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Spending 2000 euro's
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| The Designer |
I currently have a budget of 2000 euro's. I have Cubase SX 1 and Reason with various VSTi's and refills, not a proper soundcard ( audigy 2), cpu and memory are a bit on the downside.
How would you guys spend 2000 euro's? ( I was thinking about a M-Audio, 2.4 GHz with 512 MB upgrade and a used Virus ) |
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| trancenrg69 |
I just spent 5500 Canadian on my first studio. I was using an old crappy 866mhz pc.
This is what I got after 4 months of research.
Athlon 3200+ barton (good price/performance ratio, i got the best motherboard, 2 hardrives, a serial ata 120 gig for my audio, 1024 ram )
Nordlead 3 keyboard (my controller, mainly for pads, the best)
powercore element card (running the virus powercore, for leads)
Event tr8's monitors (great price /performance monitors)
emu 1212m soundcard (best soundcard out there, sounds just as good as cards costing 1500 dollars)
hope this helps |
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| sunjammer |
Since you're on budget, stay out of hardware synths!! If you're still after one, stay away from the NordLead3 and buy a Virus KC instead. I have them both, and the Virus is more suited as a controller synth. The NL3 has also very plastic-like keys. :(
trancenrg is right about the computer. Plenty of RAM, Serial ATA and a decent cpu speed. You'll need that for the audio handling.
ControllerSynth: Novation Remote 49 or 61. (should be in store these days)
AudioCard: Creamware Luna II or a used Pulsar II plus card. (UltraLow latency (you'll need that for your vst's!) and both cards are suited for a computerbased environment)
A pair of used Genelec 1029A monitors (keep in mind that u should decide monitors after your room size, feel, etc.)
That should be pretty much 2000 well spent Euros i presume! ;)
Later on, (when u have some more money available) you should consider the Mackie Controller or more cheaply the Steinberg Huston. Both are great controllers for SX. Two screen monitors are also preferable (17' LCD or higher) but now we're way out of budget, lol!
Good luck with your final solution, and remeber to try everything you're getting before buying :) |
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| Subtle |
| I would recommend getting a Pentium 4 3.0 GHZ. and atleast 512 MB RAM, 1024 wouldn`t hurt either, a Terratec DMX 6 Fire soundcard (it is voted best soundcard 2003, and it doesnt cost that much either) and a virus rack should come within your budget ;) |
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| AaroNoct |
Go down the list of importance:
1.) Room - don't fill a broom closet full of grade "A" gear. So many electronica artists are guilty of this. The room is the most important thing. In fact I would consider it part of the monitoring system. To properly monitor you need a properly constructed and treated room. (which you can do for cheap if you know what you're doing)
2.) Monitoring system - don't skimp here. I see this mistake made often, even by the big boys. "ooh ooh we have every vintage and modern synth ever made, yet we use some crap monitors duh...) If you invest in this area it will be one of the longest terms. Know your monitors, but start out with something you can really trust. I would also advise going with passives and a good amp. That way you can upgrade separately. If you can find deals on both you're in excellent shape.
3.) Converters - like trancenrg said, the emu1212m is really freaking hard to beat at that price. I'd personally avoid terratec, but whatever floats your boat.
4.) Medium - get a decent PC going, good hard drives, and memory. It doesn't have to be the latest and greatest. When you search for CPU's you'll notice the latest are for example like $400, just go with last months hot product and save an incredible amount. Even if that means you get a gasp, 2.x whatever gigahertz cpu.
5.) Controller - just get a decent controller. You probably can't afford synths right now with that budget and everything else in mind. It sounds like you already have a good start in the VSTi area with cubase sx. Look into an oxygen radium controller or something in that range. |
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| DeZmA |
| quote: | Originally posted by AaroNoct
I'd personally avoid terratec, but whatever floats your boat.
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Y??
I think it is rather good at the price, definately at the price. The break-out box is also very handy. |
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| AaroNoct |
Terratec just doesn't support their products very well, and the drivers are usually buggy. Good price, good performance some of the time or not, I don't trust them.
Come to think of it, you could probably just stick with your Audigy2 for right now if you're just going to be running softsynths. I was in the mindset of routing out because that's what I do with mine.
-Aaron |
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| Sebraa |
Nothing original but ->
P4 3G Hyper-Threading computer with pro ASIO2 soundcard with good 19" LCD monitor (save your eyes).
Decent Monitors (speakers)
PRO MIDI controller (Yamaha)
New software: Spectrasonics stuff maybe few sample CD's
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Sebraa |
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| DeZmA |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sebraa
Nothing original but ->
P4 3G Hyper-Threading computer with pro ASIO2 soundcard with good 19" LCD monitor (save your eyes).
Decent Monitors (speakers)
PRO MIDI controller (Yamaha)
New software: Spectrasonics stuff maybe few sample CD's
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Sebraa |
I wouldn't go for a 19 " lcd..
they still cost waaay too much. 17 " is affordable nowadays, and a 17" lcd is most of the time bigger than a 17" crt |
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| TranceMasterUk |
id definetly go with an upgrade for your pc
i just upgraded mine last week
new motherboard, processor, ram, and another new hard drive.
p4 3.4ghz 800fsb with HT Technology
2gb ram
2 120gb hardrives
currently got an audigy 2 soundcard, not bad, but id like to upgrade that soon. |
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| sunjammer |
I've never had an Audigy 2, but I do believe that this card cuts short on any serious attempt on making proper music.
I'm not trying to offend any1, It's just that the Soundblaster is not exactly recognised as a brand developing cards for musicians....
Some might shoot back and shout about the specs provided on the soundblaster website (I know, 2ms latency, blah blah...), but don't believe them. They're just like the Bush Administration! ;)
And more important, the card has no audio-DSP's as far as I see. (correct me here if I'm wrong)
Creamware, Emu (budget, as suggested in this post) is: :tongue3 <--> Audigy2 is: :nervous:
;) |
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| TranceMasterUk |
| quote: | Originally posted by sunjammer
I've never had an Audigy 2, but I do believe that this card cuts short on any serious attempt on making proper music.
I'm not trying to offend any1, It's just that the Soundblaster is not exactly recognised as a brand developing cards for musicians....
Some might shoot back and shout about the specs provided on the soundblaster website (I know, 2ms latency, blah blah...), but don't believe them. They're just like the Bush Administration! ;)
And more important, the card has no audio-DSP's as far as I see. (correct me here if I'm wrong)
Creamware, Emu (budget, as suggested in this post) is: :tongue3 <--> Audigy2 is: :nervous:
;) |
ill agree with you there
its not the best soundcard for music production, but its not THAT bad, for now it will do.
but there is definetly better, like you mentioned.
creative soundcards are more aimed at gaming im sure. |
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