Here is my set up. My stuff is all done live, with every instrument and voice, within a foot or 2 of each other. Thus, I get a more live, old sound product. If I was to do individually, isolated tracks, the stuff would stand up to many commercially released products. The gear is a big part of the puzzle, but the biggest piece is learning how to use it. I have found out it is no easier than learning a totally new instrument. I figure I am able to get about 70% of the potential of my gear. I have a lot more learning to do. Mic placement, right mic for right application, room acoustics, reverbs, delays, eq settings, etc, are all part of it.
I really only know what I have. It works for me, so take it with a grain of salt.
Computer - $1,500
samplitude classic V8 - unlimited tracks- approx $400-great reverbs, can burn cds from it, a highly regarded program.
5 electro harmonix mic preamps- approx $1,000
1 altec lansing 1592A mixer preamp- vintage used- $75
ART TPSII preamp-$100 used
headphone amplifier - $60
Lexicon reverb unit(I use it for headphone mix only)- used- $70
sonny headphones- $100
cables- approx $200
AKG C 414 TLII condesor mic- $300 used-good for vocals, drums, amps, acoustic instruments
AKG C414 BULS condensor mic -$200 used-same as above-these are studio workhorses
Beyerdynamics M 500 ribbon condensor- $200 used vintage- Killer on vocals-sinatra used one in the late 60's for performances
Oktava M012 pencil condensors(2) $200-great on drum overheads, acoustic instruments
RODE NT1A condensor- $200- another low priced, good quality all around workhorse
AT 3035- $100-used- basically same as RODE. I use these set up in the rear of of my studio to catch the room, and pan one left, one right, in the mix
Delta 1010 soundcard-$200 used- allows for up to 8 inputs at once.
So, all told, I have about $4,500 into a complete studio, cd burning operation. One can easily spend that on the recording time for a single cd. I have made over 1,000 full lenght ones since getting this set up. Walter
my studio

my latest invention- a quick change set up from stick to brush


