Money=gone Recording gear=on its way

"saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars" (saabstory) 01/01/2015 at 14:33 • Filed to: None

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I finally raised enough funds to furnish a small home barely-studio. I've been saving money for a loooong time now on the side for some nice microphones and a good interface. For those interested, here's my (in-delivery) selection of gear:

- 2 Audix i5s

- 2 CAD M179s

- 1 Shure SM57

- 1 Shure SM58

- 1 Studio Projects B1

- 1 Shure SM7B

- 1 Avantone CR-14

- Focusrite Scarlett 18i20

Everything goes into my PC running either Audition or Reaper. I'm still deciding which I want to use for tracking, and right now I'm leaning towards Audition. I know that I'll use Audition for mastering, but I'm not positive about tracking. The main thing I dislike about Audition is the lack of a beats/bars grid, but reviews seem to suggest that Audition records more smoothly and at a higher quality. I don't hear many people on Gear Slutz talking about Audition though. Who knows what'll happen! All I know is that I'm excited as all hell!

Tim (Fractal Footwork) > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars 01/01/2015 at 14:35

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Acoustic Panels?

Where do I get these?!

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars 01/01/2015 at 14:40

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Eeh, I'd honestly prefer Reaper over Audition simply because it's not Adobe software. That being said, Audition's interface is mostly better, and the workflow is a bit nicer than Reaper... when it works. It's been a bit of a crashing bitch for me, and I just use it for mastering.

Baskingshark > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars 01/01/2015 at 14:59

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Nice! What kind of music are you into? I was big into music production back in college when I had more free time. I have a small set up with turntables, Akai MPC, Focusrite Scarlett interface running Abelton on my Mac.

E. Julius > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars 01/01/2015 at 15:02

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Haha this is so much more legit than my "barely–studio" sounds like some good gear though!

saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars > E. Julius 01/01/2015 at 16:43

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Haha, I've done my time with low-end gear (engineering my friend's band with his mics). I think there's a whole lot of elitism in the recording world, and a lot of it is a pile of horseshit (you can get a great sound from a cheap drum mic kit). I wanted to get some really cool and serious stuff for me though. Craigslist and eBay scouring were my hobbies for about a month.

saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/01/2015 at 16:44

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I'm with you on that, I think. Reaper just feels more stable and relaxed to me. I'll have to see if my completely legal version is still working.

saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/01/2015 at 16:44

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Also, thanks for the advice!

saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars > Baskingshark 01/01/2015 at 16:47

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I'm into a whole bunch of stuff as a listener, but my band makes music that's kind of like a mish-mash of Pavement, Built to Spill, Weezer and Jimmy Eat World. Our local label is funding an EP that we're releasing in May, but I want to record some stuff and always have been into this sort of thing. We also need demos to send to promoters.

saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars > Tim (Fractal Footwork) 01/01/2015 at 16:50

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http://www.architonic.com/pmpro/form-us-…

This the site. They have a bunch of other really rad designs. I think this is my favorite:

bhardoin > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars 01/01/2015 at 17:17

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Dude, hell yes! That's gonna sound great! I just got a Blue Spark for Christmas, stoked to get back home and try it out. I've also got a Scarlett interface, just a baby 2i2.

As for the DAW, I really don't know. I've had Ableton for ages and love it, but it is pricey.

saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars > bhardoin 01/01/2015 at 17:41

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I used to use Ableton. It's amazing for MIDI and post-processing, especially with plugins like Logic and that one drum machine I got for free, but I've never felt very comfortable doing analog stuff. But as my music mentor once told me, the best DAW is the one you get the best results with and that usually is the one you're most comfortable with.

bhardoin > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars 01/01/2015 at 17:44

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I think that's good advice. I always respected Logic for how good it could sound, but I found it fully unusable because of the interface.

JGrabowMSt > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars 01/01/2015 at 17:51

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I exclusively learned on Audition. I worked with Avid for a couple years too. I also am on the Reaper support forums and Avid's DUC.

I troubleshoot and design DAW systems for some users as well, and helped build several studios in the past few years.

Need any help, just email me...[username] @ gmail

saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars > JGrabowMSt 01/01/2015 at 17:56

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Awesome!! I have limited experience with both, so I might just have a few questions down the old road! How good is Audition for doing separate tracking for music?

JGrabowMSt > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars 01/01/2015 at 18:14

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Audition is very good at it. I consider Audition basically my go-to program for most basic or advanced tasks. In short, you create a multi-track session and you can go ahead and do as many tracks as you want. I've never had Audition crash on any project of mine, and I use it for all the audio mastering of the documentary I've put on the shelf for a little while because I've reached a couple impasses with filming currently. But more to the point, I really like Auditions effects rack capabilities and multi-track and mixer views. To anyone who hasn't really played around with audition for a long time, you'd think it's limiting, but the only hard limit I've encountered is specifically MIDI in CS6. I don't typically use MIDI myself, so it's not really an issue, but I do have a MIDI synth setup that I use with Pro Tools or Reaper if I really need something like that.

If you're heavily dependent on MIDI, then I would suggest getting Reaper along with Audition, you can always export the MIDI as a waveform and import it into your session. For fully instrumental sessions with no MIDI, then Audition CS6 is perfect. If you need to have MIDI capabilities, go with Reaper. I would always suggest having more than one program available at a time though, because every program will have something to offer. My DAW at home is Reaper/Audition/Pro Tools 11, but my laptop is Reaper, Audition, Pro Tools 11, Ableton Live, Soundtrack Pro, and Logic Pro 8. Each program has something another program may not have, so I have them all available for whatever I may need to do (or if someone wants a session with a specific program).

I find Audition is far more capable at mastering, finalizing, or editing a waveform, where Reaper is primarily for laying down a track and adding effects. You can always use Reaper to get the general mix, export each track, and re-create the session in Audition to finalize a song, that's something I've done many times when I need either a specific plugin preset, or I'm looking for a specific end result. In the end however, both are good programs for separate tracking, but the workflows have some big differences depending on what end result you're looking to reach.

E. Julius > saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars 01/01/2015 at 18:50

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Yeah, it's amazing hearing what great producers can do on basic equipment, and no matter how good your kit is you still have to play well. It sounds like you've got some cool stuff, and if you searched for deals then more power to you. What type of recording work do you usually do?

saabstory | fixes bikes, breaks cars > E. Julius 01/01/2015 at 23:13

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I record rock music pretty much exclusively. I've also recorded my friend's CSNY ripoff band, but I was basically a runner for my friend who did most of the production and engineering. The main reason I splurged for a home studio sorta thing now is that my band needs some new demos badly and our label won't let us use their studio to do a few quick cuts. It's alright because we'll have more fun this way and get to relive the DIY period, which honestly was my favorite period.