My Music Production Setup

[3dc]

Please don't hate me for this but after months of research and price hunts on various workstations, arrangers and synths I finally decided to setup a home studio instead. I love what these wonderful keyboards offer but I also couldn't go past their weaknesses, that is hardware failures or missing features. You see I don't know how to repair a keyboard but I sure can repair a PC anytime. On top of that I think I've got more for my money then I would ever get with any of these keyboards, well at least in this price range.

Its nothing to brag about but it is a solid entry level music production setup:

FL Studio All Plugins Edition DAW ( 33 instruments, 3 audio, 63 effects and tons of samples )
M-Audio Oxygen Pro 61 + SP-1 Sustain pedal
M-Audio BX8 D3 speakers
Behringer U-Phoria UMC204HD audio interface
Behringer TM1 Complete Vocal Recording microphone
Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro 250 Ohms headphones

Total price 1372 EUR which is cheaper than any serious synth-workstation keyboard. Was this right or wrong move for me only time will tell.

 

[Biggles]

Good for you and good choices.

I even have the same 204HD.

 

[b3maniac]

In times past I set-up a basic PC based home studio so that I could do project tracks at home. [That has been really useful over the years, but it is now way out of date and limited to CD quality (16 bit 44.1) recording. ] I'd love to set-up another DAW with better hardware, but not right now. Don

 

[3dc]

@Biggles thanks for encouragement. I was looking for Focusrite 2i2 initially as it was the most popular choice but 204HD had so many good reviews even from experts so I decided to give it a try. How do you like it?

@b3maniac you can upgrade you studio setup in relative financial comfort these days. No need for huge investment in one go.

For example:
You can rent to own Studio One Professional DAW for 16.99 USD. Its yours after 24 moths. Its an excellent DAW and you can even skip payments. They also have the PreSonus Sphere subscription service with tons of features and samples. Another option is Reaper DAW which is only 60 bucks to own. These two DAW are quite popular choice among producers for instrument based workflow.

As for hardware part you only need studio headphones and audio interface IMHO. Microphone is optional but if you need one you can get good one for 50 USD. The same price is for good studio quality headphones. For audio interface you can pick 202HD for 70 USD or even keep the one you already have now. 44 khz is still industry standard and as far as I understand 48 khz is usually used for DVD and movies projects or sound for large venues like cinema or concert halls.

I hope this give you comfortable options for step by step upgrade.

 

[b3maniac]

"you can upgrade you studio setup in relative financial comfort these days"

3dc, thanks for the encouragement and, you are correct about today's financial investment to get started. I have a version of Studio One (64 bit) and a Focusrite interface but was thinking I would go farther. But, I have lost several close musical friends this year, they were a big part of my musical life. For now I am trying to just "chill" until life comes to a stable state (what-ever that may be). Thanks for the insight and encouragement, it is much appreciated. Don aka B3maniac