Need gear advice please

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psolkov
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2006/10/24 08:46:40 (permalink)

Need gear advice please

Hello,
I've been taking some time off for awhile now from recording music mainly because of time and money issues....but now that I'm getting those straightened out I'm wanting to get back into it. I'd like to describe what I have in my gear so far, and then talk about what I'm going to be getting in the near future and I would love some opinions as to if it will be a decent setup.

Already have:
AKG C2000B Microphone
Mackie 1202
Behringer compressor
Alesis RA-100 Amp
Alesis Monitor One MK2 speakers
....microphone runs into Mackie which then runs into a Creative Labs Audigy (I know!)
AMD 4000+ computer with 1.5 gigs RAM
Sonar 4
Yamaha keyboard with midi hooked into Audigy.
Here's what I'm adding.....
M-Audio Audiophile 192 (it's what I can afford and has the kind of inputs I'm looking for)
And I've heard that a better microphone for the money compared to my AKG is the AudioTechnica 2020
Oh, and I'm also wanting to keep the Audigy for purely being able to still use soundfonts in my music, since I have a huge collection of soundfonts already.
So now I'd be running the mic into the Mackie, and then into the M-Audio, and going from the M-Audios outputs back into the Mackie for monitoring.
So that's what I'm thinking about. Any thoughts on this setup? Thanks a bunch!
#1

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    bill durham
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    RE: Need gear advice please 2006/10/24 10:52:52 (permalink)
    If you are looking to upgrade your hardware that you already have, I would suggest that you replace your Mackie with a more computer recording oriented mixer, such as the Soundcraft Compact 4. Its not an expensive upgrade but will make your life a lot easier.

    http://www.soundcraft.com/product_sheet.asp?product_id=121

    BD

    http://www.soundclick.com/bands/4/bdandfriends_music.htm

    http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/billdurham_music.htm
    #2
    ohhey
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    RE: Need gear advice please 2006/10/24 10:57:11 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: psolkov

    Hello,
    I've been taking some time off for awhile now from recording music mainly because of time and money issues....but now that I'm getting those straightened out I'm wanting to get back into it. I'd like to describe what I have in my gear so far, and then talk about what I'm going to be getting in the near future and I would love some opinions as to if it will be a decent setup.

    Already have:
    AKG C2000B Microphone
    Mackie 1202
    Behringer compressor
    Alesis RA-100 Amp
    Alesis Monitor One MK2 speakers
    ....microphone runs into Mackie which then runs into a Creative Labs Audigy (I know!)
    AMD 4000+ computer with 1.5 gigs RAM
    Sonar 4
    Yamaha keyboard with midi hooked into Audigy.
    Here's what I'm adding.....
    M-Audio Audiophile 192 (it's what I can afford and has the kind of inputs I'm looking for)
    And I've heard that a better microphone for the money compared to my AKG is the AudioTechnica 2020
    Oh, and I'm also wanting to keep the Audigy for purely being able to still use soundfonts in my music, since I have a huge collection of soundfonts already.
    So now I'd be running the mic into the Mackie, and then into the M-Audio, and going from the M-Audios outputs back into the Mackie for monitoring.
    So that's what I'm thinking about. Any thoughts on this setup? Thanks a bunch!


    You should get a sound card designed for recording, the rest of your stuff is better then the Audigy, it's the weak link.

    Frank Coffey - Songwriter
    http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=790131
    #3
    psolkov
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    RE: Need gear advice please 2006/10/24 10:58:58 (permalink)
    hmm, I don't know about that one....I mean, if I run the outputs of the mackie into the new M-Audio card, and run the outs from the M-Audio card back into the Mackie....what more would I want? I originally got the Mackie because my music instructor said that for the money, you couldn't beat the microphone pre-amps that are built into the Mackie boards.
    #4
    ohhey
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    RE: Need gear advice please 2006/10/24 13:41:36 (permalink)
    ORIGINAL: psolkov

    hmm, I don't know about that one....I mean, if I run the outputs of the mackie into the new M-Audio card, and run the outs from the M-Audio card back into the Mackie....what more would I want? I originally got the Mackie because my music instructor said that for the money, you couldn't beat the microphone pre-amps that are built into the Mackie boards.


    That should get you good sound, and if you get the Audiophile 192 so you have balanced I/O you should get no noise or hum. The Mackie preamps and other gain stages are good. However, the Compact 4 is not expensive, I like it better then my old Mackie sound wise. If you buy it from a place you can return it then it would be worth a try to compare and see what you think. The other item I would suggest is a Studio Projects B1 microphone so you will have a large and small condensor to choose from. Again, it's not an expensive item and has amazing sound for the price. You will noite a difference between it and the AKG, it will be up to you to decide if it's better or worse.

    Frank Coffey - Songwriter
    http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=790131
    #5
    zungle
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    RE: Need gear advice please 2006/10/24 14:02:05 (permalink)
    I think your on target...........

    I'd go sound card myself.

    I'd stay with Mackie......... the VLZs are hard to beat.

    The Mackie routing is not far off the Sound Craft ...if not simpler.

    The Sound Craft Compact mixers have no FX sends or returns.. for me that doesn't quite work. I have never figured that one out.

    Some guys don't need 'em I guess.

    Good Luck.
    #6
    Phoenix
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    RE: Need gear advice please 2006/10/24 16:04:23 (permalink)
    If you intend to upgrade Sonar and/or get Dimension Pro or Project 5v2, you will have better means to play soundfonts than the Audigy.
    #7
    bill durham
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    RE: Need gear advice please 2006/10/25 12:57:36 (permalink)

    The Mackie routing is not far off the Sound Craft ...if not simpler.

    The Sound Craft Compact mixers have no FX sends or returns.. for me that doesn't quite work. I have never figured that one out.

    Some guys don't need 'em I guess.

    Good Luck.


    Zungle,

    While there are no sends and returns, there are inserts for FX on each of the Mic inputs. That would work for me.

    BD

    http://www.soundclick.com/bands/4/bdandfriends_music.htm

    http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/billdurham_music.htm
    #8
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