NEW STUDIO - ADVICE PLEASE

[log:one]

right me and my friend are getting a studio together. it will be used mainly for trance *spit* but from a value for money and usability etc whats the general opinion on:

virus c
mackie hr 624s
mackie 1604 VLZ pro mixer (this is something im fairly clueless on )
delta 10/10
TC powercore card
some kind of controller keyboard (an ozone maybe)

and any pointers on outboard compression would be much appreciated.

ta muchly.

[dan the acid man]

mackie mixers are a must if you can afford them, the 1604 is very good, lots of people use them in studio,s and for live pa,s, as for compressors im a big fan of drawmers

[DJZeMig_L]

A good comp is also a TLA fatman.

The rest I think U have a fairly good choice...
Maybe I would get also some drummachine, something Like the novation D-Station or the Jomox airbass 09.

Controler... Novation Remote 25 or the Evolution UC33e or maybe even both! ;)

Z

[Basil Rush]

I'm gonna stand up for mixing in the computer, get yourself a low latency soundcard with a few ins and outs. No more writing down mixer settings. I mean you might need a tiny one for a volume control and to use your decks without booting the computer ... but with fast computers you can even run stuff through outboard and back into the computer ok these days it seems ...

[log:one]

hmmm... this is something ive been thinking a lot about. i mean, i could save us a grand by merely choosing not to have a mixing desk, are the benefits of having one enough to justify it? one of the main things that made us want one was ebing able to overdrive the channels and get some nice warmth on the go, plus just having a hands on, touchable image of the mixdown in front of me. but basil you make a very good point that really made me think as generally i have about 15 different tracks on the go at any one time... so thats 15 lengths of tape and 250 channel settings to write down. what about a channel strip of some sort?

funny you should mention the airbass, i have a friend who has had one for ages but cant get a power supply for it... i was thinking it might be worth making him an offer...?

just been having a look at the tla fatman, i cant see any attack/release controls on there... ??? as for drawmers theres a fair few to choose from, any recommendations?

i really cant thank you enough for the exceptionally speedy replies!!

[rca]

I feel you would be CRAZY to go out there and spend hundreds on gear. I spent a year working with a guy in London on tracks. His studio consisted of a HUGE Soundcraft desk (around 1 mile in Length) and tons of gear and FX (5 x MATRIX's, Waldorfs, Novations, Yamahas, Rolands, this list goes on). Overall this guy had spent thousands on gear.

What you have to remeber is he had grown up in a world where if you wanted to make electronic music you had to buy expensive machines in order to do this.

Now you do not. I use:

P4
2Ghz
512RAM
200HD
Ilyama 22" Monitor
Audiophile 2496
Edirol PCR-80
2 x controllers
HHB Circle 5/Samson Servo 260
SX.....

£1250

Why do you feel you need to buy a desk ? I cannot understand the logic in spending £1000 on a desk.

SOFTWARE is the future, just like FS is the future of DJ'ing.

[Barely Human]

There are a few alternatives to an analouge desk that you may want to consider. Maybe a digital desk, or a hybrid would suit you better as you can just save your channel settings. But personally, id would have a look into these new midi mixing controllers.(such as the Houston). They offer the hands on feel of mixing down a track, and also offer value for money and effectiveness. Obviously the houston is a quite expensive one, but there are quite a few poping up on the market now, and i can see full software support for them becoming a standard in the near future.

[MARKEG]

hmmm.. hold on this is the techno production forum...

[MARKEG]

i must move this to the trance production forum - sorry!!!!

[dan the acid man]

im going to stick up for analogue mixing desks just for the fact you cant beat the warmth they can give to your sound, as for drawmer compressors the dl251 is very nice, also worth looking out for on the secondhand market are the dl221 and the dl231.