Setting up home studio advice needed please. Also, Protools or Cubase?

fnpt

2nd hand eleven rack with pro-tools. DAW, interface and mic preamp solved in one go.

No need for room treatment, plenty of sounds available and very decent modelling. Also allows for late recording with headphones.

Nerine

I was lucky enough to get the late 2012 Mac mini which I bought in 2014, with the 2.6 i7 quad and SSD and user upgradeable RAM, which I've popped 16GB in it. It's no way underpowered.

My densest mixes run it to about 35-40% if that.
It's been an absolute beast. It trounces the older Mac Pro in the tracking room.

digitalscream

Nerine said:

I was lucky enough to get the late 2012 Mac mini which I bought in 2014, with the 2.6 i7 quad and SSD and user upgradeable RAM, which I've popped 16GB in it. It's no way underpowered.

My densest mixes run it to about 35-40% if that.
It's been an absolute beast. It trounces the older Mac Pro in the tracking room.

Nobody's saying they're underpowered - they're just not as powerful as an equivalent PC for the same price.

For example, that i7 of yours isn't even as quick as a middle-of-the-road i5.

For the same money, a PC will almost always be more powerful than a Mac, by enough of a margin to be quite noticeable.

Drew_TNBD

Do you want a laptop or a desktop machine?

For £1000, you should be able to get:

- Reasonable 4 channel USB2 audio interface - Focusrite Scarlett for instance
- A cheap and cheerful condenser microphone from Thomann (SE Electronics or even their own T-Bone brand would be what I'd look at)
- Reasonable i3 or i5 based desktop PC
- Additional SSD for the PC to make your OS and apps run fast
- Monitor, mouse, keyboard
- Cheap Alesis midi keyboard for entering keyboard melodies
- Addictive Drums, EZ Drummer, or BFD Eco for writing drum parts
- Cubase Elements 8, which is what I use from time to time and is more than enough for most home studios

You don't need a Mac for a decent setup. You don't need a high end microphone. You don't need Pro Tools.

Nerine

digitalscream;932916" said:

For example, that i7 of yours isn't even as quick as a middle-of-the-road i5.

For the same money, a PC will almost always be more powerful than a Mac, by enough of a margin

What i5 are you talking?

The i7 3720QM is a LOT faster than the new i5 loaded MM's.
I don't know if the new generation of i5's are more powerful than the above i7 in general though, as in the fastest new i5 is faster than the i7 I have. All I know is that the new MM doesn't have as much power.

I've just looked at CPU benchmark and in the list, there isn't a single i5 processor that is benching above the one in my MM. I don't know when the list was updated though. The only ones that are, are i7s from the same series and upwards and the Xeons.

I agree that for the same money you can build a more powerful PC.

But, audio isn't exactly taxing for a system, and I'd MUCH rather be running under OSX than Windows.

Drew_TNBD

Can we not turn this thread into a pissing contest between PC and Mac?

Nerine

It's not, is it?

wave100

Reaper is certainly worth a try before splashing out on Cubase. You can export projects as individual audio files which can then be imported to Cubase on your mate's system. Not as convenient as opening the project directly but it might work for you depending on your workflow.  Cubase has a lot more virtual instruments and drum loop content  included as standard than Reaper, so that might swing it for you as it's easier to generate ideas from scratch. Cubase has a demo you can download to see how you get on with it (and that it works well on your system) before splashing the cash, Reaper is practically free.

I've been using Cubase since it's MIDI only days on the Atari, I did give Reaper a go on my latest Win 10 system but ended up getting Cubase as I can use it without any effort...

ecc83

Ah! Wave 100 mentions the elephant! Any new PC/Laptop OP gets is going to be W10 and whilst the OS is said to be very good for audio there are still issues with certain hard and softwares.

I would stick with w7 if you can which basically means a home build.

Dave.

sweepy

You can get great results with both platforms, Mac's are more inclusive, Logic X etc, whereas PC's offer a wider choice of hardware and to a certain extent, software combinations .

hugbot

Nerine said:

I'd also consider the room. To be fair, the room is the first thing I'd probably do. Even if it's for demos etc. A treated room is so nice to work in.

I've been undersestimating the importance of this for a while and wondering why my vocal recordings sound so shit. Its one of those blindingly obvious things you over look, they sound boxey and small...because they were recorded in a  small boxey room.

Also if you're going Mac vs PC you ought to factor in that Logic is cheaper than most of its competetors.

sweepy

I use one f those SE semi circular baffles for vocal recording, it does a fine job imho, saves treating the whole room, also look into office dividers as a good adjustable baffle system

p90fool

I just built a quick home setup around an interface which came with a free version of Cubase, which I just upgraded to Elements 8 for £36 via Paypal.

If you're careful and you know what you do or don't need you should easily get running for a grand.

John_A

I just picked up a i7 laptop with a SSD for £400, a Steinberg UR22 with Cubase LE for £100, alesis monitors for another £100, that leaves £400 for other stuff, I already had a Rhode NT-1 and I've recorded some great stuff with it

Heartfeltdawn

ecc83 said:

Ah! Wave 100 mentions the elephant! Any new PC/Laptop OP gets is going to be W10 and whilst the OS is said to be very good for audio there are still issues with certain hard and softwares.

I would stick with w7 if you can which basically means a home build.

Dave.

There are still places offering new laptops with Win 7. Bought one last week for a friend. 

John_A

Using Win10 with Cubase and a UR22 with no issues

JCA2550

Resurrecting this thread on it's birthday as I have a 8GB ram Lenovo laptop with ssd turning up at the weekend and it's time to start up recording again. 

JCA2550

Something I've just realised is that no one's mentioned amplification to power monitors. Am I missing something obvious?

Danny1969

Most monitors designed for home studios are powered with their own internal amps. So just require a line in from your interface

digitalscream

JCA2550 said:

Something I've just realised is that no one's mentioned amplification to power monitors. Am I missing something obvious?

Powered monitors are the way forward - particularly in this context. The Presonus Eris 4.5 seem to be the best of the low-budget bunch - for example, this package with the isolation pads:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Presonus-Eris-E4-5-Active-Studio-Monitors-x2-Powered-Speakers-Iso-Pads-Leads-/281394984244?hash=item418472b534:g:bg4AAOSwbqpT0tx2

Alternatively, get a set of passive speakers (the Tannoy Reveal 6 are pretty good, and available relatively cheap) and a good mini-hifi (like a Denon) for the amp. You can pick up Denons with knackered CD players for peanuts these days - think £20-£30 on eBay. Still, for less clutter I think powered speakers are a better option.

Which Lenovo laptop did you get?