I have been djing for a couple of years now and have been saving all my money for a Music Production Studio. I have a dedicated room in my house that is soundproff (thanks dad ) I have also genarated a list on the equipment that i neeed. The only questhtion i have is weather to get Pro Tools Or E-logic Platnium 5. Give me our opinions, comments on what, and what not to get. Any other info is appreciated.

Hardware:

Roland Fantom 76 note workstation.



AKAI MPC 4000 Sampler/Sequencer.


Roland XV-5080.


Korg TRITON-Rack Module


Software/Hardware:
Pro Tools Mbox


E-Logic Platnium 5


Thats all lol

Last edited by nate735 on Jul-27-2002 at 23:37

looks good to me

Looks like a bunch of sample playback synths. Where's the beef. This would be a great setup if you are planning on making Nsyncs next big hit though.

DROOL Akai's new MPC...buy that and you'll just HAVE to perform live dude...

Anyways, I too kind of miss something that can make ripping leads, a nice VA.

I'd go for Logic, for pro-tools to get some decent functionality I think you'll have to spend way too much
[edit] oh no forget that, logic doesn't support PC platform anymore, so unless you got a MAC, don't go with logic [/edit]

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All rhythm evolves around a kick...

quote:

Originally posted by FuzzyGreen Looks like a bunch of sample playback synths. Where's the beef. This would be a great setup if you are planning on making Nsyncs next big hit though.

Explain please....

It's better if you get some virtual moddelling synths. These synths produce warmer and fatter sounds that are more appropriate for dance music. Synths like:

The Acces Virus

The Nord Lead and the Nord Modular

The Microwave XT and the Q

The Novation Supernova

For Pro Tools will will need dedicated hardware, but the sound quality will be very good.

Logic is just a normal sequenser that only needs a computer, and it is good for producing.

I've heard about the acess virus and the nice sounds it makes. Do i need this in addition to all my other equipment, or could i replace it with something that i dont really need from my original list. ?

quote:

Originally posted by BenB It's better if you get some virtual moddelling synths. These synths produce warmer and fatter sounds that are more appropriate for dance music. Synths like: The Acces Virus The Nord Lead and the Nord Modular The Microwave XT and the Q The Novation Supernova For Pro Tools will will need dedicated hardware, but the sound quality will be very good. Logic is just a normal sequenser that only needs a computer, and it is good for producing.

nice that akai sampler isn't used a lot for hip hop production? the 2000xl anyway

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replace the roland fantom by a Virus then.


and if you're just using a pc-based sequencer, replace the MPC by a Z4 or Z8

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All rhythm evolves around a kick...

I would do the same, but I would replace the Triton also. I only use these kind of synths for pads, strings, and piano's etc so I would get another virtual modelling synth thats more appropriate for dance, or add it to my setup if I could afford it.

I'm assuming the Akai is pretty expensive. I say you take that out, aswell as the Fantom, and replace with a virus or equivilant synth.

Why are you only considering pro tools and logic? There are also cubase and sonar still, which are very good sequencers.

And make sure you have yourself a good, fast, stable computer to run everyting on. I recommend (if using pc) windows 2000 or XP with atleast 512 RAM, if you want serious stability. You will also need a pretty powerful cpu, to support everything.

And you will definately need a good quality sound card, unless you already have one. The sounds from all your hardware, when recorded to your pc, will lack some depth if you are just using a standard commercial-grade card, as I found out originally.

I just heard about this:

Looks good to me, aslong as the quality is as good as they say.

You will also need to make sure you have a midi device that can support all the midi chanels of your synths, keyboards, samplers, etc, with leaving a few slots open for future additions.



And you will need some kind of mixer, for all your hardware to run into your computer. You may have a good enough mixer from your DJing, but I will assume you dont. You can either get a normal mixer, or you can get an internal mixer, to use with your sound card.
For example, the M-Audio Delta 1010 sound card has 5 stereo inputs.. so you can plug all your gear into here, and adjust levels etc on your computer.



The only problem, is that it is very expensive, and its hard to add additional inputs if you need to expand. So a hardware mixer, with high enough sound quality, would be just as good, if not better.

Hope this helps

Hi, this is my first post on here but i'v been checking the site out for about a year. I produce/DJ as well. if you want to make trance, that's DEFINATELY not the gear for you. FuzzyGreen wasn't knocking you on anything. what i think he meant is since all that stuff is sample based, you'll have a VERY hard time making trance tracks as anything sample based is better for "real" (physically modelled) sounds. you don't have nearly as much control over the sound as you would with say a VA (Virtual Analog) Synth. Also stay FAR away from Pro Tools and Logic Audio.

Pro-tools is WAAAAAY overpriced. With the computing speed we have nowadays, we have enough native (built into the computer) CPU power where DSP cards aren't needed nearly as much. if you needed more power you can always upgrade the computer rather than spend a shitload on more Pro-rools DSP cards just for enough power to run 3-4 more plugins simultaneously. still, with a high end AMD athalon system, i doubt you will need more power for a LONG time. i say AMD because Pentium 4's suffer from something called a Denormalization problem where the CPU spikes and renders many plugins like Halion, Attack, Karlette, etc, useless. There is a work around for it but it's on the plug in designers shoulders to implement n that will take quite a while. Not all p4's exhibit this behaviour but a lot do.. i don't think you wanna take that chance now do u?

sooooo where was i..oh yah no Pro-Tools...No Logic either as they are discontinuing PC support as of september (hence the sudden price drops of late). I'd say go with Cubase VST 32 5 and you'll get SX for free..you get to keep both programs so you can use VST 32 until SX is matured and fully stable..then use them both on two computers (if you reallly want that much power) through what they call VST system Link. SX will also have OMF (Pro-tools file type) support so that you can send SX songs to pro-tools for additional work, if you ever need to..i doubt you will but for compatibility's sake, it's being implemented.

Synth wise i'd go with a Novation Supernova 2 (get the version with the highest amount of voices that you can afford), a Waldorf Q (same thing with the voices), Access Virus C (again same thing), Clavia Nord Lead 3, an RME HDSP soundcard with the Mutli-Face breakout unit (best sound card company around with best driver support (which is VERY important), a NON usb Midi Interface (a lot are very buggy) n USB is a PCI bus hog n a half, and a load of plugins like the Waves, Antares,etc..(whatever you can afford). for more "sounds" i'd go with the Sonic synth plug-in plus any E-Roms you would want (for sample based "real" sounds and the like and ready to play sounds), Native Instruments Pro-53, RGC Audio Pentagon, Bitshift Audo Phatmatik Pro, FXpansion DR008 or Native instruments Kontact, etc.. There is SOOO much out there so you have to go through the plug-in's available and decide what's right for you.. point being that ALL this won't cost you a 1/3 or maybe even a 1/4 wha a pro-tools setup (that can't do half as much) would. also don't forget a sound/wav editor. my personal favorite is wavelab.

in addition you'll need a good mixer. i like the Mackie VLZ series for the best bang for the buck, without compromising quality. For a digital hardware surface, you need to look around as i don't have one so i don't know much about them. i know this much though, stay away from the Steinberg houston until they work the kinks out of it and the logic control surface cause..well i already explained. you'll need studio monitors as well. for nearfields i'd recommend the Event PS8's, the mackie hr824's,etc.. you'll need mic's (if u wanna record vocals/your own samples), midi and audio cables, possibly patch bay's, etc.. it all depends on how complcated you wanna make it. i'd advice you to start out slow and learn to push all your gear to it's limits rather than just buy a bunch of stuff n only use them half assed...you'll be a world over better if you know how to use your gear to a tee.

the most important thing of it all is buy your computer from a well known and established computer DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) company. trying to get logic, cubse, etc running right is half the battle n that all depends on specific hardware components within the computer.. you'd be surprised how picky these programs can be. you also want them to configure and install Cubase or whatever you decide to get, if you haven't had any experience doing so. ALL this won't cost you a 1/3 or maybe even a 1/4 of what a pro-tools setup (that can't do half as much) would. i apoloize if i'm speaking too plainly but i'm assuming your just starting out so as to make sure you understand what i mean, i try n clarify thngs. plan on doing do a LOT, i'd say at least a month to 3, of research as a lot of gear doesn't play nice with other gear (computer hardware, midi interfaces, sound cards, control surfaces, etc..) if you want to be able to be able to do pro quality productions, your going to have to put in a shitload of time and effort into studying, researching, learning, etc... damn this is getting long so i'm gonna shut my big yap now. lol. hope this helps.

oh n by the way, i love this site. you people know your shit. glad to be aboard finally. (you'll have to excuse my typing, i'm at work n doin this inbetween running around)

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Music isn't a way of life...it is life

Last edited by MekTek on Jul-18-2002 at 19:14