Budget gear opinions?

milltown

Been looking to dip my toe in the production pool for a long time. Somewhat foolishly started off with Logic (9 I think), which was probably way too involved for an absolute beginner, and a MIDI keyboard. Then moved over to Ableton, which I found a lot more noob friendly without lacking anything. The problem I found though was the same as with digital DJing, that there's no tactile element to what I'm doing. I went back to records and turntables and found my love of music as an art form again. My tastes are 95% house and techno.

I'd love to think the same is possible with actually making music but ideally I'd like to remain married at the same time so budget is limited. Fortunately, Macs and Logic and Ableton are already in hand, as is a Traktor Audio 2 sound card (which I suspect might need to be upgraded). Monitors and sub are also in place.

For hands on play and versatility on a budget I was thinking of a Korg Volca Beats and an Arturia Microbrute. I have a little M-Audio keyboard too for tapping stuff directly to Ableton if needed.

This thread is really asking a few questions I guess:

1. Am I entering an explosively expensive wormhole by starting to buy "hardware"?
2. Will I be instantly out of my depth trying to tie this gear together with a computer, Traktor 2 sound card and a DJM250 DJ mixer (if needed)?
3. Will Ableton's accessability disappear the moment I try to connect stuff to it?
4. Is there better hardware available at a similar price for what I want to do?
5. Would I be better off sticking to software sounds and picking up a cheap(ish) Maschine or APC or MPC?

Another thought for the gear might be as an element to DJing. For example, using the Beats as a background beat or for drum fills, or running the output from the mixer through the synth filters or something. I'm sure the Beats could be run through a line input into the mixer but I don't know if the synth could be used for effects as I described.

All opinions appreciated.

romarr

mmmm...

think answer to 1 "probably" !

2,3 = depends on how much hardware you have, if its just a synth, should be grand, the more you add the more complex it gets. and yeah youre probably gonna have to upgrade from the traktor 2 (are there any line inputs on that box?)

4 = not sure, personally I find volca boxes a bit small and fiddly. the new roland 808/909 AIRA box looks decent (good first impression reviews).

5 = ableton's Push controller is getting a lot of great reviews in terms of adding a good tactile aspect. Think I'd go for that ahead of machine / mpc / apc
(there will be a few Push to demo at this on monday week. Bound to be a few hardware heads there too to quiz).

microbrute (and beats ?) into ableton or the Push sounds like a good way to go for what oyu want to achieve.

my 2 eurocents

asteroids over berlin

1. Am I entering an explosively expensive wormhole by starting to buy "hardware"? Agreed probably, however, I recommend (should you go this way) to buy decent outboard gear, volcas are toys, microbrutes are very limited, look up adverts.ie for some decent synths, you will be paying more for them though - 400 - 2k mark
2. Will I be instantly out of my depth trying to tie this gear together with a computer, Traktor 2 sound card and a DJM250 DJ mixer (if needed)? No - it's the only way to learn, however you mention some important things here, traktor soundcard is rubbish for production, try and buy a higher end one, solely for production purposes, before you buy any synths, buy a decent sound card and studio monitors
3. Will Ableton's accessability disappear the moment I try to connect stuff to it? - Why would it, no....
4. Is there better hardware available at a similar price for what I want to do? Not really, used gear, I personally would save up and buy decent stuff, ms20 mini would be a good start (after the monitors and audio interface)
5. Would I be better off sticking to software sounds and picking up a cheap(ish) Maschine or APC or MPC? -Up to you, can always buy more gear later, I am an analogue nut with hint of fm, however, I believe maschine to be good these days (never used it) but once again, only purchase after the monitors and interface! Also as said, push might be a good option too

Good luck

milltown

romarr wrote: »

(there will be a few Push to demo at this on monday week. Bound to be a few hardware heads there too to quiz).

Cheers Ro! Was going to try and get along to that meet up alright.
Also, no inputs on the Traktor card, now that you mention it.

Asteroids OB, Yamaha monitors and sub are in situ already. I don't see myself upgrading that end of things anytime soon. Sound card will certainly be looked into.

Part of my thinking around this "starter set" was that this sort of gear at these sort of prices seems to hold it's value pretty well, so first off I wouldn't be shelling out a pile of money, and secondly if the time came to upgrade or dispose, I'd hope to recoup a lot of my outlay.