notfadeaway...
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UPGRADE
I couldn't think of a better place to turn then the users of Cakewalk Sonar Forum. I have my current setup listed below and wife was interested in buying me Christmas gift to "upgrade" studio. Figure I would get advice on what components anybody here might upgrade. My other option is to put the money towards my kids college fund ;) ADK Pro Audio i7 machine Sonar Producer X3c RME Fireface 800 A-Designs Pacifica Mic Pre Miktek C7 Beyerdynamics M160 Shure SM7B AKG C414 Shure SM81 Event Studio Precision Monitors Beyerdynamics DT770 Headphones Using all Monster Cables in studio. No plugins besides what came with Sonar. Had almost bit bullet on UAD, or Waves or Softube line up. Think that's about it. Appreciate any advice or opinions really if anybody is that bored.
ADK Intel i7 3.6Ghz Sonar Producer X3 RME FireFace 800
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notfadeaway...
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Meant to say I guess for some background. Record mostly 1,2,3,4 piece acoustic stuff. upright bass, rockabilly, folk, jazz etc...
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tomixornot
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I think your hardware setup is good enough to last your for a while.. Since you mentioned there is no other plugins and you're doing mostly acoustic stuff ..how about some mixing/mastering plugs (Alloy, Ozone). Upgrade to Melodyne Editor perhaps ? Get a Groove3 yearly pass (it's running an offer this month) ?
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Splat
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If your wife really loves you she would buy you producer....
Sell by date at 9000 posts. Do not feed. @48/24 & 128 buffers latency is 367 with offset of 38. Sonar Platinum(64 bit),Win 8.1(64 bit),Saffire Pro 40(Firewire),Mix Control = 3.4,Firewire=VIA,Dell Studio XPS 8100(Intel Core i7 CPU 2.93 Ghz/16 Gb),4 x Seagate ST31500341AS (mirrored),GeForce GTX 460,Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard,Roland A-300PRO,Roland SPD-30 V2,FD-8,Triggera Krigg,Shure SM7B,Yamaha HS5.Maschine Studio+Komplete 9 Ultimate+Kontrol Z1.Addictive Keys,Izotope Nectar elements,Overloud Bundle,Geist.Acronis True Image 2014.
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notfadeaway...
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Buy me Producer? I use Sonar Producer X3c unless you are referring to something else? I had thought about the Melodyne comment. Wasn't sure if adding a new mic to arsenal or preamp was worth it either. Too much gear, too little time.
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spacey
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Maybe something from this page.
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Splat
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"upgrade" studio Ah sorry misunderstanding... She does love you then :).
Sell by date at 9000 posts. Do not feed. @48/24 & 128 buffers latency is 367 with offset of 38. Sonar Platinum(64 bit),Win 8.1(64 bit),Saffire Pro 40(Firewire),Mix Control = 3.4,Firewire=VIA,Dell Studio XPS 8100(Intel Core i7 CPU 2.93 Ghz/16 Gb),4 x Seagate ST31500341AS (mirrored),GeForce GTX 460,Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard,Roland A-300PRO,Roland SPD-30 V2,FD-8,Triggera Krigg,Shure SM7B,Yamaha HS5.Maschine Studio+Komplete 9 Ultimate+Kontrol Z1.Addictive Keys,Izotope Nectar elements,Overloud Bundle,Geist.Acronis True Image 2014.
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AT
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Nice set up - your wife will really have to drop some bucks to upgrade the hardware component. I thought my wife was nice to let me buy a Portico II channel, but she didn't pay for it (and she still gets to sing through it). But a good compressor is nice to have on your ins, just to pre-squeeze things a little. It helps settle a track into a mix w/o stomping all over it. Which to get? Depends upon how much cash. The FMR PBC is a good character comp - should work well w/ the A-Designs - and is about $400. Some people like the Art channel, which is cheaper, but if I was in your shoes I'd go for the best quality she could afford. Or have her get you a 500-series rack that you can fill in. On the software side, the Softube Mix Bundle that came through Cakewalk was a really, really nice addition. If it goes on sale again, have her jump on it. It has a couple of pieces I use all the time - the verb (not so important now w/ Breverb), the FET is a step up from Cake's, and the focusing EQ is great. Cakewalks Re3 leveling amp is another good buy. UAD is still good, but that seems like a never-ending cycle. The lastest software needs more CPU, so you upgrade the card but in a year you need another one. Still, I know pros who have given up on their hardware and use the UAD. And it is cheaper than good hardware.
https://soundcloud.com/a-pleasure-dome http://www.bnoir-film.com/ there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
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dubdisciple
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You look pretty set on hardware for what you do. How is the physical space you are recording in? Sound treatment may help you more than any plugin or hardware based on what you already have.
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notfadeaway...
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Sound setup/absorption/traps etc is "ok". Could always use improvement and I do in little steps realizing it's never going to be top notch. Softube Bundle? I know it came with Nomad Factory Blue bundle but that's different correct. But a good compressor is nice to have on your ins, just to pre-squeeze things a little. This was actually in the back of my head as my main option. The A-Designs Pacifica is awesome but either it's hot or the mics I am using (Mainly Miktek C7 and 414) are too hot, because I have to Pad it and have gain to almost nothing. I had thought about adding a comp before going into computer. I meant to add, budget would $1000, and I would spend a grand myself, so let's say $2k
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forkol
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notfadeaway... Using all Monster Cables in studio.
Hee hee, you should probably downgrade here instead..... notfadeaway... .... I meant to add, budget would $1000, and I would spend a grand myself, so let's say $2k
Well, since you have such an kick-butt hardware setup, why not get the kick-butt software setup to go with it? Since you don't have any other soft synths, you should go with Komplete. That $1000.00 retail, but there are a few ways of entry into it that you should be able to get into K9 Ultimate at under $800.00. That leaves even some left over for room treatment, and will give you enough toys to play with for quite a while, I would think. Also, you would automatically get the NI's Softtube bundle as part of Ultimate as well.
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shmuelyosef
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The Melodyne deal ($149) to upgrade to Editor is great if you are working with Audio tracks, particularly if you can record your acoustic bands with reasonable isolation in a dead room with directional microphones
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LunaTech
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Hello, You have a great setup as a foundation.. My recommendation would be a very nice tube pre amp and tube microphone to warm things up a bit. I also second a high quality outboard mastering compressor to put on the final output to glue everything together. A smaller set of near field monitors to help balance those mixes and finally a good midi-controller (did not see one listed) to round out the versatility of the included instruments in Sonar. IHTH
"Life could capture me with songs of innocence... And enrapture me with pleasures galore... Suddenly it could all quickly fade away... But I'm not surprised any more...." Sonar Platinum Pro- Win 10 64- I7 6800k - Asus - 32gb DDR4-SB ZX sound card (cd output to mixer)- Toshiba 960gb SSD (OS - Audio APPs)- 4TB Seagate (Storage/ App Content)- M-Audio Keystation 88 Pro - Akai MPD 232 - Zed R16 - PT 12 - A&H QU 24- Axiom 61 - XD 80usb "When He is all you have, He is everything you need"
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Dude Ivey
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How bout some high end monitors or headphones??
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Tshepo
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Invest in human capital and put the money towards your kids' college fund.
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AT
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I really love the RND compressor in the Portico. A stereo unit is about $1800, but you can find them used on E-bay for $1200. Having a high quality stereo eq to go in as well as mix through is a really nice thing. Nothing quite like analog compression. The RND has feed forward as well as feed back modes, for a more modern sound or old style compression. Top notch unit. My other suggestion is over budget, but Rupert Neve Designs. He's making his old designs again - the Shelfeld series. The man who originally designed the 1073 Neve preamp redoes his classic, as well as an inductor EQ and compressor in a single unit. Couldn't use it for mastering unless you are doing mono, but coming after your A design would be sweet. He's just brought them out, so I haven't heard them. Supposedly run on big rails like the Portico II w/ plenty of volts. We'll see. Another good thing is, after spending $3000, you won't lose much on resale. If you ever want to get rid of it, that is. Finally, a nice hardware reverb/effects unit. Again, I can hear a difference. Sublte, but there. Those are all over the place, price wise, but something w/ Eventide stamped on it is better than anything you'll get inside a computer. @
https://soundcloud.com/a-pleasure-dome http://www.bnoir-film.com/ there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
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mixmkr
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you don't mention what you're proficient in musically... or I missed it. But as I get older, I seem to want better and better stuff prior to all the recording stuff...which you seem to have covered with good stuff for your size requirements. Like they said, "garbage in, garbage out"... so make sure you're not using lower end instruments, etc. Or...if you record more than yourself at once, maybe a good monitoring system.
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AT
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notfadeaway... Softube Bundle? I know it came with Nomad Factory Blue bundle but that's different correct.
The Softube Bundle was an extra you could buy. It works in the ProChannel as well as effects bin. It was $179, then dropped even lower. I don't know what it goes for these days, but I think Softube will still get you the PCable version. I just updated today. @
https://soundcloud.com/a-pleasure-dome http://www.bnoir-film.com/ there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
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mixmkr
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AT but something w/ Eventide stamped on it is better than anything you'll get inside a computer. @
I've struggled with this, especially with Lexicon PCM 70-90s all at unbelievable prices now. I see PCM 90 for under $500 all the time. Wish I could pick up an old Harmonizer at a decent price though. Afraid to spend $900 on a 30 yr old piece of rack gear...but those 910 sounded great.
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notfadeaway...
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Wow, cool to wake up to even more opinions and advice. Sorry for leaving some things unanswered. I do have an M-Audio Axiom as midi controller and only have Trilian and EZ Drummer with a couple kits. I'm really not focused on getting the BEST sampled drums as my stuff is mostly acoustic and I use it as a glorified metronome. Intriguing about the Komplete especially if I could get Softube bundle.. I think I'm definitely gonna step up to Melodyne Editor as someone suggested. Funny someone mentioned the monitors and headphones. When I bought the Event Precision 8 monitors I thought they were the cats ass. I'm now thinking besides lack of talent that they have been my biggest enemy in getting good mixes. I still haven't figured them out after 7 years. They seem to fake me out with what I recorded vs what I'm hearing. Also I have the DT770 headphones, is there upgrade from there that's worth it? I don't use them much I had definitely thought tube mic or mic pre. One of my biggest obsessions of late has been delay plugin. I have searched high and low and leaning towards echo boy or Voxengos.
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notfadeaway...
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Am I missing something. Someone mentioned Melodyne Editor for $149. Sonar X3 came with Essential correct? And this is off their website Upgrade from Melodyne essential (all versions) US$299 Add to cart
ADK Intel i7 3.6Ghz Sonar Producer X3 RME FireFace 800
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bluzdog
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The best way to upgrade those DT770's is to run them through a Focusrite VRM box. I have 80 ohm DT770 Pro's and the combo is pretty amazing. I think there is a Melodyne Editor upgrade discount for X3 users. I didn't get the email but a search will probably bring up the discount code. Rocky
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scook
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notfadeaway... Am I missing something. Someone mentioned Melodyne Editor for $149. Sonar X3 came with Essential correct? And this is off their website Upgrade from Melodyne essential (all versions) US$299 Add to cart
When you register Melodyne Essential, Celemony on their website immediately offers a discount to Editor for $149 and then follows up with an email with the discount offer good for 10 days.
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mixmkr
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Sanderxpander
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A hardware compressor is definitely useful for tracking. Honestly I don't really believe in hardware bus compressors. I almost never ended up using the SSL copy at my previous studio. The software versions are getting so good and are a LOT more convenient and cheaper. For your core business, apart from a good recording compressor I would then also say get some good plugs. The Cakewalk ProChannel pack is cool, though I mostly use the LA2A from that - it is really very good. Waves is having a sale on the very comprehensive Diamond bundle which includes the great Renaissance bundle (Renaissance Compressor and Renaissance Vox are still among my favorites) and a host of other useful and sometimes really unique things compared to what you have now. It also includes some excellent and widely used mastering plugs. Buy via a dealer such as plugindiscounts.com for an even better price. Melodyne is definitely worth the deal price, +1 on that.
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