I've been producing for about a year now, making EDM, orchestral and trip-hop music, I realised I'm getting pretty good musically/compositionally and I just got my first paycheck for a commission, I want to use the money to invest in my studio... but what should I buy? There are so many options! I'll give a quick list of what I have:
I have a pair of rokit rp6s Active monitors, I'm pretty satisfied there. I've got dual 24" screens. I have a focusrite saffire LE which is ok, but a bit noisy at times and it's firewire, which sucks if I want to go out and produce with my laptop which only has USB. I have a decent desk with enough space for things and my computer is pretty good (although I could do with a bit more RAM, things start to slow down when I'm using lots of samples). I also have a keystation pro-88, which I'm starting to dislike as the action is so heavy and the keys are loud on springback. I also have a Maschine. I have an electro-acoustic guitar which I use occasionally and a Shure SM58.
Software/plugins-wise I have Ableton live 8 suite and Komplete 5, which I got second hand for $50, would it be worth upgrading to Komplete 8, which is only £180? I have session strings pro, which I love. CamelPhat and... That's about it I guess, I use everything in the box in Ableton and it's good... but not great. I err... pirated Izotope Ozone for a while, it made everything sound leagues better but I felt so guilty that I uninstalled it.
I have various sample packs I downloaded off samplemagic and primeloops, but I really think I'm lacking in this regard, I'm pretty stingy with my money so I just hate splurging on sample packs. I'd LOVE vocal sample packs, either EDM style or full church-style choirs, any recommendations? I use the Maschine library most, more for the eclectic glitch/ambient sounds than the drums, which I tend to make myself. The Kontakt 3 library is pretty expansive and I use that a lot too.
Literature-wise I have Paul White's Producer's manual (highly recommended) and I have Orchestration by Cecil Forsyth. I'd love books like Bob Katz's Mastering Audio, but is it worth the spend in comparison to new gear/plugins?
So what would you, O discerning reader, suggest I upgrade my studio with next? What would you recommend I invest my money in? I'm thinking I'll move into buying more sample packs + plugins and just stick with the hardware that I have, but there are SO MANY sample packs on the internet that it's hard to know which ones which will genuinely be useful. Plugins are also far too expensive to be absolutely decisive on a limited budget(izotope Trash 2 is £150!?).
Sorry for the long, sprawling read and thanks in advance!
Ok, I have £200, what should I buy?
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- KVRAF
- 2040 posts since 15 Aug, 2012 from Australia
How about an Arturia keyboard or a bunch of ram?
Admits to speed reading but picking up on your desire for both of the above...
Arturia goes up to 61 keys and feels great with good velocity and aftertouch..
Admits to speed reading but picking up on your desire for both of the above...
Arturia goes up to 61 keys and feels great with good velocity and aftertouch..
I'm tired of being insane. I'm going outsane for some fresh air.
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- KVRian
- 996 posts since 14 Jun, 2012 from Toronto, Canada
Save money, wait until K9, upgrade.
It's all about the wavelets. I dream of the perfect additive synthesis.
You can hire me if you are in Toronto! Contact for details.
You can hire me if you are in Toronto! Contact for details.
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 6 posts since 19 Feb, 2012
I have 5gb DDR2 ram, it seems to run ok, when it's sluggish I can't tell if it's my CPU or the RAM, another 2-4gb a worthwhile upgrade?werp wrote:How about an Arturia keyboard or a bunch of ram?
Admits to speed reading but picking up on your desire for both of the above...
Arturia goes up to 61 keys and feels great with good velocity and aftertouch..
As for the controller, I'm a pianist by nature so I like having the full 88 keys, for production I actually do more with the mouse and piano roll than with my controller and I barely know what aftertouch is :S
Oh I should also mention I have PianoTeq 4 STAGE, which is amazing.
Any ETA on K9? I know they've just announced a new Synth, but I still think it's going to be a while before anything happens! I'm pretty confident I'll be earning more and more money over time, this upgrade is just so I can speed up my workflow or get some inspiring sounds/synths because I really feel I need something to move myself along, I don't want to be saving up for months and months and just be disappointed, too.schnapsglas wrote:Save money, wait until K9, upgrade.
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- KVRAF
- 8237 posts since 22 Sep, 2008 from Windsor. UK
Buy nothing and keep saving for better monitors.
When you upgrade, you'll realise just how misplaced your happiness is in your current ones.
When you upgrade, you'll realise just how misplaced your happiness is in your current ones.
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- KVRAF
- 1821 posts since 5 Oct, 2003
tehlord wrote:Buy nothing and keep saving for better monitors.
When you upgrade, you'll realise just how misplaced your happiness is in your current ones.
Upgrading monitors can a revelation. Years back, when I stepped up from Alesis Monitor Ones (remember those?) to a pair of Genelec 1032 I was just flabbergasted. The Monitors Ones were serving me fine, but after hearing what I was missing I could never go back. The vast majority of software has a fixed lifecycle. With care, professional grade monitors can serve you for decades.
"Time makes fools of us all. Our only comfort is that greater shall come after us." Eric Temple Bell
http://thetomorrowfile.bandcamp.com/
http://thetomorrowfile.bandcamp.com/
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- Banned
- 254 posts since 7 Jun, 2008 from On this 1 world!
UK£ 200 = 230 Euros. That's not a huge amount nor too little.
You have to check out what inspires you - before thinking of purchasing something..... If you have no clear idea better save the cash and wait until you know more. The Industry out there is very smart with "suggesting" you the next "new" wonder tool.
So take your time.
Good luck!
You have to check out what inspires you - before thinking of purchasing something..... If you have no clear idea better save the cash and wait until you know more. The Industry out there is very smart with "suggesting" you the next "new" wonder tool.
So take your time. Good luck!
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 6 posts since 19 Feb, 2012
I'm actually very happy with my set-up, I alternate between my Rokits and my V-moda M-100s for monitoring and I like it this way, I actually create most of my music on my headphones then switch to my Rokits when I want to play things to other people or simply play music loud and dance about. That said, I'm open to upgrading monitors, just not now, much farther in the future!MickGael wrote:tehlord wrote:Buy nothing and keep saving for better monitors.
When you upgrade, you'll realise just how misplaced your happiness is in your current ones.
Upgrading monitors can a revelation. Years back, when I stepped up from Alesis Monitor Ones (remember those?) to a pair of Genelec 1032 I was just flabbergasted. The Monitors Ones were serving me fine, but after hearing what I was missing I could never go back. The vast majority of software has a fixed lifecycle. With care, professional grade monitors can serve you for decades.
I think what's inspiring me right now is an either a new interface, maybe the focusrite pro or an upgrade to Live 9... but I might just be crazy...
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- KVRAF
- 4279 posts since 14 Nov, 2008 from UK
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- KVRist
- 439 posts since 7 Mar, 2011 from Pleasanton, CA
Re samples, check out SonicCouture. Top-quality stuff, and some good variety.
+1 on waiting 'til Komplete 9. I love 8, but I don't know how much difference there is from 5 to 8.
Oh, I voted for mastering sw I.e. Ozone. It's inexpensive from say AudioDeluxe. I expect you'll really enjoy getting it back, and legitimately, especially since you already know you love it. I recommend the Ozone/Alloy bundle.
+1 on waiting 'til Komplete 9. I love 8, but I don't know how much difference there is from 5 to 8.
Oh, I voted for mastering sw I.e. Ozone. It's inexpensive from say AudioDeluxe. I expect you'll really enjoy getting it back, and legitimately, especially since you already know you love it. I recommend the Ozone/Alloy bundle.
Seasoned IT vet, Mac user, and lover of music. Always learning.
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 6 posts since 19 Feb, 2012
So you turned out to be the wisest of them all!schnapsglas wrote:Save money, wait until K9, upgrade.
For me to upgrade to K9 it would cost 600... Worth it IMO, but what do you think?
Also, it is worth getting it as soon as possible? Is K9 Ultimate likely to sell out on the website?
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- KVRer
- 7 posts since 7 Mar, 2013
I would definitely go with Komplete 9 now it's out and if you can save up for Ultimate go with that, the new Premium series is amazing.
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thecontrolcentre thecontrolcentre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=76240 - KVRAF
- 37262 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from Scottish Borders
If you upgrade to Live 9 Suite you get 50GB of sample content, plus The Glue, Audio to Midi and Convolution Reverb. I just upgraded for £139 (last day to get the $99 discount) ... been downloading all day.dilinator wrote:Software/plugins-wise I have Ableton live 8 suite and Komplete 5, which I got second hand for $50, would it be worth upgrading to Komplete 8, which is only £180? I have session strings pro, which I love. CamelPhat and...
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- KVRAF
- 24414 posts since 7 Jan, 2009 from Croatia
Komplete won't be on sale for at least a year, I'm sure. Get it now if you really want it to.dilinator wrote:Also, it is worth getting it as soon as possible? Is K9 Ultimate likely to sell out on the website?