Sonar? Logic? ProTools? WHICH IS BEST?

[jpmuzic]

That is crazy from sweetwater they do know what they are talking about but you should do some more research you still don't have to spend that much money. Hard drives done cost that much anymore I went to Cosco and purchase a 1 TB for $199.99 with a $40 rebate, Dyn-audio or Genelec do you have to spend that much not really. This is one of the reason why I enjoyed the Rally where I met and made some good relationships we West La Music call them up I guarantee that you will not have to spend that munch money. Go to Guitar Center or Sam Ash and talk to some one that knows what they are talking about as far as putting a package together for you trust you do not have to pay that much. Have you seen the economy lately/ LOL

[matto]

Yeah the problem with listening to Sweetwater is the advice they give you is biased because they want to make money off of you. None of your fellow forum members here do, and I daresay some of us are as knowledgeable as Sweetwater sales people... I would recommend against an iMac for a main DAW computer. They are very inflexible machines with considerable limitations.I think you would be much better off finding an older Mac Pro (which some dealers should still be stocking) and saving money that way. Or if you can, find a refurbished one that fits your needs.There are advantages to both Macs and PCs (I know because I have used both - for music), but the biggest advantage of the PC platform is you can have a machine built to your exact needs. With Apple you have to chose from a selection of models which Apple thinks meet your needs. They may or may not, particularly if you are on a budget.

[mazz]

1,000 dollar monitors in an acoustically marginal room will sound worse than 500 dollar monitors in a room with some decent acoustical treatment. I'd get less costly speakers and put a few bucks in to a room treatment kit from Auralex or Primacoustic. Treatment is often overlooked until people realize that their mixes still sound like crap even though they have these great speakers. It's like buying a 3,000 Strat and playing it through a transistor radio.For 2500 you can get a refurbished MacPro 8 core that will be at least twice as powerful as the MacBook Pro. You would still need a monitor but you can get 19 inch LCDs for 200 or less these days if you shop around.If you already told the guy you had a keyboard, why did he still try to sell an 88 key controller? I have a UF80 and I've never plugged in the wireless MIDI. I don't trust wireless for anything except WiFi and syncing my palm to my laptop. Wireless stuff for music is asking for headaches. He knows about those little Korg Nano controllers that you could set on top of your Roland. They sell for 60 bucks or less!! That's why I don't think, even for all their hype, that Sweetwater really has your best interest at heart!! Sorry, but they don't impress me! Don't rush in to this. Sure, you need to get some gear but you could start with a somewhat scaled back setup and add as the needs arise and as your skills and ear for production improve.You're going to get lots of opinions here, kind of like reviews of songs!! But listen to me 'cause I'm right! Hang in there!!Mazz

[girasoledonna]

Mazz,I think you're my new best friend Love,Anj

[girasoledonna]

Oh and P.S. - I think he tried to sell me the UF-80 because I was thinking of getting a controller with 88 keys anyway - my keyboard now is for gigging and if i use it for studio will have to serve both purposes which could be a real pain. But for 60 bucks I may need to go with the Korg! hahaI think I'm not gonna go with the Laptop afterall. For almost the same buckage I can get a desktop with so much more power. I just wanted the portability because I live with my folks and sometimes I just can't concentrate here and wanted to be able to get out if need be and do some work elsewhere.I dont think I can do much to my room right now - i'm saving to get a condo next year, but in the meantime my "studio" is my bedroom. So I doubt I can improve the acoustics very much. But still, I think you are right about the $1,000 monitors. They'll probably be lost on me anyway in my current situation. Got a good suggestion instead for monitors?This would be the point where my head implodes!! And I havent even started composing yet! hahaha- Anj

[southpaw]

markertek makes some acoustic foam for 40 bux which would help tame some early reflections, and help reduce 'hollow' sounding recordings with these absorbers. I have a small studio as well, and if you have drywall and a lot of resonance, as mazz said, it might behoove you to 'deaden' the room up a bit. In a small room, you'll want to have a few absorbers of some sort to try to dry up the acoustics, and maybe some bass traps for the corners..*Note that acoustic treatment is a complex subject in itself and their is much more too it than one would expect, (their are experts who study this and get paid big bux for consultation in this and i am far from an authority in this respect) at this point, imo dont get too carried away with this stuff, but know that some treatment is always better than no treatment. Again, I think you're making a good choice with a desktop and will be satisfied. With the midi controller... Dude, you dont need a $700 controller. If you want 88 key i think maudios 88 key is around 200 bux. For desktop purchase, you might be elegible for educational discount on a new unit which is about the same discount as on a refurb unit. But as i mentioned before, if you upgrade RAM, HD space, etc. your best bet for cutting costs is to buy third party hardware.. I bought my mac pro whictch totalled just under what i paid for my G5 when the G5 first came out.. Only the mac pro i bought had, literally, twice the procesing power, 5 gbs more memory, and three times the storage space. Take 'er easy, Jamie

[slideboardouts]

Jan 7, 2009, 10:09am, girasoledonna wrote:Hey there - just wanted to clarify - it was $7,000 for the entire system - I use SweetWater, and I called my main guy there - this is what he suggested: Time Capsule – for back up $500 Hard Drive – PortaGig – $230UF-80 Controller - Wireless Midi built into it: 88-note, fully weighted, $700 Acoustic Piano – Native Instruments – "Jaw Dropping" Grand Piano Sound $300 Logic - $500Interface – Apogee Duet (pre amp mic for vocals is awesome) $500Monitors – Near Field Monitors $1,000 – Dyn Audio, Genelec 820Headphones – $200Cables – $15Mic – $200MacBookPro – $2,500Additonal Monitor - $150TOTAL EXPENSES = Total = $6,500He was trying to set me up with a wireless set-up, but the truth is, after talking to my boyfriend, I realized with just a few wires, I can save a ton of money. First, I can nix the wireless portagig and time capsule, and get ones for half the price. Second, I can just use my roland for my controller. And what about these monitors? Do i really need thousand dollar monitors? I thought that was ALOT, but the salesman told me skimping on monitors is a bad idea. Still, I'm not doing scores for major movies - I'm guessing this is NOT necessary.Lastly, Definitley go with refurbish and perhaps NOT a laptop but desktop which comes WITH the monitor. That should save me some dough. I'll report back when I know more! Yeah that is definitely waaaay too much crap for a starting set up. Genelecs and dynadios are top of the line monitors that are really overkill for your situation, especially if you are in an untreated room like mazz said. You don't want to skimp on monitors, but you don't need to get top of the line stuff either. That is rediculous in my opinion. As far as suggestions on monitors, I really like the KRK Rokit 6's. IMO they sound better than anything else I've heard in their price range, and I read that a lot of people tend to agree. I like the 6's for my particular situation as the 5's were a bit to dinky sounding and the 8's were a bit too boomy. But that varies on your situation. The 6's might be terrible for you but the 8's or 5's might be just right. The thing is, its kind of hard to pick out monitors when you have no mixing experience whatsoever. I personally think you are safe with the KRK's though. I use a MBP and it works fine, but if I could I would definitely go for the desktop. I bought my MBP for non-music stuff and it just ended up being my music machine for various reasons. If, back then, I was buying a mac specifically for music I would have spent that 2k on a refurbished mac pro without a doubt.-Steve

[southpaw]

Ill second steve on the RP6's, i had the rp5s and then i returned them and have been happy with the 6's since they are more accurate than my behrenger truth and Emu precision monitors.

[hummingbird]

Jan 7, 2009, 9:22am, matto wrote:Jan 6, 2009, 3:06pm, girasoledonna wrote:Well I've done my research, and with buying all the equipment and the MacBookPro with maxed ram and apple care subscription - its looking like this will cost more than I thought. I had anticipated about $5,000 but its looking more like $7,000. OUCH!! I'm just a poor school teacher! But actually this is the best time to buy this stuff. I live with my folks still, have very small overhead, and have a steady full time job. I will be able to pay this off quickly actually! If i work hard, probably within a year! But alas, it is still quite an investment.I wouldn't spend $7k, that's for sure. Maybe you should look into custom built PC's after all. If you need a laptop, you can get a custom built machine that's basically a destop replacement (Intel Quad Core 2.8, 4GB RAM, 2 large internal drives etc for under $3500). You can add a good bit of software to that and still stay under $5k.If you go with a desktop (and I would not recommend a laptop for running your primary DAW unless you absolutely need the portability) you can get an extremely powerful system for under 2.5k, and something a bit more modest but still easily powerful enough for what you need for even consideranly less than that. Remember I'm talking PC custom built for music here, not an off the shelf Dell or HP.I'm not trying to sway you from Mac to PC, I really couldn't care less about which you get, but spending $7k is crazy IMHO when you have limited funds, and absolutely unnecessary.I agree. My custom built desktop PC was about $1800 CA, and then I've purchased various software... about $1500 more.

[davewalton]

Jan 7, 2009, 10:09am, girasoledonna wrote:Hey there - just wanted to clarify - it was $7,000 for the entire system - I use SweetWater, and I called my main guy there - this is what he suggested: Time Capsule – for back up $500 Hard Drive – PortaGig – $230UF-80 Controller - Wireless Midi built into it: 88-note, fully weighted, $700 Acoustic Piano – Native Instruments – "Jaw Dropping" Grand Piano Sound $300 Logic - $500Interface – Apogee Duet (pre amp mic for vocals is awesome) $500Monitors – Near Field Monitors $1,000 – Dyn Audio, Genelec 820Headphones – $200Cables – $15Mic – $200MacBookPro – $2,500Additonal Monitor - $150TOTAL EXPENSES = Total = $6,500He was trying to set me up with a wireless set-up, but the truth is, after talking to my boyfriend, I realized with just a few wires, I can save a ton of money. First, I can nix the wireless portagig and time capsule, and get ones for half the price. Second, I can just use my roland for my controller. And what about these monitors? Do i really need thousand dollar monitors? I thought that was ALOT, but the salesman told me skimping on monitors is a bad idea. Still, I'm not doing scores for major movies - I'm guessing this is NOT necessary.Lastly, Definitley go with refurbish and perhaps NOT a laptop but desktop which comes WITH the monitor. That should save me some dough. I'll report back when I know more!Hi Ang, He forgot to mention one minor detail... virtual instruments!!!!! One slammin' setup but all that to create a "Piano" sound? I'm agreeing with everyone... this is something that (I think) has to be done in the context of a reasonable budget.Until last Christmas, I did everything with a single-core Pentium 4 PC with 1.5 gb of RAM. Full orchestra, synths, drums... the whole works. That means that any off the shelf PC (or the Mac equivalent), dual or quad core with 3gb of RAM will be MORE than enough unless your first project is a 300 track orchestral score with choir and the whole works. Honestly, an $800 PC from Dell (or a reasonble equivalent in the Mac world) combined with EWQL Gold will give you a full orchestra plus a nice piano for around $1600. I've used the EWQL piano until recently and got LOTS of air play with that thing. Add in a DAW (~$500), reference monitors (mine are Alesis M1 Active (~ $300), plus your other goodies for audio recording. WAY below the $7000 price you were quoted. Leaves money for VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS which is what this is really all about. I'm not even sure I'VE spent $7000 total on all my stuff. Dave