Beyond Entry Level..... A Few Gear Opinions Sought

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Bern

And the approx. cost of all this equipment ?

Did my wife set you up for that? :-)

No idea, acquired slowly over many years. Possibly less than the cost of the gear I've tried and gotten rid of. It's pretty simple and focused on recording solo guitar, basically 4 good channels. I recently added the UAD 4-710 just so I'd have some extra channels for those rare cases of recording someone else.

[alohachris]

Aloha Bern,

You've posted some 11.5 thousand times here thus far. You're obviously a real forum vet. So why the rookie question to Doug -"How much?...." for his studio gear?

The thread's premise is "Beyond Entry-Level." It's assumed that in a thread with such a title that vets & pro's here use the best they can afford/find in putting together a signal chain to record their music. That's why I entitled it as such. Of course pro-level recording studio's cost real money.

For purists, audio pro's & perfectionists, the end justifies the means. Price means nothing. It means they are committed to getting questions about gear out of the equation in terms of the quality of their recordings.

And for most of us player/home recordists, it takes a VERY long time to get the right chain of gear for what we are trying to achieve. And even longer to begin to master it

I mean, you wouldn't want to hold it against someone for going after the best they can be or sound & spending to achieve it, would ya?

However, if you are looking to hold the price of gear against someone here (as some entry-level types do sometimes - & I'm NOT saying you are among them, Bern), then I can tell you that my vocal recording mic cost $5K. And I have a getting-crappy, mid-60's voice & have zero commercial interest at all for my recordings anymore. That would sound crazy to some, but makes perfect sense to me after a long life in music. Heck, it would've sounded crazy to me two years ago.

After trying out many, many, many vocal mic's at all price points, this mic has made a very noticeable difference to my ears & mixes. And that makes it totally worth the cost to me.

So in the context of this thread, you might think twice before you ask people "how much," ok Bern? Especially Doug, whose life is committed to acoustic music & sharing his passion, interest & expertise with others.

BTW Bern, what recording gear are you using?

A Hui Hou!
alohachris

PS: Nice rigs, guys. Keep 'em comin.' -alohahchris-

[Doug Young]

No problem there Chris. I was more surprised by the "all this equipment" part of the question. This is a pretty simple setup. Until I added the 4-710 ( a very cost-effective recent addition to support occasional multi-track needs), it was just a pair of stereo channels, not nearly enough for anyone other than a solo player. My You Tube setup is especially simple - can't get much cheaper or simpler than a 1-button-record Zoom recorder.

I don't do recording for a business, so there's no bottom line to keep track of. I get what I need if/when I can afford it and think it's worthwhile. It's easy to go crazy with this stuff - all kinds of cool doo-dads that promise to work magic, but I've tried to just have solid quality basics: good mics, preamp, A/D, software, monitors. Good recording gear isn't cheap, but I'm sure what I have currently ads up to a lot less than my neighbor's car, and he leaves it out in the rain :-) People spend their money on whatever rocks their boat...

[KevWind]

To put things into perspective the cost of new a snowmobile will run 8k to 10 k and 35k for the truck and trailer to haul it.

So 45 k for a hobby doable only in the wintertime. Of which the sled is going to maybe last 2-3 seasons
put family into the equation now 50 to 70k

I will venture to say Doug system is way way under this, for gear that will last a life time with the exception of the computer and probable upgrades to the DAW. put family into the equation no extra cost, he has enough mics. and what 6- 8 channels ? . Unless of course Doug and wife decide to have 8 kids and decides to do a live family take 2 more channels !!!

[Ivan Lee]

-- though on the D/A A/D Current rig.....
Interface D/A, A/D, Monitor Control:
Metric Halo ULN8

Input Side:
A-Designs MP2 (2 channels Tube)
Avalon 737 (Vocal channel)
8 channels ULN8 Solid State Preamps
4 channels ISA428 (W/A/D card for inputs 9-16 to ULN8)
4 Channels SPS-1 (Mic ins)

Mics:
Gefell M990 (LD-Tube)
Lawson L47 (LD-Tube)
Gefell M300 (SD- SS- matched pair)
Neumann KMS104, 105
Various inexpensive mics.....
Rode NT3's, Cascade, Stereo Ribbon, Sterling ST77, SM57, 58, Beta 87A

Monitors:
Adam S2A, NS10

Software/Computer:
ProTools 10 HD
MacPro 2.93 Quad/12G ram
3 monitors (in three places for control from every recording location -- 30", and two 24")
Heading toward all SSD's
Currently use Synology 4 bay NAS for long term backup
For local BU Voyager Q, looks like a toaster, pop a Hard Drive in, write date, put back on shelf.....
1500W UPS power backup

Controllers:
Avid Artist Control and Mix (Mixing without looking at the computer monitor as much as possible!)

Recording room:
20X10 - 7.5' ceiling :-(
heavily damped with OC703 and foam, Basically dead
Mixing room / Rehearsal room: 25X13 ~10 703 panels and 10 foam (more panels coming).... lots of windows -- still working on making it main recording space.....

I used to have a full ProTools HD system and recorded myself and others for many years. This is phase one of downsizing. My rack of solid state preamps (Great River, Neve, Millennia, etc....) as well as Digi 192 were all replaced by the ULN-8 -- not 100% as good but close enough! - Though on the D/A A/D side a clear improvement!). I fondly remember racks of ADATs, preamps, patch bays, tape etc....

If I had to -- or really just wanted a simpler set up----
ULN-8
Mac Pro
The good Mics
The Nearfields.....
Done :-) ---
but I am still playing and enjoy selling and then buying new/different :-)

[Doug Young]

Nice setup!