$5,000 for equipment

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Wunderkind

New member
My friend has $5,000 to help get his start with producing beats..so far he has a macbook pro and an mpc 5000, so what else should he get? studio monitors? firestudio? please help. appreciate it a lot.
 
Monitors, audio interface, a DAW (cubase, logic, fl studio, etc.) keyboard workstation suchs as a motif, fantom, m3, or VST's.
 
if it were me I would grab a midi controller and some dope vsts wtih logic some good monitors and the best audio interface i could afford and just rock out

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tmicbeats said:
Monitors, audio interface, a DAW (cubase, logic, fl studio, etc.) keyboard workstation suchs as a motif, fantom, m3, or VST's.
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why buy workstations unless he really needed one? not saying they are bad just asking why suggest them in todays musical climate? Though the Kronos does look real mean.
 
Xabiton said:
if it were me I would grab a midi controller and some dope vsts wtih logic some good monitors and the best audio interface i could afford and just rock out

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why buy workstations unless he really needed one? not saying they are bad just asking why suggest them in todays musical climate? Though the Kronos does look real mean.
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I love the sounds and workflow of workstations and if he's got a 5,000 budget why not invest in one.
 
Wunderkind said:
he was thinking about getting Digidesign Pro Tools Mbox 2 Factory Package and then just buying a workstation
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Dont do it you can get way better for your money. For one Those factory packs coem with Pro Tools 8 when pro Tools 9 just came out. What kind of beats is he looking to do? Give specific producers he likes or styles he wants to emulate and I can give him a great idea of what to buy and he should still have a lot of pocket change.

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tmicbeats said:
I love the sounds and workflow of workstations and if he's got a 5,000 budget why not invest in one.
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You can get more bang for your buck with 5gs imo. Why buy a workstation that you can only expand so far if one desires new sounds? Not that workstations are bad hell I like workstations and I have a couple of older workstation racks that I never plan to sell but in todays climate something like Komplete with Logic 9 is killing any workstation for about half of the price.
 
He likes kanye west, pete rock, dj premier...hes into like sampling but also doesn't mind the mainstream type beats either tho. Hes into like everything but mostly hip-hop.
 
Xabiton said:
Dont do it you can get way better for your money. For one Those factory packs coem with Pro Tools 8 when pro Tools 9 just came out. What kind of beats is he looking to do? Give specific producers he likes or styles he wants to emulate and I can give him a great idea of what to buy and he should still have a lot of pocket change.

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You can get more bang for your buck with 5gs imo. Why buy a workstation that you can only expand so far if one desires new sounds? Not that workstations are bad hell I like workstations and I have a couple of older workstation racks that I never plan to sell but in todays climate something like Komplete with Logic 9 is killing any workstation for about half of the price.
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I agree with Xabition. The only thing I would say about workstations, is for people who are used to working with them like me, they are way faster at getting idea's and working on skeletons or just flipping through sounds looking for inspiration. At least for me, it has done a lot of good. However, for someone new to making beats, they make no sense unless you just like the workflow much better, because as X already said you can get way more sounds with Komplete and get it for $500 not $2,500.

ONE
 
Anyway i couldnt find all of the links I had in mind but if I were spending 5gs on gear and i already had a mpc 5k I would look into the following

Pro Tools 9 (its a standard program that I am finding I should know more and more wish I would have learned it sooner for mixing and audio editing)
or Logic Pro 9 (A lot of people prefer Logic and it is slowly becoming a standard in the production world and I think it will get there eventually)

Reason 5 (just a great all around product imo and it works great as a part of your production pallette though many like myself use it entirely standalone)

The Motu Ultra light firewire audio interface (I have always dug this series some people like it others dont but I think an 8 input audio interface would go well with your mpc when it comes time to track your sounds)

The Yamaha HS80 monitors have a special place in my heart personally I just really like them and will eventually buy a pair when I have the money.

And for a midi controller I am going to suggest really anything that offers everything you want and need as far as keys and features go. Some people want more features others want less. Personally if it were my cash in this situation I would probably grab an Oxygen 88 by M Audio because the only reason I would grab a MPK or an Axiom board these days would be for drum pads but I assume you will be doing most of your drum programming on the mpc.

After that you have change left for sounds and cords and maybe even some bills lol. Seriously gear doesnt have to be this expensive anymore. U can really do a lot with just your mpc logic and a midi controller.

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Wunderkind said:
He just told told me he has Logic 9.
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damn i wrote up this long explaination and now u tellin us he got logic lol. Logic is capable of so much my dude. Tell him to setup that mpc with logic and get a midi controller with the audio interface and monitors I suggested and he should be good to go. Hell for the beats u said he likes he has way more than that. I use Reason (a $400 program) to make beats like his.
 
so thats all he needs and hes good to go? is this stuff easy to setup also? also he just asked if the oxygen 88 could also chop samples..like could he bring in samples from his computer into it to be chopped across all the keys.
 
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tell him to take a long read over his mpc manual. hes over looking a lot of the power his mpc has. People have made entire albums with less than what he has now. Calm down save his money and spend on what is really needed. And the Oxygen 88 is a midi controller. It has no preset sounds all of the sounds he would trigger it with will be coming from logic or the mpc.
 
Guy's using 5000 for equipment and is not asking advice himself? Get him to these forums. He has to find out about DAWs, audio interfaces, midi controllers, computers, plugins, monitors and headphones himself. That's a lot of money, you can get the best equipment with it, but you gotto know what you're doing. 5000 and he trusts to advice that his friend gets from a forum????
 
I'd sell the MPC5000 and buy Reason. MPC5000 is obsolete IMO. It's only for people with hardware driven set-ups. Something your friend does not have.

I've owned a MPC2000XL for three years and rarely use it. It's fun to make tracks with but a pain to track to D.A.W. and get ready for a session.

All you need to make professional tracks is beat making software, audio interface, midi controller, mic preamp, mic, sound treatment, recording software, and lot of experience.
 
Morning_Star said:
I'd sell the MPC5000 and buy Reason. MPC5000 is obsolete IMO. It's only for people with hardware driven set-ups. Something your friend does not have.

I've owned a MPC2000XL for three years and rarely use it. It's fun to make tracks with but a pain to track to D.A.W. and get ready for a session.

All you need to make professional tracks is beat making software, audio interface, midi controller, mic preamp, mic, sound treatment, recording software, and lot of experience.
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Not that I disagree with you but why write off the Mpc so quickly? I think there are great things about having a hardware sampler these days workstations too mostly the fact that you don't have to worry about upgrades to make sure everything works at its best. hes starting out so I dont see his studio being based one way or the other but one thing I hate about software is that computers are always evolving and daws are always being updated and if u want to add a new piece of software to your daw you have to make sure everything else works with it correctly which may mean upgrading things you do not really want or need anyway. Example I have a friend who uses Reason 2.5 and it does everything he needs for him to and has for years and never thought about upgrading but now hes upgrading his pc and hes worried that 2.5 won't work in windows 7. He made the choice to upgrade to 5 but I couldn't imagine someone doing that if they used a ton of VIs. Hardware just works. If it has midi its great. Again not that you are wrong just showing the opposite side of the coin.
 
I wouldnt spend 5 gs right now. With logic 9, maybe buy a sound pack like urban arsenal, studio monitors, and a cheap midi controller. Work with that and determine what gear you'll need after that.
 
I agree. Going the workstation route is kinda overkill unless thats going to be your main tool.

Xab is right in saying a Midi controller and a Decent DAW setup with some good VST's would be great.

Now I'd recommend you check out IK's Workstation bundle. It has everything we make workstation wise and will be more than enough to get you started and will remain a staple in your productions.

I'd post links but I can't yet...
 
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