4 ms·

Logic has been $200 for a while. Even though Logic uses Audio Unit plugins, I don't think there is really any substitute for physical hardware. You can get th

by joeblau 13y ago

Logic has been $200 for a while. Even though Logic uses Audio Unit plugins, I don't think there is really any substitute for physical hardware. You can get this to run a project on the cheap, but it's still going to cost you $1000+ for a good mic and +600+ hardware like compressors, limiters, equalizers, monitors, and mixing boards. Plus you have to get cabling, power conditioners and cases to hold and connect everything. My last "Home Studio" ran me nearly $10,000; Logic was the cheapest thing I had to buy and that's when it was around $700.

knowaveragejoe 13y ago
Unless you plan on making your own vocal or acoustic instrument samples, most of that equipment isn't necessary.
- joeblau 13y ago
  Yeah then you need real instruments which aren't cheap either. Along with that you need a way to record your instruments to a digital or analog format. Unless your a street performer that's playing drums on old buckets and trash cans and not recording anything, it's going to cost more than the $200 for a DAW. My point is that making music is not as cheap as people think it is.
- klodolph 13y ago
  Samples? Some of us record audio tracks, we don't use MIDI for everything. For example, if you want to record your band at home, you might have six microphones just to get started (vocals, guitar, bass, snare, kick, and drum overhead). Outboard limiters and microphone preamps are not out of the question. On the other hand, if you do everything with software samplers and synthesizers, then you just need a computer, Logic, and some headphones.
  - VLM 13y ago
    You missed how much it costs... perhaps $500 for pro grade audio per channel. So he's talking about $3K so far. Now you'll argue that a bottom of the barrel high end amateur grade mic might be only $50. But you'll still need cables, probably a preamp, some kind of (expensive) interface box to input 6 audio channels in phase (can't just plug in 3 stereo usb sound adapters... well, usually...). A decent stand or boom is probably $75 for a hunk of metal. Suddenly paying $50 for a cheap mic is false economy if the support infrastructure is setting you back $300... may as well buy a decent $200 class mic... to go with your $200 software. Unless you're solely a vocal group you'll probably need to mic and input instruments. My sister used to play the viola (more or less a big violin). A pro grade mic costs $400. Not a viola with a mic installed. Not a package deal of mic and cable and preamp and all that. No, just the custom designed weirdly mounted mic. Before permanent professional installation of course. This is probably an extreme, obviously its hard to mic a stringed instrument without screwing up the resonance sounds while the musicians face is inches away from the mic. I bet you could mic a brass instrument for a quarter the cost.
    - klodolph 13y ago
      That was exactly my point. If you pay $500 per channel, and maybe $1k for monitors, $1k for the computer, $1k for a MIDI controller, that's already $6k. Another $4k could easily get eaten up by room treatments, misc hardware like mic stands and cables, control interfaces, patch bays, etc. So $10k is reasonable, and if that's reasonable, then the difference between $200 Logic and $60 is not all that great. Never mind the fact that if you actually earn a living doing this, the Reaper license is $225 anyway. P.S. I think the $50 for a cheap mic is too low, and $100 is the lowest you should pay (probably for an SM57). P.P.S. There are lots of ways to mic a Viola, no need to get a special Viola mic.
coldtea 13y ago
>Logic has been $200 for a while. Even though Logic uses Audio Unit plugins, I don't think there is really any substitute for physical hardware. You may not, but most of the productions, from the Billboard top-100 to independent stuff, are choke full of plugins. And a lot of "physical hardware" can't be told apart when A/B with quality plugins (Waves, UAD etc). >You can get this to run a project on the cheap, but it's still going to cost you $1000+ for a good mic and +600+ hardware like compressors, limiters, equalizers, monitors, and mixing boards. Plus you have to get cabling, power conditioners and cases to hold and connect everything. My last "Home Studio" ran me nearly $10,000; Logic was the cheapest thing I had to buy and that's when it was around $700. If you want to record Led Zeppelin, maybe. For a 4-piece rock band, Logic, a mixing board, a audio interface, a pair of monitors, a few mikes, stands, rack unit etc, will do it for around $3000-$4000. And for electronic music (including hip-hop), you can just make do with Logic, an audio interface, headphones, monitors, a MIDI keyboard and one-two mikes, for around $1500 total.

by joeblau 13y ago

knowaveragejoe 13y ago

Unless you plan on making your own vocal or acoustic instrument samples, most of that equipment isn't necessary.

joeblau 13y ago
Yeah then you need real instruments which aren't cheap either. Along with that you need a way to record your instruments to a digital or analog format. Unless your a street performer that's playing drums on old buckets and trash cans and not recording anything, it's going to cost more than the $200 for a DAW. My point is that making music is not as cheap as people think it is.
klodolph 13y ago
Samples? Some of us record audio tracks, we don't use MIDI for everything. For example, if you want to record your band at home, you might have six microphones just to get started (vocals, guitar, bass, snare, kick, and drum overhead). Outboard limiters and microphone preamps are not out of the question. On the other hand, if you do everything with software samplers and synthesizers, then you just need a computer, Logic, and some headphones.
- VLM 13y ago
  You missed how much it costs... perhaps $500 for pro grade audio per channel. So he's talking about $3K so far. Now you'll argue that a bottom of the barrel high end amateur grade mic might be only $50. But you'll still need cables, probably a preamp, some kind of (expensive) interface box to input 6 audio channels in phase (can't just plug in 3 stereo usb sound adapters... well, usually...). A decent stand or boom is probably $75 for a hunk of metal. Suddenly paying $50 for a cheap mic is false economy if the support infrastructure is setting you back $300... may as well buy a decent $200 class mic... to go with your $200 software. Unless you're solely a vocal group you'll probably need to mic and input instruments. My sister used to play the viola (more or less a big violin). A pro grade mic costs $400. Not a viola with a mic installed. Not a package deal of mic and cable and preamp and all that. No, just the custom designed weirdly mounted mic. Before permanent professional installation of course. This is probably an extreme, obviously its hard to mic a stringed instrument without screwing up the resonance sounds while the musicians face is inches away from the mic. I bet you could mic a brass instrument for a quarter the cost.
  - klodolph 13y ago
    That was exactly my point. If you pay $500 per channel, and maybe $1k for monitors, $1k for the computer, $1k for a MIDI controller, that's already $6k. Another $4k could easily get eaten up by room treatments, misc hardware like mic stands and cables, control interfaces, patch bays, etc. So $10k is reasonable, and if that's reasonable, then the difference between $200 Logic and $60 is not all that great. Never mind the fact that if you actually earn a living doing this, the Reaper license is $225 anyway. P.S. I think the $50 for a cheap mic is too low, and $100 is the lowest you should pay (probably for an SM57). P.P.S. There are lots of ways to mic a Viola, no need to get a special Viola mic.

coldtea 13y ago

>Logic has been $200 for a while. Even though Logic uses Audio Unit plugins, I don't think there is really any substitute for physical hardware. You may not, but most of the productions, from the Billboard top-100 to independent stuff, are choke full of plugins. And a lot of "physical hardware" can't be told apart when A/B with quality plugins (Waves, UAD etc). >You can get this to run a project on the cheap, but it's still going to cost you $1000+ for a good mic and +600+ hardware like compressors, limiters, equalizers, monitors, and mixing boards. Plus you have to get cabling, power conditioners and cases to hold and connect everything. My last "Home Studio" ran me nearly $10,000; Logic was the cheapest thing I had to buy and that's when it was around $700. If you want to record Led Zeppelin, maybe. For a 4-piece rock band, Logic, a mixing board, a audio interface, a pair of monitors, a few mikes, stands, rack unit etc, will do it for around $3000-$4000. And for electronic music (including hip-hop), you can just make do with Logic, an audio interface, headphones, monitors, a MIDI keyboard and one-two mikes, for around $1500 total.