Guitar Studio - What do i need?

Michael Engel

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Hi everyone, i haven't been on this forum much since i purchased my axe-2 last summer. The reason is that i haven't been experimenting enough with the unit, and i feel bad because of this. The unit is at our bands studio, so i created the patches i needed and thats it.. The problem is the patches are only mediocre.

Now i found a solution where i can have my axe at a location were i will be able to use it whenever i want to. :D
Thats great! So now i want to create my own small "Guitar Studio". The purpose is creating the best conditions in terms of rehearsing guitar, experimenting with my tone/patches and creating instrumental songs.

What i have:
- Axe 2
- Mfc 101
- 2x Roland EXP pedals
- Mbox 2 - Incl. Pro Tools LE Software - 24-bit
- Macbook Pro 13" Retina with 256 GB SSD (Input/Output: 2x Firebolt, 2x USB 3.0, 1x HDMI)
- Several super awesome electric guitars incl. Fender, Gibson and PRS.

What i believe i need:
- Drum software
- Bass software - or probaly just a bass guitar 8)
- Studio monitors
- Headphones (lost my long loved AKG's)
- Maybe some newer recording hardware
- (Suhr Guitar)

But what do you guys think i need? budget is currently around 2.000 $ increasing. Thanks!



Edit: This is a hobbyist project, i'm not a pro musician.
 
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Thousends of possibilities, so i recommend in general:

- Don`t save in good monitors (Adam A7X and pricerange...)
- Don`t save in good headphones (Beyerdynamic DT-880 Pro to AKG K271S and pricerange)
- Soundcard / Interface which fit your needs, recommend SPDIF in/out (For reamping issues) & 2 good Mic Pre`s
- Axe-Fx II can act as USB soundcard for smaller recording sessions, but not as "full solution" IMHO
- There a dozens of Drum plugins. Sometimes it could make sense to buy a "smaller" version which is upgradable when needed.
- There are dozens of DAWs. Presonus Studio One is very intuitive to use and comes from the engineers of Cubase. "The more modern" Cubase solution. Also: Smaller Version could save money, you could upgrade if it`s needed (when it`s needed).
 
Are you a pro musician, or is this more as a hobbyist? Are you going to make your living with your music?

If all you're using your studio for is for home projects and to enjoy the music you make, I don't think you need amazing quality monitors or headphones, My $100 Sony headphones sound AMAZING. Studio monitors are best heard before you make any decisions. There is an awesome Youtube which shows a guitar store that tries a bunch of studio monitors with the Axe Fx 2 and it is really awesome to hear the various tonalities. I use M-Audio BX5a Studio Monitors and they sound pretty dang good to me.

I use EZ-Drummer and LOVE it, but I'm just a home hobbyist. I would also recommend you get a small midi keyboard in case you want to use sounds and create your own drum tracks. I use an M-audio Keystation Mini 32 that I got on e-bay new for $35. You can use that for bass too, but I bought a Yamaha Bass for $200 that rocks.

This is a kind of general question for people out there, but Garageband is an extraordinarily powerful DAW. I've heard pro quality recordings come out of the user base. Why don't more people use it. With the USB interface through the Axe Fx 2 it sounds amazing to me, but again, I'm just a home hobbyist.

The most important question really is what you want to get out of your gear. Home hobbyist, just for fun, or serious recordings to make a living with. The problem is if you're really serious about making a living with the recordings you make in your little studio, $2K might not really be enough.

Headphones: Sony MDR-7506 | Sweetwater.com

Ez-Drummer: Amazon.com: Toontrack EZdrummer Multi Layer Drum Sampler: Software

Yamaha Bass: Yamaha RBX170 (Black) | Sweetwater.com

Keystation: M-Audio Keystation Mini 32 Midi Kybd 32-Key Bstock > Keyboards & Production > USB Keyboard & Midi Controllers > USB & Midi Keyboard Controllers | ProSound And Stage Lighting

M-Audio BX5a: http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOBX5ADX

Youtube Speaker test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqA68S1Ccgk
 
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I'd go for 2 Atomic CLR active wedges, they are punching far beyond their price as studio monitors, live stage wedges and back line amplification.
They could allow you to sell what ever other amps + cabs you might have and thus free up funds for a good set of headphones (AKG, Beyer Dynamics or similar), drum soft ware and a bass.
 
A pair of Mackie HR824's ... you can fine them used for about $500 a pair... very good monitors for the money.

Toontrack EZ Drummer or Superior Drummer 2.

Focusrite interface... Saffires are good for the money, and use Firewire and or USB... they work well with Pro Tools...

Sony MDR-7506's are good headphones.. closed ear, so they cut down on bleed into microphones, and comfortable ear pieces....

Word of warning... once you start, it can be like a little black hole of " this is the LAST thing I need..."... ;-)
 
Thanks for the replys so far! :)

Morphosis: Those Adam monitors seems awesome, but also pretty expensive. Maybe i will try only using headphones in the beginning. Those Beyerdynamic DT-880 looks pretty comfy ;) Im definitely gonna look more into those.

Kidsfeet: I am not a pro musician, this studio will be like a hobbyist project, but a very heartfull and serious one.
I dont want to go too cheap, my experiance tells me buying cheap is expensive in the long run. I rather spend some more, and be glad for it for a long time. I know in many cases prize isnt a quality stamp and that cheap items can be amazing. And thanks for the link!

Rocket Brother: I think atomic wedges will be too big for this studio arrangement, but i would love too have pair for jamming and gigging. :)

Flyingfadr: I have only heard good things about Mackie monitors, and these do seem nice. But they are also a bit pricey. Im gonna wait with monitors until i read some more about that market.

I hear EZ drummer being recommended a couple of times, is that the best solution if you want to create professional sounding drum beats in a user friendly setup?

Actually the most important thing is, that i need to able to create tracks and jam to them, create ideas and record it. So its very important that delay isnt an issue. Im also gonna see video lessons one the internet while playing guitar. Video and audio from internet must be in sync with what i hear in my headphones.
 
I hear EZ drummer being recommended a couple of times, is that the best solution if you want to create professional sounding drum beats in a user friendly setup?

The more professional, the less user friendly. EZ Drummer is easy, well sounding and inexpensive. The most professional sounding ones are FXpansion BFD and Superior Drummer (imho).
 
All I do is create jam tracks for myself! With my set up, it's fun, easy and the outcome sounds great to me.
 
I found these Yamaha HS80M Yamaha HS80M Powered Studio Monitor
They get great reviews and the price seems fair, anybody here tried them?

Again, the most important thing is that the setup will work without too much latency. Its important that i can view videos on my computer while playing with my axe and all sounds coming into either headphones or monitors. Im in doubt that the Mbox 2 is good enough for this?
 
The Yamaha HS80s are good monitors, I use the HS50s which are slightly smaller. Be aware the prices are often quoted per monitor not per pair.
 
I can vouch for yamaha monitors, they are nicely priced and sound flat/true and I trust them completely when doing mixes.

I don't think you need to get a new interface. I used to have a mbox 2 and the latency was ok. I did get a better interface but it costed 4 times more and the latency difference was minimal.
So I would stick with the mbox 2.

Any DAW will do, garageband, reaver, pro tools, whatever floats your boat and gets the job done eh?

When it comes to drum software I like ez drummer, superior drummer and addictive drums.

Varies in price and user friendlieness and features. All of them are great though, right now ez drummer is half price I believe.

Some other software I could recommend is ezmix 2. It's great if you want things to sound decent but don't have the skills or time to mix them. Ezmix got a lot of presets.
 
I don't think you need to get a new interface. I used to have a mbox 2 and the latency was ok. I did get a better interface but it costed 4 times more and the latency difference was minimal.
So I would stick with the mbox 2.
So i will be able to listen to the tracks created in Garage band, record audio from axe2 and hear it all realtime (or close enough) through studio monitors or headphones?


Right now im thinking about purchasing this:
- Beyerdynamic DT-880 Pro 250 Ohm
- Yamaha HS50M or HS80M
- EZ Drummer

That together with my Axe 2, Mbox 2 and Macbook Pro (incl. Garage Band) should do the job, don't you think?

What cables can you guys recommend for setting up this gear?
 
So i will be able to listen to the tracks created in Garage band, record audio from axe2 and hear it all realtime (or close enough) through studio monitors or headphones?


Right now im thinking about purchasing this:
- Beyerdynamic DT-880 Pro 250 Ohm
- Yamaha HS50M or HS80M
- EZ Drummer

That together with my Axe 2, Mbox 2 and Macbook Pro (incl. Garage Band) should do the job, don't you think?

What cables can you guys recommend for setting up this gear?

Absolutely. All in real time, and I have zero issues with latency.

I bought a good quality USB cable for between my MBP and the Axe and plug the M-Audios with XLR cables into XLR on the back panel of the Axe in stereo. I tried with regular 1/4" plug cables, but got a lot of buzz for some reason. Switched to XLR and eliminated the buzz completely. There are very simple directions in the Axe Fx 2 manual that explains what you have to do to make sure you hear all audio out of the Monitor speakers, but when you do this, you will have to change the input/output settings on your MBP to the Axe. If you have any issues with this or don't know what I mean, let me know. Enjoy!!
 
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