Advice on what should I invest in next?

G

GFunkEra408

HipHop
So I'm a little conflicted on what I should purchase next. I do production, record, but my main thing right now is mixing. I have a a good amount of Waves plug-ins, but I want to start using more UAD plug-ins as I have an Apollo solo audio interface, however I need more DSP power and was thinking of buying a DSP satellite.

or

I was looking into getting a behringer X-touch digital mixer which I think would help me a lot as well with work flow. What do you guys recommend me doing? I'm still fairly novice to mixing as well.
 
What's your room like? That's probably the first thing once you have your basic setup worked out, create an ideal listening/mixing environment. Then maybe look at speakers, get good ones you like working with..
and then maybe a few other (worse) options for easy checking. One of those Avantone speakers might be a worthwhile investment.

Then maybe look at plugins. Waves is definitely outdated, but will get the job done.
The UAD plugins are a definite step up, but pricewise as well if you figure in the cost of adding DSP cards or devices.
I'm not sure how that benefit stacks up to just having a beastly PC with great plugins. I use a lot of Softube plug-ins, they do the analog emulation just as well, but they're usually very CPU friendly with low latency..
It also represents a certain way of working. UAD (and Softube) is mostly known for emulating vintage gear, which is great.. but with that it becomes a game of picking the right 'device' for the right job.
It's a great way to work, don't get me wrong. But not the only one. Maybe you prefer working with more modern interfaces, Fabfilter or Izotope is a good example of that.. or mix it up, which is what I do.

But getting your monitoring environment in order is definitely the best investment at first.
 
Well my mixing area is probably my biggest problem right now. It’s not treated. I know this is a no brainer thing I should fix, but I feel where my area is at treatment won’t help much (maybe it will). Even then I wouldn’t know where to put the treatment tbh - it’s just a weird spot. So 80 percent of the time I’m mixing on my headphones. I have rocking 5’s btw for monitors. Maybe that could be the next thing I should make a topic about lol -

Thanks for the input on Waves lol. I like them, as I’m still learning, but eventually I would really like to Emulate a console desk in my daw and use more of the vintage style of plugins. I know this will probably run me quite a bit of money though just for the DSP power alone.
 
GFunkEra408 said:
So I'm a little conflicted on what I should purchase next. I do production, record, but my main thing right now is mixing. I have a a good amount of Waves plug-ins, but I want to start using more UAD plug-ins as I have an Apollo solo audio interface, however I need more DSP power and was thinking of buying a DSP satellite.

or

I was looking into getting a behringer X-touch digital mixer which I think would help me a lot as well with work flow. What do you guys recommend me doing? I'm still fairly novice to mixing as well.
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A good question is, do you really need that stuff? How will it benefit you and your craft?

If you can answer that then I can help you make a better choice.
 
Well the reason I would want to get a digital mixers is because I feel like it would help my work flow a lot and make mixingnfeel like I was more in the studio. I don’t think I necessarily need it but I do want one. I know workflow is a priority ( or at least that’s what I think).

Getting a UAD satellite is basically because I already have an UAD interface. So I feel like I should add to what I have already and that being able to set up my daw to work like an actual desk console would help me for when I do actually sit in front of one (hopefully lol).

I really would just like to emulate a desk console without my computer crashing.
 
GFunkEra408 said:
Well the reason I would want to get a digital mixers is because I feel like it would help my work flow a lot and make mixingnfeel like I was more in the studio.
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That's a terrible reason, it won't :)

GFunkEra408 said:
Getting a UAD satellite is basically because I already have an UAD interface.
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Again, terrible reason hehe :)

GFunkEra408 said:
So I feel like I should add to what I have already and that being able to set up my daw to work like an actual desk console would help me for when I do actually sit in front of one (hopefully lol).
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No it won't :)

For me, it's pretty useless to get a desk without the outboard gear (EQs, compressors, reverbs etc.) to accompany it. I see no point or benefit in getting a mixing console and still use plugins. But that's just me and won't be able to help you further. Hope someone else can though.

All the best.
 
Nytshade said:
That's a terrible reason, it won't :)



Again, terrible reason hehe :)



No it won't :)

For me, it's pretty useless to get a desk without the outboard gear (EQs, compressors, reverbs etc.) to accompany it. I see no point or benefit in getting a mixing console and still use plugins. But that's just me and won't be able to help you further. Hope someone else can though.

All the best.
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Ok cool, appreciate it.

Any advice what you would invest in then? What helped you with your craft?
 
GFunkEra408 said:
Ok cool, appreciate it.

Any advice what you would invest in then? What helped you with your craft?
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What helped my craft is understanding that if I can't get the sound that I want with stock plugins (or the tools that I already have) then no matter what gear I get, it will make no difference. So I invested in improving my skills. Improving my skills first is what helped me make the right investments to improve my sound.
 
Really look at the room first and see if you can get it decent enough to mix on monitors instead of headphones. I mean more gear is fun, but it seems like the room would be the most dramatic upgrade you could do imo. Just my two cents though, buying equipment is always fun too haha.
 
The Funk Junkie said:
Really look at the room first and see if you can get it decent enough to mix on monitors instead of headphones. I mean more gear is fun, but it seems like the room would be the most dramatic upgrade you could do imo. Just my two cents though, buying equipment is always fun too haha.
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Yup! It’s really fun.

I honestly think that right now I’m sol with trying to treat my area where I mix/record. It’s just not in a suitable area at all, and I don’t think the misses will be good with me moving furniture lol. Hopefully when we upgrade to a 2 bed I’ll definitely work on this.

For now I feel like I should ease the pain knowing there’s nothing I can really do at this time, so I’ll just buy something cool lol. Thanks.
 
I mix records for a living. Fix the room. Put in the time and do the research - it's not that difficult and it doesn't cost much. Just avod all the foam kits because they are b.s. It's VERY VERY easy and cheap to build bass traps and absorbers from rigid fibergalss.

As for faders, I grew up on consoles, but I'm basically a mouse clicker. I have an alphatrack and it is handy here and there for automation I don't want to draw. But honestly, usually I draw it.

As for trying to mimic a desk so you will be used to it when you mix on a real one.... that ship has sailed. Almost everybody is mixing ITB now. Almost everything you hear on the radio is mixed ITB. Trust me, when you deal with labels, you must be able to revisit a mix at a moments notice and flip between projects quickly. The more you rely on outboard gear and the more you rely on a real mixing desk, the more of a massive pain that becomes. That's why almost all mix engineers are mixing ITB or 99.9% ITB. So no, you won't find yourself sitting in front of a real desk mixing a record. Unless you have a time machine. I'm in the middle of mixing a major label record right now - all ITB, just like everyone else. All my outboard gear, most of which I've gotten rid of, is strictly for tracking purposes. And a console... forget about it.
 
chris carter said:
I mix records for a living. Fix the room. Put in the time and do the research - it's not that difficult and it doesn't cost much. Just avod all the foam kits because they are b.s. It's VERY VERY easy and cheap to build bass traps and absorbers from rigid fibergalss.

As for faders, I grew up on consoles, but I'm basically a mouse clicker. I have an alphatrack and it is handy here and there for automation I don't want to draw. But honestly, usually I draw it.

As for trying to mimic a desk so you will be used to it when you mix on a real one.... that ship has sailed. Almost everybody is mixing ITB now. Almost everything you hear on the radio is mixed ITB. Trust me, when you deal with labels, you must be able to revisit a mix at a moments notice and flip between projects quickly. The more you rely on outboard gear and the more you rely on a real mixing desk, the more of a massive pain that becomes. That's why almost all mix engineers are mixing ITB or 99.9% ITB. So no, you won't find yourself sitting in front of a real desk mixing a record. Unless you have a time machine. I'm in the middle of mixing a major label record right now - all ITB, just like everyone else. All my outboard gear, most of which I've gotten rid of, is strictly for tracking purposes. And a console... forget about it.
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I know fixing my room is probably the first things I should invest in, but where I record isn’t the most ideal area. I’ve even made a post with attachments of my area asking for opinions on what I can do. The only feed back I got was that I would need to move some of my furniture place my desk basically in the middle of my living room (one bedroom apartment and not going to fly with the misses). So I feel like I might be SOL for now until we upgrade to a bigger apartment. I don’t know what to do, but I’ll keep searching for a band aid for now.

Also, I do want to mix everything ITB. I just want to get those nice UAD plugins (like the Neve SSL, digital tape machines) to emulate a mixing desk. My DSP chip overloads quickly already with just a few UAD plugin so regardless I’d like to eventually get another DSP satterlite.

I think, for now at least ... I’m just going to continue to get by with the plugins that I have and hopefully do something about my listening environment, which I don’t think can be changed right now.

Maybe I can attach some pics and someone can take a look at my area and give an honest opinion on what they would do?

Thanks Chris
 
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