous set of faders and controllers that can be mapped to anything (like volume faders in your Audio MIDI sequenser). It comes with setup for most MIDI audio sequencers. The only drawback is the stupid (yes it is stupid) Pitch/modulation wheel. But one gets used to it.
Hardware expansions, more money to spend?
The first thing I would consider to upgrade
the loudspeakers.
Instead of buying Genelec 8030, I would go for Genelec 8240. This
is a loudspeaker with both analog and digital input. It also have the possibility
for an automated room correction utility, called GLM. This GLM thing works beautifully,
and will (can) give you a MUCH improved and objective loudspeaker system.
Sub bas, Genelec 7070/7270A.
You don’t need a sub bas, its perfectly fine to mix on
the 8030 or 40, but the 7270 uses the GLM setup and will tell you what goes on all
the way down to 19 Hz.
More microphone inputs.
If you need more microphone inputs. Add an HDSPe AES card, and buy an other OctaMic
interface.
You will then have 16 microphone inputs and you could then record in resolutions
up to 192/24 and still have all 16 inputs available.
Upgrade microphones.
Microphones is much about taste.
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B1 microphone.
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Ribbon microphones have a sound that some people like, they are VERY trendy. They work excellent on overhead and horns as they tend to “even out” the high frequencys . They are also very useful on electrical guitar/amplifier. There are several to chose from, but in the budget category, R1 is nice.
A lot of people like tube microphones, there are many inexpensive ones to chose from.
My personal favorite is Neuman 149, its very expensive and to my ears far from neutral
sounding.....but I like
it ;-
DSP card
For mixing I’m totally dependent of UAD hardware and software. I think that
their plug ins are the best there is, independent of native or not. I’m using the
UAD 2 Quad card.
Comments?
E-
matsc 3.4.2010 updated 22.5