Topic: Getting Back in the Game / Best Rig For $800-$1000?

[Nick's Picks]

Studio projects LSD 2  :  used around $500.  New, $700.
get an "all in one" deck, like the Marantz 660, 661, 671 (modified would be best). 
you'll be around $1200 there in total.

I also liked and would 2nd the recommendation of the Naint littlebox preamp > small deck (edirol r09, sony m10).  Thats the whole back end for $500.
then cruise the yard sale for the best mics you can find for the remaining dough.

[Belexes]

For a recorder, I'd suggest the 09HR and one is now in the yard sale:
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=133991.0  $230

Good suggestion. 

[darktrain]

akg 46X or 39X(300-600) > naiant littlebox(260.00 with internal rechargable lithium) > Sony PCM-M10(300.00) , that is one solid rig for 860.00 - 1160.00

[charles]

All great suggestions guys. Thanks for all the advice. The laptop I would be using is not my primary laptop so it is somewhat expendable. However, it's not an old clunker either. Runs a Pentium dual-core and 3GB of RAM so it should easily be able to keep up with recording without dropouts, etc. as long as I wipe it clean except for the OS and Wavelab or Soundforge. I can get an extra battery dock to deal with the potential issues there. If it shits the bed along the way, that's fine. Like I said, it's not my primary laptop.

That leaves $1000 for mics and a pre / A/D. I'm going to go ahead and mark in the laptop as the recorder and allot $700 to the mics and $300 to the pre and see what I can come up with. If anyone has suggestions to the specific numbers, I'm all ears. In the meantime I'm going to start searching around and doing some reading to catch up on all the new mics and pres out there. The last time I was frequenting this group the Pelusos (these still around?) were the new interesting mid price range mic. I guess now it's Busman's new line. Are there any other new mid price range mics out there that haven't already been mentioned?

As for the pre, I'm going to check further into this Littlebox. Sounds very interesting. Any other new pres out there I should check out?

[Brian Skalinder]

Personally, I wouldn't rely on the laptop to do ADC (sound quality is almost assuredly sub-par), so I'd look for an outboard ADC option.  I think an Edirol UA-5 fits the bill nicely for pre + ADC, like these in the YS:

Oade W-MOD
Oade P-MOD

[Fried Chicken Boy]

Personally, I wouldn't rely on the laptop to do ADC (sound quality is almost assuredly sub-par), so I'd look for an outboard ADC option.  I think an Edirol UA-5 fits the bill nicely for pre + ADC

Agreed and great call on the UA-5 option; there are more than a few superb recordings using this device.  As far as the Littlebox is concerned, it is a great pre for the money but as there's no on-board a/d converter you won't have much initial use for it unless you're running it in front of a UA-5 (or other computer interface) which is redundant considering your budget.  Could be a better idea to put that money toward your mics and hold off on the Littlebox until you're considering a standalone recorder.  My .02.

[Jhurlbs81]

I think an Edirol UA-5 fits the bill nicely for pre + ADC

[sparkey]

km184>littlebox>cheapest bitbucket you can find.  In a month or two buy yourself a sbm1 and you're in business, with a fairly small footprint taboot taboot.

[stevetoney]

All great suggestions guys. Thanks for all the advice. The laptop I would be using is not my primary laptop so it is somewhat expendable. However, it's not an old clunker either. Runs a Pentium dual-core and 3GB of RAM so it should easily be able to keep up with recording without dropouts, etc. as long as I wipe it clean except for the OS and Wavelab or Soundforge. I can get an extra battery dock to deal with the potential issues there. If it shits the bed along the way, that's fine. Like I said, it's not my primary laptop.

That leaves $1000 for mics and a pre / A/D. I'm going to go ahead and mark in the laptop as the recorder and allot $700 to the mics and $300 to the pre and see what I can come up with. If anyone has suggestions to the specific numbers, I'm all ears. In the meantime I'm going to start searching around and doing some reading to catch up on all the new mics and pres out there. The last time I was frequenting this group the Pelusos (these still around?) were the new interesting mid price range mic. I guess now it's Busman's new line. Are there any other new mid price range mics out there that haven't already been mentioned?

As for the pre, I'm going to check further into this Littlebox. Sounds very interesting. Any other new pres out there I should check out?

The Peluso's might be a good choice for you if that's a sound you like.  Personally, not a fan, but that's what makes this group interesting.  One of the 'buzz' mics in your price range is probably the Beyerdynamic MC930.  I think they can be purchased new for around $700 a pair.  Again, I'm not a huge fan of this microphone, but there's alot of people that think these sounds fantastic.  If I had $1000, I think personally that I'd be looking strongly at that MC300 pair in the YS.

I also like the suggestion of Neumann km184 alot, but you're getting a little your budget there, unless you're lucky to find a pair for $800, which I have actually seen two sets of recently.

As far as preamps, your options for high quality are limited in the $300 range, so the Littlebox and Oade mod UA-5's, as I'd already suggested, are about as good of suggestions as you're gonna get.  I suppose you might fall into an Sound Devices MP-2/Mixpre for $350, again if you're lucky, but personally I think the other preamps mentioned sound better than an MP-2.

BTW, not sure if you're aware, but Littlebox is made by a ts.com member, so that's one of the reasons they're both inexpensive and high quality; a) they're custom made for what we do, and b) he's not charging ts.com members alot of money/markup for manufacturing.

[Big Perm]

There is an Oade mod UA-5 in the YS right now for $200! I think this is a no brainer for the price range you are in.  I still have mine and run as a back up rig and still love it.  Tough to beat for the price...plus you get the A/D and the pre all in one.

(the ONLY reason i would take the ua-5 over the littlebox is for A/D processing)

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=133859.0

as for mics: Tonedeaf is correct (IMHO) the Microtech Gefell M300 matched pair in the YS are sick mics!  This would put you back in the game in a big way.  I personally would add a cheap bit-bucket and your on your way to some really nice tapes.  (well i guess none of us really pull tapes anymore, but the lingo lives on )

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=132214.0

good luck with whatever you decide!
adam

[it-goes-to-eleven]

Folks are talking about good cheap bit buckets like they actually exist.

There are a number of excellent cheap recorders... but not bit buckets.   But then again, I don't think there are that many good stand-alone a/d's.  I question whether the ua5 a/d is as good as an r09.  Same for the sbm.

[Fried Chicken Boy]

Folks are talking about good cheap bit buckets like they actually exist.

There are a number of excellent cheap recorders... but not bit buckets.   But then again, I don't think there are that many good stand-alone a/d's.  I question whether the ua5 a/d is as good as an r09.  Same for the sbm.

The OP stated that he would like to use a laptop computer as a recorder which led to the suggestions of the UA-5 as a pre and a/d converter over using the (most-likely) crappy a/d converter in the computer.

Speaking of which, I noticed that sparkey suggested using the Littlebox into a bit bucket.  I do recall Jon mentioning in the LB thread about adding a/d conversion but has that become a reality and is it available now?  I'm out of the loop. 

[Big Perm]

Folks are talking about good cheap bit buckets like they actually exist.

There are a number of excellent cheap recorders... but not bit buckets.   But then again, I don't think there are that many good stand-alone a/d's.  I question whether the ua5 a/d is as good as an r09.  Same for the sbm.

Do you feel the a/d on the r-09 is better than the ua-5 that has been modded?  It might be, i have never used the r-09...interesting.
a

what about the ACM marantz 660.  From what i can tell it is a nice all in one for the price....$400 in YS right now (however, i believe this limits you to 16b)

[it-goes-to-eleven]

Do you feel the a/d on the r-09 is better than the ua-5 that has been modded?  It might be, i have never used the r-09...interesting.

Possibly, it is an unknown. That also depends on how good the analog outs are on the ua5.  There were a couple of comps where the r09 did surprisingly well behind the v3 when compared against the v3's a/d.

But if the OP is willing to deal with a laptop, then he has his bitbucket.

[charles]

What about mics > AD-20 > Laptop?

If memory serves, can't a used AD-20 be had for pretty cheap used? Not sure how the ADC in this unit compares to the ones in the other units mentioned above, but if it's comparable wouldn't that allow for substantially more money to be allotted to the mics?

I should have checked the yard sale before I posted this to see if any AD-20 are for sale in there. I'll do that now.

**Update** Just checked yard sale and saw one going for $100. That would free up a lot of $ for mics. So, how much quality would be lost compared to the UA5 and others mentioned?