What do I *actually* need to sound good?

[Halma]

Don't buy anything new until you realize what exactly you need (or if it's an once in a lifetime chance of course). Seriously. If you have Fruity Loops learn all stock devices first. Perhaps some freeware. But stick to those stuff you like. And understand the signal flow of each device and your DAW so you know exactly what goes in, what happens in-between and when and finally what comes out. You will find that in most of the manuals.

If you like one compressor, learn it's behavior. Don't try to find the perfect compressor for every task or for every task another compressor. Learn the one you have (basically most compressors do the same but with different options and sound), try it on everything with the wierdest settings. Listen closely, adjust makeup gain after each change. Examine your comp. Learn what works and what not. Don't ask for the perfect settings in forums. If you know all the ins and outs of your one and only compressor then you should be ready for the rest of the family.

The same with synths. Stick to one (or two) and learn it (them). Subtractive synthesis is a concept. If you understand it on one particular synth you will understand it on every other synth. Again, it's all about options and sound. But subtractive stays subtractive. No matter if the synth is for free or costs 200 bucks.

Bottom line: don't use too many different devices at once. Learn them one by one. This will keep you busy for a long time.

And finally: if you don't know what you are doing while turning some knobs like feedback and stuff like that, use a LIMITER on each channel. Just for safety reasons. Otherwise you could accidently blow your speakers and your ears. Remove them when you are sure that everything is fine.

Regards
Sebastian

[Mister Natural]

I would think a set of industry-standard powered monitors like the Yamahas or M-Audio or KRK ($300 - $700)

an industry-standard set of headphones - be it from AT, Shure, Senn, Sony, AKG ($100 to $150)

if your tune's instruments sound balanced on BOTH headphones and the monitors, they will sound good to the consumer on whatever they likely will be playing-back your tune on. Remember that the most powerful effect you can use on any instrument you record is the volume slider

a decent soundcard - frankly, all the sub $300 devices sound pretty much the same as each other ie: very good

there is lot's of great advice above re: patience to learn the software you already own as opposed to acquiring the latest flavor of the month device

peace

[skipscada]

A decent set of samples and synth presets for staple sounds for the genre will surely be helpful, at least until you develop a clearer concept of what your own 'sound' should be and feel the need to delve deeper into sound design.

[seismic1]

I started out with 40 quid (for energyXT) and a computer. I had a pair of old, small Polk Audio computer speakers and used the internal RealTek audio interface in the computer. That is enough to get you started. Try to get hold of Computer Music magazine for a few months. Some of the cover DVD programs offer a lot of functionality. I still use a lot of them today. Three or four months with that setup and you should then be able to decide whether you want to invest more. You already have FL Fruity, so you don't need to shell out for EnergyXT. synth1 is an excellent softsynth. I think you're ready to go.

[vurt]

a good idea and time to carve away at it.

[chk071]

Some good proposals here. Especially to check whether or not this is your thing or not before blasting out 100s of dollars. Personally, i found out for me that i will never get this further than being a hobby, so i decided to use mostly magware and freeware. Already some good proposals for freeware here either, Synth1 should serve you well, and it's very versatile too if you want to get deep. Also check out Dune BE, which is a very nice synth too, and isn't crippled at all from the "full" version.

[Halma]

The key is to find some different sounding stuff. I know lot's of stuff that more or less sounds the same. Whether it is freeware or not. Chances are higher when you pay a good amount of money to get some quality stuff with perhaps lesser bugs and better performance. But as chk071 already mentioned: there is enough free- and magware out there that don't need to hide.

People produced #1 hits with way fewer equipment in the past so this should at least do the job for some good badass tunes. It's always the user and not the tool.

Regards
Sebastian

[PatchAdamz]

Talent. Creativity. Drive. Passion. Time (lots of).

And a bagel in case you get hungry.

[tibah]

Knowing your gear aka experience + a listening environment / system you know and trust.

Take your time. A lot of joy, elation, hate and self doubt upcoming. Sometimes all at once.

[kritikon]

Talent. Creativity. Drive. Passion. Time (lots of).

And a bagel in case you get hungry.

That's a bit minimalist. I used to have to have at least a 1Kg block of Cadbury's best, a bucketful of highly salted cashew nuts and a bottle of Armagnac. In times of need, you can replace the Armagnac with petrol (higher octane is better though). Inspiration needs calories.

[kritikon]

I concur with the "don't spend money" thing. Compared to what I started out with, any halfway decent DAW nowadays is stuffed full of more than enough goodies to learn with and make good sounds with.

[woggle]

If you are making electronic music totally in the computer then any computer sounds as good as any other and no DAW sounds better than any other, so you really don't 'need' anything more on the computer-internal side.
Listening back is very important - better speakers make a huge difference - I use Adam A7s and they really helped me a lot. Also good headphones are worthwhile - I use Beyerdynamic DT250's but there are lots of good ones around.
There is no need to buy expensive sound cards - something like a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 is more than enough.
For sound production software it is hard to beat NI Komplete (when on special) for overall 'completeness'. You can then get very cheap synth type intruments for Kontakt from people like Hollow Sun. But there are lots of great free or very cheap fx, synths and samplers eg Valhalldsp make amazing reverbs, Bluecat and Meldaproductions do great free fx bundles.

Summary - first up buy something to hear what you are making - best possible speakers and/or headphones you can afford as they will last for years.
Wait for specials and buy then - you can save a lot.
Don't buy much and don't buy until you are sure you like the interface

[bmanic]

Answer to the topic:

Experience.

Cheers!
bManic

[thecontrolcentre]

Talent and lots of free time.

[bmanic]

Talent doesn't just happen. It is created, it is grown by working hard and thus accumulating experience. Sure, if one is completely tone deaf then it might be the wrong occupation but that's what I'd consider the only obstacle.

So I'd recommend starting small when it comes to budget and gear but don't save any pennies when it comes to time invested! Use all the possible time you have to produce music. The more you do it, no matter what equipment you use, the better it'll be.

The simple fact is that you can create a world nr 1 hit with nothing but free software. It's a complete myth that you need some super secret sauce of hardware or other such non-sense. Going into the nitty gritty details of sound quality is only relevant to a tiny little niche of people (I'm definitely in this niche.. I get immense pleasure from something that I think sounds good). Most people just want to hear the tune and feel the vibes. Nobody's going to care if that was accomplished with Synth1 or something similar.

Cheers!
bManic