My first home studio...need advice!!

**Jmo (Jmofficial1)** · 06-25-2012

Alot of people still use protools bro.. only sayin because I see it on the videos on youTube.. People who record at home like Trey Songz, Ryan Leslie, Alicia Keys.. Plus I said its the best I'VE used,, meaning from personal experience.. Listen to me on my youtube channel and tell me how I sound for a home studio..

- Jmo

**Bad_ooki** · 06-25-2012

wow! I'm overwhelmed by the response! really appreciate it guys!

fataltone, thanks for all the detailed insight on all of the topics! You just reminded me that my uncle is a pretty good handy man and he could definitely help me out with fiberglass. How come you're warning me about foam? What's the downside to it?

As for the monitors, are you saying I should save up for the HS80m? From what I've read everywhere they're pretty much as close as you'll get to the ns10's. I didn't know about the payment plan available on sweetwater but that is definitely making me consider getting them.

Thanks again for the input B-side, I feel like even if I didn't know the benefits of a shock mount I would still get one just because they look so badass haha

Jmo thanks for the input, pro tools is what a lot of people use so I guess it would be good to get to know the program. But I've heard a lot of people saying what fataltone was saying. I feel really confident with FL studio but when I see people using other programs I feel like I'm starting to produce all over again simply because all daw's are so deep and have their own unique things. I'll definitely be using whatever software comes with the interface I get (if any)

**fataltone** · 06-25-2012

Originally Posted by Jmo (Jmofficial1)

Alot of people still use protools bro.. only sayin because I see it on the videos on youTube.. People who record at home like Trey Songz, Ryan Leslie, Alicia Keys.. Plus I said its the best I'VE used,, meaning from personal experience.. Listen to me on my youtube channel and tell me how I sound for a home studio..

- Jmo

Pro Tools is great
Cubase is great
Logic is great

in 2012 it's about workflow as DAW are pretty much the same
some have some different tools but not much where it makes a different at home or in a commercial studio

some use a Pro Tools LE System
some use Pro Tools|HD Core System(cheapest HD audio interface=$2,000 the most expensive=$20,000
Pro Tools HD control surface=$150,000 at the highest

so what are ppl like Trey Songz,Ryan Leslie,Alicia Keys using because Pro Tools systems are all over the place as far as price points
and
even in hardware now talking about Pro Tools LE
remember when you had to buy Pro Tools/Avid only hardware to use Pro Tools??
but now with Pro Tools LE
Avid now allows third party hardware(audio interfaces)

think M-Audio audio interfaces

Cubase is great for me and the company created the VST format and does 99% of what Pro Tools does for cheaper

so as I said before when tracking vocals there's more important things then a storage of audio files which Pro Tools is used for

if you're an audio engineer you know that
1.environment
2.mic
3.preamp
4.performance

are more than important than the DAW you use

---------- Post added at 02:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:03 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Bad_ooki

fataltone, thanks for all the detailed insight on all of the topics! You just reminded me that my uncle is a pretty good handy man and he could definitely help me out with fiberglass. How come you're warning me about foam? What's the downside to it?

As for the monitors, are you saying I should save up for the HS80m? From what I've read everywhere they're pretty much as close as you'll get to the ns10's. I didn't know about the payment plan available on sweetwater but that is definitely making me consider getting them.

I spent over close to $1,000 on foam acoustic treatment
without knowing that foam acoustic treatment can't control low end frequencies at all
Typical foam that's two inches thick is useful down to 500 Hz. Contrast that with rigid fiberglass of the same thickness that absorbs well to below 250 Hz.
most pro bass trap products go down to 100 hz but that's like 6"-8" thick panels

I will be getting this in Feb.
GIK acoustics room kit #4
Acoustic Room Kits : GIK Acoustics
http://www.gikacoustics.com/images/gik_room_kit_04.jpg

Orientation: Assuming you're in a normal rectangular room, orient your mix position so the speakers are facing the long way into the room, as shown in Figure 2. The two most important goals are maintaining an equilateral triangle having left/right symmetry within the room, and placing yourself as far as possible from the surrounding walls. Having the mix position slightly forward of the halfway point yields the flattest low end response, and the ideal speaker height puts the tweeters level with your ears. Top

Speaker placement: Once the basic placement of your loudspeakers and chair are correct, you can try the speakers at different distances from the front wall to see which yields the smoothest sounding bass response. If your room is small, you may have no choice but to put the speakers flat against the wall. That's perfectly acceptable, and many active monitors include switches to compensate for this placement. But if you have a few feet to work with, spacing the speakers a few feet in front of the wall often improves the response.

Decouple your speakers: Sound travels through solid materials faster than through air. So when loudspeakers are sitting on a desk, low frequencies can transmit from the speaker's enclosure through the desk and floor and arrive at your ears before the waves in the air.
Primacoustic RX7 Recoil Stabilizer (10.5" x 13" Flat) | Sweetwater.com

for choosing monitors
you want monitors that are the most un-colored/flat response
and
you want monitors with at least a 8" driver
the HS80m are for sure decent enough
check out this review on some JBL monitors in the same price range not as power but by the review more uncolored

I have used and have heard a different array of Studio Monitors. I have used Yamaha NS-10's, Meyer HD-1, Mackie Active 824, M-Audio Bx8a (Not the Deluxe Version). I have heard/listened to JBL 4328P's, & Dynaudio BM15A.

Now I have spent a VERY long time comparing Studio Monitors within the same price range (Going for 8-inch Monitors), such as, M-Audio BX8a Deluxe, Mackie MR8, Yamaha HS80M & of course these JBL LSR 2328.

In the end, i was trying to choose between the BX8a Deluxe and the JBL's. The BX8a's have ALOT of low-end, which is good to me, but bad at the same time, but i loved the low-end the BX8a's produced. But i wasn't so much of a fan the way high's and the mid's sounded, sounded very colored and un-natural.

When I first heard the JBL's, I was amazed. The clarity was great, the low end was good, but not as much as the BX8a's though. These JBL's have the same drivers as it's bigger brother, LSR4328, just without all the Room Correction. I can tell there's a difference between the two JBL's. But for this price, I don't think this monitor can be beat.

I love this monitor, the sound is Natural and amazing, I very much recommend these to ANYBODY looking for great professional monitors at a great price. And to top it off... Their JBL, one of the best brands for Audio in the world.

I would go on, and on, and on about these monitors. But i don't have the time to do it. Im too busy re-mixing all of my old mixes.

I'm going for a little more quality with these in Feb. as well
JBL LSR4328P Pak | Sweetwater.com

check this out

KVR: Audio Plug-ins, Hosts, Applications, Mobile Apps, Soundware and Hardware Search

and this
http://www.bobgolds.com/Mode/RoomModes.htm

and this
REW - Room EQ Wizard Home Page

and this
Early Reflection Points Definition

I can go on and on on studio equipment and studio design
and the important of key equipment and evironment taming
hope this helps you

http://soundcloud.com/antonio-baugh/christ-handles

http://soundcloud.com/antonio-baugh/holy-ghost-rider-work-in
-Coach Antonio
"Let Me Handle your next Praise Party"

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**B Side Producer** · 06-26-2012

Nice fatal, there's some pretty nice advice and info in there.
I can only see one flaw and that's the lack of loads of money

Everyone's gotta make priorities for themselves, as usual. Some things you can cut down on , some not, some you don't want to cut down on, some you can't do anything else than cut down on as you need a new car, house, whatever. Proper research and discuss stuff on FP, that'll let you make the best weighed decision I guess.
As for me, I don't record much so the perception 120 and cheap stand with cheap shock mount and pop filter will do fine. By the way, pop filters can be cheap anyway, they don't cost that much. On the other hand, if you record a lot or plan on it a lot, with different things from vocals to bass to sax, you're gonna adjust the mic a lot and a bit better stuff would do you better. Like the foam part, that glass fiber definitely seems like something nice, but not something I'm gonna convince my gf having in the middle of the living room

Anyway, you know some of the best options now and you can see what choices you are gonna make.

**Bad_ooki** · 06-26-2012

Thanks fatal! that is quite the amount of information and I think it might be a little too advanced for me at this point but It's something I will definitely to learn. My budget is my biggest restraint so I've got some tough decisions to make in these coming days, thanks for all the help though!!!

**fataltone** · 06-26-2012

Originally Posted by B Side Producer

Nice fatal, there's some pretty nice advice and info in there.
I can only see one flaw and that's the lack of loads of money

Everyone's gotta make priorities for themselves, as usual. Some things you can cut down on , some not, some you don't want to cut down on, some you can't do anything else than cut down on as you need a new car, house, whatever. Proper research and discuss stuff on FP, that'll let you make the best weighed decision I guess.
As for me, I don't record much so the perception 120 and cheap stand with cheap shock mount and pop filter will do fine. By the way, pop filters can be cheap anyway, they don't cost that much. On the other hand, if you record a lot or plan on it a lot, with different things from vocals to bass to sax, you're gonna adjust the mic a lot and a bit better stuff would do you better. Like the foam part, that glass fiber definitely seems like something nice, but not something I'm gonna convince my gf having in the middle of the living room

Anyway, you know some of the best options now and you can see what choices you are gonna make.

yeah you need a seperate room the finished basement is all mines
and my wife just put up some of my old Auralex foam acoutic treatment on the back wall already have some on my front wall I have 48 of their wedges all together and the 12 minifursors I have which I filled with acoustic foam on the back wall as well

and I plan on making a 6 inch mixing cloud out of 4 of these foam panels as well which I have 8 of them

4 to make the mixing cloud cutting them in half and glue them together
2 for each absorption panel to again six inch panels for
the first reflection points on the left and right side of me

I also have 8 lenrd bass traps in the front corner yep and they are purple lol
a pro audio store was going out of business about 10 years ago and I got them half off
along with my first copy of Cubase which was (cubase VST 5.2) and Tascam US-428 which I still have lol and work great and they no longer make
tascam_us_428.jpg

so I understand using what you have for the moment
I have a wife,two kids,house payments,car payments
one kid in diapers and I buy my kids nikes,jordans(but I frugal I know how to get them for $10 or less a pair)
my kids are 2 and 3 years old though lol
so time is restricted too

but in feb. I'm doing a $6,500 revamp
mostly monitoring and acoustic treatment stuff
along with modified mic,and Komplete 8/T-Racks deluxe suites
and I'll be good till

2014 in which I'll be add the tascam DM-4800 to my center nerve system which intergrates well with Cubase 4 by then I'll have Cubase 6 as well
had to post the picture of this beautiful board I'll be

recording christian comtempary bands and christian rappers and RnB(rhythm and bible) singers too

I have some gearlust but I have reviewed/researched deeply on the products I'll be buying

I'm going for a small setup to a make pro setup as far as equipment

I have ten years of tracking experience over 1,000 local artists recorded to date and still learning everyday
DM4800-xlarge.jpg

http://soundcloud.com/antonio-baugh/christ-handles

http://soundcloud.com/antonio-baugh/holy-ghost-rider-work-in
-Coach Antonio
"Let Me Handle your next Praise Party"

Make Money from Your Music New Money Marketing Forum
Music Business Professionals Read Their Tips
Elite Services for those Who Want to Attain their Goals
Research and Information Gathering Expert
Building Relationships to Build Success
Get the Information and Direction You Deserve
The Walking On Water Media/Ent. Business Coach Antonio