Gear Upgrade

Zangetsu

I've finally reached the level where a little upgrade would go a long way an I'd like a bit of advice on what to go for. Top of the list at the moment are:

• New monitors: was looking at KRK Rokit 6's

• Good set of closed monitor headphones for tracking and mixing.

• And a new interface: Was thinking of an Mbox 2 as I need protools but at the same time I'd like the option of a few more inputs

Any advice would be great!

Thanks

Rockshamrover

For headphones, I would recommend Audio Technica ATH M50. They are great for mixing, very comfy and are very ruggedly built.

madtheory

1. The small KRK are not very good IMO, although they do look nice. Tannoys are better. What's your budget?

2. Having tried a lot of cans, IMO the Sennheiser HD25 are the best this side of €500. Sound On Sound did a comparative review with a wide range of cans examined by most of their contributors. Check the website. Again, what's your budget?

3. For Pro Tools, take a look at M Powered. The Profire 2626 or the Project mix i/o. I would recommend the Project mix, it gives you a very good control surface and there is ADAT i/o. 16 inputs is normally enough.

Questions for you:
1. What monitors are you currently using?
2. Have you acoustically treated the room you use?
3. What DAW and interface are you currently using?

Zangetsu

madtheory wrote: »

1. The small KRK are not very good IMO, although they do look nice. Tannoys are better. What's your budget?

2. Having tried a lot of cans, IMO the Sennheiser HD25 are the best this side of €500. Sound On Sound did a comparative review with a wide range of cans examined by most of their contributors. Check the website. Again, what's your budget?

3. For Pro Tools, take a look at M Powered. The Profire 2626 or the Project mix i/o. I would recommend the Project mix, it gives you a very good control surface and there is ADAT i/o. 16 inputs is normally enough.

Questions for you:
1. What monitors are you currently using?
2. Have you acoustically treated the room you use?
3. What DAW and interface are you currently using?

Budget is basically whatever it costs to get me up an running with decent gear that will last a few years, the closer to 1 euro the better but I can save for whats needed.

1. I'm currently using cheap brand bass heavy crap speakers which I'm prolly gonna burn afterwords.

2. I haven't treated the room yet as I'll be moving into a bigger space soon.

3. I'm using Logic Pro 8 with an Alesis I/O 2.

Just had a look at the Profire though I don't really understand the spec page, its got all the mic pre's and such but I can't see a MIDI in/out or monitor outs, is there any?

Thanks for the input

MilanPan!c

Zangetsu wrote: »

Budget is basically whatever it costs to get me up an running with decent gear that will last a few years, the closer to 1 euro the better but I can save for whats needed.

1. I'm currently using cheap brand bass heavy crap speakers which I'm prolly gonna burn afterwords.

2. I haven't treated the room yet as I'll be moving into a bigger space soon.

3. I'm using Logic Pro 8 with an Alesis I/O 2.

Just had a look at the Profire though I don't really understand the spec page, its got all the mic pre's and such but I can't see a MIDI in/out or monitor outs, is there any?

Thanks for the input

About the Rokit speakers. Go somewhere that has a pair and have a listen.

There's a lot of folks that are biased against them, because they're ported, primarily.

IMO though, at the price point they're quite good!

Go and have a listen though!

There's always the option of looking for some used by good NS10s.

I think people aren't hot on the new ones, but the old ones are classic for a reason.

madtheory

Yes, good advice to listen to the KRKs first, see if you like them. I personally found them too coloured. Used NS10 with a reasonable amp will cost you €400 to €500 if you're prepared to stalk ebay/ classifieds and be an astute shopper.

All the Tannoys are ported too, I've used The R1 and the original active studio ones that are the same, and I found it easy to mix on them. Just my personal experience FWIW.

Even if you're moving, you can still make broadband bass trap panels, they are portable by nature. Well worth doing.

I recommended the Project Mix over the 2626, a better all in one solution for you I think. That has MIDI.

Zangetsu

Which of the Tannoys should I check out?

madtheory

The most expensive ones you can afford.