I'm currently unhappy with my rig, mostly because I think my setup sounds best really loud, but my lifestyle right now doesn't really enable me to enjoy my setup conveniently. I came to this realization that my playing was more interesting, and that I was having more fun playing my electric guitar acoustically without any amps or effects. I'd like to be able to play with effects late at night without having to use an amp, and I also want to get back into using a DAW to compose music, so I'd like to get some gear to help playing into a computer sounding really awesome.
I don't really know much about studio gear, so I'd like to get some input from you studio gear monsters out there. I have a focusrite USB interface that seems to work well but obviously just playing direct into it doesn't sound very good. I think I need some combination of a preamp, nice headphones and amp simulators right? As for which DAW I would use, Ableton seems the best. Since I'll be selling my rig, and maybe some effects pedals if I like the DAW's effects more, I would put my budget around $700-$1000.
Get an Avalon 737 and run everything into it... Your instruments and pedals and a good pre with an interface should be enough to start with... Maybe look into some cheap monitors so you can listen back...
Get an Avalon 737 and run everything into it... Your instruments and pedals and a good pre with an interface should be enough to start with... Maybe look into some cheap monitors so you can listen back...
I think that's a little out of my budget, but maybe I could get rich or something and buy it, who knows! I want to get headphones for monitoring. Although I like the ones I have now okay. They're Audio Technica M50, kinda uncomfortable over time, I'd probably like to upgrade to something that's more comfortable in the future.
D.o.S. wrote:Ableton is super rad. I use the 2i2 with it and not only is it inexpensive the preamp is really nice sounding for the price.
Is the preamp you use in Ableton or inside the interface? Do you use anything inside or outside of Ableton to make the tone sound better or more fun to play guitar with? I'm anxious to learn Ableton because I tend to pick things up slowly but I think the more I understand it the more fun I will have.
Do you have an amp with a direct output?
I've tried a few different solutions as far as 'modeling' goes but the best sound i've had is plugging the line out from my 70's Yamaha amp (the thing cost like $150 and it's a 2x12 combo so i can play through the amp when nobody is home) into my interface then using a rack unit or plugins to get a 'room sound' with a little stereo convolution reverb. i definitely prefer using a neutral solid state preamp that's voiced for guitar rather than tubes or mic preamps or software preamps, i just think it sits way nicer with effects and seems less compressed.
D.o.S. is right about ableton, I would always use a hardware preamp when given the chance but even just for subtle scultping purposes the factory algorithms work quite nicely.
If you have a 2i2 or something an interface upgrade isn't gonna be necessary, i would say invest in a nice pair of headphones and/or studio monitors.
Get an Avalon 737 and run everything into it... Your instruments and pedals and a good pre with an interface should be enough to start with... Maybe look into some cheap monitors so you can listen back...
I think that's a little out of my budget, but maybe I could get rich or something and buy it, who knows! I want to get headphones for monitoring. Although I like the ones I have now okay. They're Audio Technica M50, kinda uncomfortable over time, I'd probably like to upgrade to something that's more comfortable in the future.
D.o.S. wrote:Ableton is super rad. I use the 2i2 with it and not only is it inexpensive the preamp is really nice sounding for the price.
Is the preamp you use in Ableton or inside the interface? Do you use anything inside or outside of Ableton to make the tone sound better or more fun to play guitar with? I'm anxious to learn Ableton because I tend to pick things up slowly but I think the more I understand it the more fun I will have.
Inside the interface, but I don't run straight in with my bass or guitar. Should've specified.
I have a MusicMan HD130; no direct out
I'm down with buying a nice reverb. Yeah a sound working well with pedals is important to me because I want to keep most of them around.
Headphones aren't good for serious monitoring if you are planning to try and mix/master your recordings. They are good for monitoring as you record and/or jam.
Good speakers and the best audio interface that you can afford are the way to go. Ableton has a lot of rad effects for sure.
I am definitely more concerned with having it sound good while I'm playing or composing. I could do the mixing later on, I'm more concerned with focusing on writing for fun.
Get some sort of amp sim (or several) - I have my Boss GT-001 as a primary, it passed the amp Turing test, I reached over to check SPL by feel on the 4x12 when playing in cans.
The thing is the more hardware (not USB only) you have, the less you'll spend over the next five years or more - software goes bad with OS updates or doesn't work in a new DAW, etc.
There's a reason I have rack stuff still beyond some sounds, it's about future-proofing.
==
My pedalboard costs approximately 191 Metal Zones.
Hardware: Focusrite interface (Scarlet if PC, Saffire if Mac), Some Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic or Sennheiser headphones, and maybe a Line 6 FBV Shortboard if you want to have foot controller.
Software: A lot of people like Ableton and it would probably be fine for what you want to do. As for amp sim software, if you want super simple but awesome sounding, go with Schuffam Amps S-gear (also only about $100 so there's that). If you want a cacophonous hole of sonic possibility that also sounds pretty good, get NI Guitar Rig 5.
I underestimated how much I miss playing through speakers and not headphones, even at low volumes. It just feels so constrained. If you have room in your budget I would suggest considering monitors, or at least get an idea of what monitors would work with the setup your buying for potential expansion in the future.
D.o.S. wrote:I'm fucking stupid and no one should operate under any other premise.
For tone I use a Vox tonelab (old blue one) and individual stompboxes for effects. I run the whole kit and kaboodle into a Akai Eie Pro. The nice thing about the Akai is that I can use it as a "mixer" for my tonlab/pedals and drum machine and the output can go either into the computer, headphones, monitors or any combination. It makes me want to sell my regular amps.
Native Instruments Guitar Rig 5 is a pretty good amp sim. I dont have the full version (it was bundled when i got maschine), but even without all of it features it works well enough for my needs.
kbithecrowing wrote:I underestimated how much I miss playing through speakers and not headphones, even at low volumes. It just feels so constrained. If you have room in your budget I would suggest considering monitors, or at least get an idea of what monitors would work with the setup your buying for potential expansion in the future.
Yeah I'm probably gonna get a small guitar amp to play through speakers, and maybe a small bass combo so I can still play with other people
