Acid Music Studio 7 (Tried Cakewalk, but I prefer Acid), Zoom pedal that works as an interface with my computer, Fender JM, Squier Strat and Kent Bass, Behringer mic

"We're lousy, we can't play. If you wait until you can play, you'll be too old to get up there. We stink, really. But it's great," Johnny Ramone .

I use Ableton Live on my Mac. Focusrite Saffire 40 for the soundcard and I've got a couple of different mics. I've also got a Novation X-Station 25 which I use. Dano Baritone, Parker P-44, Fender Tele, and Fender Deluxe Reverb Amp. I like it and it's big fun...

oops...posted this already. Sorry about that.

Jack Booth
(aka WoodyJ)

The Mariners (1964-68, 1996-2005)
The Hula Hounds (1996-current)
The X-Rays (1997-2004)
The Surge! (2004, 2011-2012)
Various non-surf bands that actually made money (1978-1990)

Last edited: May 18, 2011 15:00:42

I'm still using my Yamaha AW4416 that I bought for thousands about ten years ago. They go for as little as 300 bucks on ebay now and I can highly recommend it as an all-in-one box for recording, with built in everything including flying fader automation. I used mine as a mobile location recording studio for a couple of years and it is still rock solid and reliable, no latency and never once crashed on me.

I also still have my 40-year old Revox A77 tape recorder for when I fancy a bit of old analog sexiness.

Nice desk! My desk is a Spinet piano, and then my desk becomes the floor, amp, or pile of boxes when I need to record the piano.

-Windows 7 Ultimate
-Tascam USB interface
-Adobe Audition (I've been using it since it was Cool Edit)
-Old Zoom RhythmTrak 234
-Alesis Performance Pad
I have a Fender Mustang amp and I still haven't gotten around to recording with it, but along with Fuse, I think it will work great for PC recording.

Shawn Martin
http://www.drummerman.net
http://www.youtube.com/GKacedrummerman
http://www.facebook.com/drumuitar

cambeezy wrote:

Mel wrote:

Just added a Focusrite VRM. Interesting little
device.

Mel, do you have the Saffire Pro 24 DSP? Do you use it
for headphone mixing? I was thinking of getting that
box instead of upgrading monitors. Are the choices of
'rooms' any good?

No, don't own any Focusrite gear other than their VRM box:

VRM

I use an Apogee Ensemble coupled with a Behringer ADA8000 for the 20 channels of audio that I use.

For mixing, I don't mix in the box. I use my mixer with all separate audio tracks coming into it as a "summing" mixer. When I get it all right, I record the output of the mixer for a mix down. Once the mix is down to a stereo track, I send that to the VRM and listen to on the various "rooms" and "speaker" options to get an idea of how the mix translates.

I just started to take the procedure a step further now. I use the "sends" on the audio tracks to route them to the VRM as well. So I can quickly listen to the mix through the speakers, through a Presonus Central Station and also with the VRM (it will sum all the audio tracks to stereo). This tends to paint a better picture of how the instruments fit together in a mix when using its less than stellar room speakers selections. The LCD Panel TV speakers, for the most part, are terrible. So you can't mix for them because that would toss everything else off, but you get a good idea of what you got too much of..

The VRM also emulates the old NS10's. Probably the worlds worst speaker system, but if you can make those sound good, it translates to almost anything else quite well.

For headphones I use two different sets. I have AKG271's and 702's. I find those colour the sound from the VRM much less than other phones I've tried, like the Audio Technica ATH50, or Sony 7506, or Sennheiser's HD280. The 702's are the most comfortable as well and I find them great for tracking. But headphones will "colour" the sound so you have to be aware of that if you wanted to mix with the VRM.

The VRM rooms and speakers are actually quite impressive and a little overwhelming at the same time because of the huge variations between "professional", "bedroom" and "living" rooms. I think if I only had the VRM to mix with, I'd be inclined to use the NS10's for the mix, then select the other rooms and speakers to see how it translates.

Ultimately, regardless of if you mix with near fields or something ilke the VRM, it's how well you get to know the sound, and how well you can hear how it translates to other speaker setups. Once you know the strong and weak areas you'll find it a lot easier to get a pretty good mix to start with it.

Which leaves mastering, but that's a completely different kettle of sardines...

Mel

airesound wrote:

drumuitar wrote:

I have a Fender Mustang amp and I still haven't
gotten
around to recording with it, but along with Fuse, I
think it will work great for PC recording.

Mel, the NS10's are great speakers for mixing and
mastering. They let you know what's going on in the
important but usually crowded mid frequency part of the
spectrum. I've been using them for over 10 years now
and I agree that they are not ear friendly as they give
you listener fatigue after extended listening times.
I'm very interested in that Focusrite VRM, the demo on
their website nails the NS10 signature sound alright

I found the NS10's are in a you either love them or hate them category. I know engineers who swear by them others who swear at them. So everyone has their own subjectiveness about them. Personally I find them good for tracking but I prefer something else for mixing.

I've tried using subs for mixing but I'm probably too old school so I use ported monitors for my mixes. And I know how they translate for most systems.

As for mastering, apparently I don't have the "ears" for it. I can mix quite well, but mastering is a completely different process so I let the people who are good at that do it. I rarely see mixing and mastering done by the same engineers.

Mel

vintagesurfdude wrote:

PC based Cubase SX 3.0
ST Audio C-port 2000 (8 i/o)
Alesis RA 100 reference amp
Alesis Monitor 1 MkII Passive speakers
and a bunch of plug in's

But I still can't duplicate the sound of the old Tascam
38 1/2" 8 track I sold about 6 years ago.

Wow! Very nice setup you got there, Psychonaut.