Brand new studio. Info needed.

[DJ Alkemy]

Right. I have a few questions I need answering. At the moment my setup is really basic. I am making beats with just Reason 5 and my laptop. I have a bit of a windfall coming in the next few weeks (around £2500). What I wanted was some recommendations. What I want is either an MPC or Maschine. A new PC solely for production. Studio monitors, studio mixer and a seperate pair of speakers and amp for my turntables. First off, soundcard. Any recommendations?. Secondly, I want to go the route of mixing down all my sounds individually....snares, kicks, samples etc. I want to do this cause I want to have more control over my sound. Any recommendations on a nice studio mixer?. Lastly, I want to get a pair of KRK Rokits. Now when I said I wanted a seperate pair of speakers and amp is because my studio will be split with regards to producing music and practising on my decks. And when Im on my decks I like a real good bit of volume, especially when I have friends around so I didnt want to be using the KRK's for that too. Am I right?. Also, will a studio mixer work as an amp to power the seperate deck speakers (if I were to buy them). Anything you guys can add would be great. Am I missing something etc.

---------- Post added at 11:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:50 PM ----------

100 + views and not one reply. Damn!

 

[GIK Acoustics]

Unfortunately, a new PC will likely take a big bite out of your budget, but it can still be done.

You don't need a mixer. You can mix down all your sounds individually within Reason (or any DAW). Any decent mixing console would destroy your budget. What would likely be more useful would be a controller, though I'm not sure which ones would be compatible with Reason, and that still isn't exactly what you're looking for.

No, mixers do not usually have a built in amp for speakers. You would likely need to either buy speakers and a separate amp, or buy powered speakers. You could use the KRKs, but they aren't significantly loud (the 8" ones are usually loud enough for jamming though - at least they were in my experience).


For your soundcard, there are tons and tons out there all within the ranges of $100 to $5,000 and probably above. You should get some of your list taken down a bit by what you need to purchase and how much those are going to cost, and come back with the rest of the budget. IE you know you need Rokits, a computer, decide between the Maschine and MPC, and speakers for your turntables. Find ones you want, and figure out how much left you have for an interface and/or mixer. Some controllers are also I/O interfaces, so depending on what your budget is, that could be a possibility (again, you would have to find ones that are compatible with Reason)

 

[DJ Alkemy]

Thanks Alex. Some good info there. So it looks like Ill need some amp and speakers for my turntables (I know of a setup going for about £250). Then Ill get some KRK's (£200). An MPC or Maschine (£400-500). Just curious, why would I need a controller?..do you mean for just ease of use within Reason?.

In regards to the PC. I was thinking something like an Intel core i5 with about 8 gig RAM would suffice. I could probably custom build one for around £400 (I dont need monitor or peripherals etc).

That just leaves the soundcard and bits and bobs.

That sound OK or you think Im underpricing?

UPDATE. I priced an i7 system up with 16 gig of RAM and a 1 TB HD...With soundcard Im looking at about £600 which I can deal with.

 

[GIK Acoustics]

I was going to suggest you may want to slightly up your computer budget to £500-£600. By 'sound card' are you referring to an internal or external sound card?

You don't need a controller but don't need a mixer either. I was suggesting that perhaps you could use a controller if you wanted the hands on feel of a mixer, but stay with the comfortable digital medium of your DAW (Reason). Not a keyboard midi controller, but a DAW controller/workstation (like ProTools has the Artist Mix...etc [Avid | Artist Mix])

If you wanted a full featured analog mixer, you would want a high quality interface with multiple ins & outs and good converters at the least..which would require you to up your budget.

 

[DJ Alkemy]

I was going to suggest you may want to slightly up your computer budget to £500-£600. By 'sound card' are you referring to an internal or external sound card?

You don't need a controller but don't need a mixer either. I was suggesting that perhaps you could use a controller if you wanted the hands on feel of a mixer, but stay with the comfortable digital medium of your DAW (Reason). Not a keyboard midi controller, but a DAW controller/workstation (like ProTools has the Artist Mix...etc [Avid | Artist Mix])

If you wanted a full featured analog mixer, you would want a high quality interface with multiple ins & outs and good converters at the least..which would require you to up your budget.

Im not sure on if Im getting an external or internal sound card, gonna have to see the pros and cons with both.

Also, not sure if I can get Maschine to work alongside Reason (which I am getting more comfortable with by the day). If so, would that negate the need to get a controller?.

I know that you can use Maschine as a stand alone because it has its own DAW but Im sure a lot of people prefer to use a DAW they are more comfortable with (and ones that have more features etc). I pretty much want my workflow to go along the lines of: Loading up beats, samples etc in Reason...Playing the beat (via pads), chopping samples etc in Maschine...recording into Reason then on to the mixing/mastering process.