Good Budget Gear Article

[BEC]

I'm an established engineer/assistant engineer in LA that works at major
studios with major artists. I was recently asked to do a series of Pro
Tools articles for a website. They also want me to do an article on
cool budget gear ($500 or less, give or take). You know, mics,
compressors, pres, really anything audio and producer related. Good
bargin gear for people on budgets.

Since I primarily work out of Class A Studios, I'm a little out of the
loop on budget gear. If someone on here could give me some cool leads
on budget gear, it would be appreciated.

Thanks,

John D. Norten

[Blind Joni]

FMR RNC 1773 compressor.
John A. Chiara
SOS Recording Studio
Live Sound Inc.
Albany, NY
www.sosrecording.net
518-449-1637

[ThePaulThomas]

BEC > wrote in message >...
>If someone on here could give me some cool leads on budget gear, it
would be >appreciated.

Are you only interested in NEW gear or are you open to suggestions
for older/used gear as well? Used gear suggestions could really open
the floodgates because there's tons of cool things to be found cheap
at places like eBay and used musical instrument stores. The problem
with mentioning used gear in an article like you might be writing is
the issue of said gear's availability...

[Rick Powell]

BEC > wrote in message >...
> I'm an established engineer/assistant engineer in LA that works at major
> studios with major artists. I was recently asked to do a series of Pro
> Tools articles for a website. They also want me to do an article on
> cool budget gear ($500 or less, give or take). You know, mics,
> compressors, pres, really anything audio and producer related. Good
> bargin gear for people on budgets.
>
> Since I primarily work out of Class A Studios, I'm a little out of the
> loop on budget gear. If someone on here could give me some cool leads
> on budget gear, it would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> John D. Norten

The FMR Audio stuff (RNC compressor, RNMP mic pre) is definitely
bang-for-your-buck cool audio gear that belies its price.

www.fmraudio.com

RP

[Arny Krueger]

"BEC" > wrote in message
...

> I'm an established engineer/assistant engineer in LA that works at major
> studios with major artists. I was recently asked to do a series of Pro
> Tools articles for a website. They also want me to do an article on
> cool budget gear ($500 or less, give or take). You know, mics,
> compressors, pres, really anything audio and producer related. Good
> bargain gear for people on budgets.

> Since I primarily work out of Class A Studios, I'm a little out of the
> loop on budget gear. If someone on here could give me some cool leads
> on budget gear, it would be appreciated.

Shure SM 57s & 58s
Behringer ECM-8000s
Mackie or Behringer mixers as banks of mic pres and for monitoring
Sony 7506 or Sennheser HD 580 phones
Midiman and Echo sound cards
Dell or generic clone PC
Adobe Audition or N-Track software

IMO Pro Tools ain't true budget gear, so the pretext of your article series
is arguably an oxymoron.

[BEC]

I thank everyone so far for their posts, a couple of coments. I'm very
familiar with the FMR website, I own an RNC compressor and it's one of my
top choices. The AT mic choices were great also, I just finished some
sessions with a huge R&B producer using an AT mic instead of a Sony C800G.
I know it's a big step down, but it actually sounded real good. We
switched out cause we were getting a grounding buzz from the C800G. We
ended up with the 4030 into an API Mic Pre into a Distressor. The
Distressor is wierd, cause it seems to be gaining popularity as a vocal
compressor, where as before it was known mainly for kick drums and drum
subs.

Anyway, I'm not only looking at budget gear, but also looking at what
applications certain pieces of budget gear is good for. Sometimes, the
cheap stuff is great for 1 or 2 applications.

JDN

BEC wrote:

> I'm an established engineer/assistant engineer in LA that works at major
> studios with major artists. I was recently asked to do a series of Pro
> Tools articles for a website. They also want me to do an article on
> cool budget gear ($500 or less, give or take). You know, mics,
> compressors, pres, really anything audio and producer related. Good
> bargin gear for people on budgets.
>
> Since I primarily work out of Class A Studios, I'm a little out of the
> loop on budget gear. If someone on here could give me some cool leads
> on budget gear, it would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> John D. Norten

[Les Cargill]

BEC wrote:
>
> I thank everyone so far for their posts, a couple of coments. I'm very
> familiar with the FMR website, I own an RNC compressor and it's one of my
> top choices. The AT mic choices were great also, I just finished some
> sessions with a huge R&B producer using an AT mic instead of a Sony C800G.
> I know it's a big step down, but it actually sounded real good. We
> switched out cause we were getting a grounding buzz from the C800G.

I'm confused, then. Was the microphone broken, or d'ya have a bad cable?

> We
> ended up with the 4030 into an API Mic Pre into a Distressor. The
> Distressor is wierd, cause it seems to be gaining popularity as a vocal
> compressor, where as before it was known mainly for kick drums and drum
> subs.
>
> Anyway, I'm not only looking at budget gear, but also looking at what
> applications certain pieces of budget gear is good for. Sometimes, the
> cheap stuff is great for 1 or 2 applications.
>

Just about everything mentioned in the thread so far is probably
good for multiple applications. The only thing a Marshall 67 hasn't
worked on for me is kik drum, and that's only because it got too much
snare. Which could actually be a style choice.

I'd throw in the Symetrix SX-202 mic pre. They're out of production but
EBay-available.

> JDN
>
> BEC wrote:
>
> > I'm an established engineer/assistant engineer in LA that works at major
> > studios with major artists. I was recently asked to do a series of Pro
> > Tools articles for a website. They also want me to do an article on
> > cool budget gear ($500 or less, give or take). You know, mics,
> > compressors, pres, really anything audio and producer related. Good
> > bargin gear for people on budgets.
> >
> > Since I primarily work out of Class A Studios, I'm a little out of the
> > loop on budget gear. If someone on here could give me some cool leads
> > on budget gear, it would be appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > John D. Norten


--
Les Cargill

[Justin Ulysses Morse]

So are you looking for somebody who's qualified to write the article
for you, since you're apparently not?

ulysses


In article >, BEC > wrote:

> I'm an established engineer/assistant engineer in LA that works at major
> studios with major artists. I was recently asked to do a series of Pro
> Tools articles for a website. They also want me to do an article on
> cool budget gear ($500 or less, give or take). You know, mics,
> compressors, pres, really anything audio and producer related. Good
> bargin gear for people on budgets.
>
> Since I primarily work out of Class A Studios, I'm a little out of the
> loop on budget gear. If someone on here could give me some cool leads
> on budget gear, it would be appreciated.

[Rick Knepper]

"BEC" > wrote in message
...

> producer related.

.....producer related?

--
Rick Knepper
MicroComputer Support Services
Knepper Audio
Ft. Worth, TX
817-239-9632
413-215-1267 Fax
PC Tech Support & Equipment Sales
CDR Duplication & Audio Mastering
Recording
http://www.rknepper.com

[Scott Dorsey]

In article >,
Willie K.Yee, M.D. <wkyeeATbestwebDOTnet> wrote:
>On Tue, 09 Sep 2003 19:02:53 -0700, BEC > wrote:
>
>> If someone on here could give me some cool leads
>>on budget gear, it would be appreciated.
>
>Marshall MXL 603 and MXL V67G mics. Both less then $100.
>
>Both reviewed on the NG by Harvey Gerst, and considered to offer much
>value for low priced stuff. Confirmed by me.


EV 635A.

If you don't do a review, I might. Somebody needs to.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Mike Tulley]

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 03:40:02 -0700, BEC > wrote:


>Anyway, I'm not only looking at budget gear, but also looking at what
>applications certain pieces of budget gear is good for. Sometimes, the
>cheap stuff is great for 1 or 2 applications.

The dbx 286A mic processor. As a vocal channel, it sucks, but it makes
a brilliant kick drum channel. Re-label the "LF Detail" knob as
"thud" and the "HF Detail" knob as "Click".

Mike T.

[LeBaron & Alrich]

BEC > wrote:

> I'm an established engineer/assistant engineer in LA that works at major
> studios with major artists. I was recently asked to do a series of Pro
> Tools articles for a website. They also want me to do an article on
> cool budget gear ($500 or less, give or take). You know, mics,
> compressors, pres, really anything audio and producer related. Good
> bargin gear for people on budgets.

> Since I primarily work out of Class A Studios, I'm a little out of the
> loop on budget gear. If someone on here could give me some cool leads
> on budget gear, it would be appreciated.

Why are you trying to learn about budget gear for a web article if
you're busy working in "A" studios? Why not take jobs writing about what
you know rather than trying to learn from Usenet what would pass for
information on a web site?

--
ha

[P Stamler]

Oktava MC012 (Sound Room version)
Beyer M-160, M-88, M260, M201
Shure SM-81
Chinese mics with the Dorsey mod

Peace,
Paul

[BEC]

First of all, I'm not going to recommend products I haven't actually used,
that would be ridiculous. I do have several ideas of gear that I own and use
(jomeekVC3 for bass, RNC for vocals, etc) but I was simply asking other
people what they liked, if I try it and like it, I'll write about it. I
wouldn't say a mic was warm and had great presence if I never used it. The
articles will have links to buy gear, so they wanted to make sure I mention
current products and steer away from products that are too obscure.

I used to be a regular on this site, haven't been around much the last year
or so. I didn't expect the flames, this place used to be different.

As far as why I'm writing this article, I'm primarily doing pro tools
articles for them (which i'm very qualified to teach), and their demographic
is more project studio oriented, so I thought this would be a nice tie in.

JDN

LeBaron & Alrich wrote:

> BEC > wrote:
>
> > I'm an established engineer/assistant engineer in LA that works at major
> > studios with major artists. I was recently asked to do a series of Pro
> > Tools articles for a website. They also want me to do an article on
> > cool budget gear ($500 or less, give or take). You know, mics,
> > compressors, pres, really anything audio and producer related. Good
> > bargin gear for people on budgets.
>
> > Since I primarily work out of Class A Studios, I'm a little out of the
> > loop on budget gear. If someone on here could give me some cool leads
> > on budget gear, it would be appreciated.
>
> Why are you trying to learn about budget gear for a web article if
> you're busy working in "A" studios? Why not take jobs writing about what
> you know rather than trying to learn from Usenet what would pass for
> information on a web site?
>
> --
> ha

[t fitzgerald]

You have to beware of what you ask in here or you might get the wrath.
Is that good or bad? I am not sure. The Yamaha spx-90 is a good cheap
effect unit.

Todd Fitzgerald
Chief Engineer
OarFin Studios Minneapolis
www.oarfinrecords.com

[Steve Scott]

says...
> I'm an established engineer/assistant engineer in LA that works at major
> studios with major artists. I was recently asked to do a series of Pro
> Tools articles for a website. They also want me to do an article on
> cool budget gear ($500 or less, give or take). You know, mics,
> compressors, pres, really anything audio and producer related. Good
> bargin gear for people on budgets.

John,
I work (play) on a budget, often start at the bottom and try to find
bargains on my inevitable way up the $ chain. Here's some cheap ones
(live and/or project studio) that worked pretty well:

$300 Shure KSM27 - Excellent budget LD mic for M/F vocals
$420 Presonus MP20 - Decent features, same performance league as:
$260 Symetrix 302
$100 Behringer HA4600/4700 headphone amp - Versatile, cheap
$300 Behringer DEQ2496 Ultra-curve EQ/processor - Powerful/complex
$280 Ashly MQX2150 graphic EQ - Simple, clean, reliable
$500 SLS 8190 speaker - Ribbon tweeter, simply outstanding
$100 Sennheiser HD280-Pro headphones - Great noise supression, nice sound
$400 TC Electronic M-One XL - Smooth FX
$250 Shure Beta 87A - Clean live SD vocal condenser
$500 Alesis DEQ830 graphic - Digital 8-ch. Pretty cool, good features/$

Lots of good deals out there, many less $ than these of course. Regards,

Steve

[Andrew M.]

For the price, I don't think you can find a better mic pre than the ART
Digital MPA. It lists for $600 if I am not mistaken, but I know people
that have picked them up for $500.

Steve Scott wrote:

> says...
>
>>I'm an established engineer/assistant engineer in LA that works at major
>>studios with major artists. I was recently asked to do a series of Pro
>>Tools articles for a website. They also want me to do an article on
>>cool budget gear ($500 or less, give or take). You know, mics,
>>compressors, pres, really anything audio and producer related. Good
>>bargin gear for people on budgets.
>
>
> John,
> I work (play) on a budget, often start at the bottom and try to find
> bargains on my inevitable way up the $ chain. Here's some cheap ones
> (live and/or project studio) that worked pretty well:
>
> $300 Shure KSM27 - Excellent budget LD mic for M/F vocals
> $420 Presonus MP20 - Decent features, same performance league as:
> $260 Symetrix 302
> $100 Behringer HA4600/4700 headphone amp - Versatile, cheap
> $300 Behringer DEQ2496 Ultra-curve EQ/processor - Powerful/complex
> $280 Ashly MQX2150 graphic EQ - Simple, clean, reliable
> $500 SLS 8190 speaker - Ribbon tweeter, simply outstanding
> $100 Sennheiser HD280-Pro headphones - Great noise supression, nice sound
> $400 TC Electronic M-One XL - Smooth FX
> $250 Shure Beta 87A - Clean live SD vocal condenser
> $500 Alesis DEQ830 graphic - Digital 8-ch. Pretty cool, good features/$
>
> Lots of good deals out there, many less $ than these of course. Regards,
>
> Steve

[LeBaron & Alrich]

John Cafarella > wrote:

> > says...
> > > I'm an established engineer/assistant engineer in LA that works at major
> > > studios with major artists. I was recently asked to do a series of Pro
> > > Tools articles for a website.

> Used gear:
> Symetrix sx202 and 302
> Sennheiser MD421

Include the Senn. 441; expensive new but sometimes found nicely on the
used market. Hell of a mic.

> Old electrovoice dynamic mics

Including the omnis.

> Old AKG dynamic mics
> B&O ribbon mics

> New gear
> Marshal MXL603, V67
> Behringer ECM8000
> Oktava MC012
> Shure 57
> Behringer HA4600
> Opamp labs 360BM preamp modules ( if you like building things)

And I wonder what's really "budget" pricing. RNC & RNP are givens, and
for EQ power the Speck ASC roars while their Mic Pre 5.0, though not a
basement priced goodie, is pretty danged keen.

--
hank alrich * secret mountain
audio recording * music production * sound reinforcement
"If laughter is the best medicine let's take a double dose"

[david]

In article >, Scott Dorsey
> wrote:

> In article >,
> Willie K.Yee, M.D. <wkyeeATbestwebDOTnet> wrote:
> >On Tue, 09 Sep 2003 19:02:53 -0700, BEC > wrote:
> >
> >> If someone on here could give me some cool leads
> >>on budget gear, it would be appreciated.
> >
> >Marshall MXL 603 and MXL V67G mics. Both less then $100.
> >
> >Both reviewed on the NG by Harvey Gerst, and considered to offer much
> >value for low priced stuff. Confirmed by me.
>
>
> EV 635A.
>
> If you don't do a review, I might. Somebody needs to.
> --scott



So Scott, tell us about what you get great results with with this mic.
I remember you mentioning it in another thread recently. (pretty cool
saying with with eh?)


David Correia
Celebration Sound
Warren, Rhode Island


www.CelebrationSound.com

[Rob Reedijk]

New Gear:
Q-mix

Used gear:
Senn 421
Akai Dr8/16
Symetrix 501
Urei/JBL 7110

Rob R.