There are 2 rode nt1 mics up on ebay for 100US each. Not sure if this is a good/average/bad price. Seems pretty reasonable based on the reviews I read for it, think I may pick one up myself!

FYI the Rode NT1 is a great mic for vocals, and a steal at $100.

but it is a condenser mic, which means you'll need a phantom power source. you can usually find phantom power supplies for about $50 or so.

hope that helps

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thanks.
By the way I have a good soundcard, the Audiophile.
So that shouldn't be a problem.

What about sample CDs that you'd recommend?

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I paid 169 euro for the NT1, a bit more than $169, but they were for sale. I know a shop were they cost 299 euro. Maybe that's about the common price for NT1's here.
Good sample cd's for drums are Dance mega drums 1 and Dance mega drums 2. Dance mega drums 2 is better. They have all kind of good electronic drum samples including percussion. Don't know much about other sample cd's but the nordlead sample cd sounded really good to me. It is possible that it doesn't contain a lot of sounds though.
I'll guess the more expensive the sample cd the better it often is.
It is smart to buy sample cd's that have something like a Akai format, so that they can be read automaticly by your sampler. This way you don't have to record the samples trough your soundcard.

Also about monitors: mostly it's best to spend as much as you can on them. Good brands are Dynaudio, Mackie, KRK and Genelec.

I already might have one or two 'normal' (consumer) speakers lying around the house; should I still go for one of those monitors you mentioned? Is that gonna take up the whole grand?

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Download all my EuroHardTrance traxx & learn more about me ("Kompulsor"):
www.kompulsor.com

wait a sec wtf do you want a mic and monitors for. they dont make hardtrance. A good synth does, wasting a $1000 on a mic and monitors is just crazy. You post started out that you wanted a synth, dont let anyone change your mind for you. Some of the worst advice ive seen on these boards.

Eugene you can get a micro Q keyboard for about $700

Get the microQ rack on Ebay and an Oxygen 8 midi controller.

Total cost: $530.00

Now you have more money than if you would have purchased the microQ keyboar and roughly two-hundred more dollars to spend on monitors.

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quote:

Some of the worst advice ive seen on these boards.

quote:

about monitors: mostly it's best to spend as much as you can on them.

xfer has a point, but I think it's true what I said about the monitors, but cheaper monitors will do the job also.

quote:

wait a sec wtf do you want a mic and monitors for. they dont make hardtrance. A good synth does, wasting a $1000 on a mic and monitors is just crazy.

I agree on the monitors. At this stage, monitors aren't really important, you can just use youre speakers if you like.

didn't mean to be crude