Small Studio With Splendid Equipment, Need a help to manage... Options

[cabasa]

Hello everybody!

I need your help. I have to manage small DAW based on ProTools HD system. Budget: ~EUR40,000.00

I need to understand how is reasonable this compilation or not:

· I need ONE, but high class tube mic with ONE high class mic preamp/compressor/eq for recording pop-style vocals (in general). It would be very good for me to know outstanding industry-standard combination of studio mic/preamp for pop vocal recording (if it is)
· 2 or 8 ch. A/D converter for ProTools HD sound routing specially. Apegee Rosetta 200/800 is good solution (not orginal Digidesign Protools HD converters) I heard. Or anything else?
· Well, Protools HD cards + G5
· STANDALONE final compressor/limiter (like TC Finalizer etc.) for final mix processiong. The sound goes from HD digital OUT to final comp/limiter digital IN. Then it goes to the second G5 audiocard digital IN to Bias Peak (for example) to make final stereo mix bounce.
· I need 2-ch. D/A converter to send the final mix to studio monitoring interface (like Presonus Central Station http://www.presonus.com/centralstation.html ) to hear all the sound which I ugly did.
· Active acoustic monitoring system Genelec 31A or 32A. I like Genelec's hi freq "sharpy" sound.

That's all.
I ask you, gentlemen the professionals, to help and give me an advice to complete this kind of studio!
What the best indastry-standard couple of tube mic/preamp for pop-vocal recording? Converters for Protools HD? Final stand-alone compressor/limiter with aes/ebu in/out?
Neutral sounding studio monitoring interface? Active monitor system?

Thank you very much in advance and excuse me for my ugly english.

Emegical IM

[keefer.k]

>Yeah, and API/Studer combo is lovely!!

It is. It is a relatively short signal path, both in and out, even compared to most analog mixers. To build an API 1604 with new parts (it can be done!) might cost $150K, but my friend just got a used one for $12K. I know of another in better condition for $16K. Eliminating A-D/D-A converters from the signal path is very flattering for most programs.

>Then again, it's not very versatile,

Actually, when sound quality is the first priority, a mixer like this is about the best that can be done. No, it doesn't have DSP, it doesn't have VST or automation: it sounds good like few other signal paths in the price range do. There's a DAW after the tape to take care of hacking/chopping/blending needed for modern pop production.

What is on the tape is as clean an clear as we can make it. The sound only gets worse from there, no matter the process.

> 2" might be able to play back in 50 years (after a quick tour thru the oven)

Sticky-Shed Syndrome is DONE. No modern tape will have it, just as 3M 111 and 203 is perfectly dry and good after 40 years. AMPEX/Quantegy 456 from the 80's-90's has SSS, but can be baked correctly and repeatedly for perfect playback. A non-issue.

>how likely is it that you can find a well calibrated 2" studer in 50 years?

More likely than finding a working ProTools Mix^3 with a full set of functioning plug-in authorizations. Ampex and Studer hardware is fully documented and could be manufactured in a machine tools factory. Computer hard/firm/soft ware is something of a miracle that it runs at all when new. End-user troubleshooting computer hardware/software of 2003 in 2043? No way.

>When did anyone last put a new 2" deck on the market?

I have been involved in the purchase of several analog 2" decks for commercial recording facilities in the past 3 years. They were a good value and are quite excellent.

The last 2" available new in North America was the Otari MTR-series.

Just because a thing is no longer profitable to make in quantity doesn't make it unsupportable junk.

Just as you see nice 1953-1974 Volkswagen Beetles putting around with happy owners, you may notice like-new analog tape decks for a "really long time". There is a significant industry surrounding resurrection/refurb and preservation of these old machines.

>Let's face it, tape is history.

Sorry, You are just wrong. ATR Services is releasing new blank tape to compete with Quantegy. The new era of analog tape quality has just begun.

> Unfortunately. It was fun. But it's over. It's even difficult to buy new tape these days ...

Wrong. See above.

>I totally agree with you about the problems with standards in the digital world.

And you accept it as there appears to be no options?

<snip>
>If you upgraded from a 16 to a 24 track tape machine, you had to keep the 16 track to be able to play back your 16 track tapes.
<snip>

Nope, not the whole machine, just the head stack in a shoe box. We have this now. BTW: 24 track is not an "upgrade" it's a trade of sound quality for track count.

>These days, with A/D technology and all, I don't really feel the tape/digi discussion is very interesting anymore.

You need to rent some time in a high-end recording/mastering facility. A head-to-head comparison of all-analog compared to the best digital is still different. PCM digital is still the least expensive distribution method, but let's not fool ourselves that it's the best possible.

>Digi sounds great now. It didn't 5 years ago. And it CERTAINLY didn't 10 or 15 or 20 or 25 years ago

I will concede "better than before", but not yet "great", in the under $10K 16 analog i/o realm.

>you don't get saturation and tape compression

You don't get saturation or tape compression unless the recorder is mis-aligned or the user is not following instructions. What goes in comes out. Try peaking a digital converter at +15 dB over zero for some ugly results.

The point is to reliably capture the performance on the best possible media. Post-processing is likely to be in a variety of devices including DAW systems. It's not about Analog vs. Digital, it's the best Analog we can get, then optimized for content and Digital manipulation and Digital distribution (disks or web).

>It's music, there are no right ways or wrong ways of tracking it.

Some ways are quite a bit better than others.

Karl Keefer
Portland Oregon