Thanks Marlon. Yea hardware isn't cheap so if anyone is looking to start buying gear, to me anyway, it makes sense to start with hardware you can get a lot of use out of =)
Great advice! I took the similar route. I bought a millennia stereo preamp because it is super clean and has lots of headroom. I bought 2 empirical labs distressors to go with it and to also be used for bus compression. I did buy a Vintech X-73i channel strip as well to have a preamp with color and EQ and I paired it with a LA-2A style compressor. For effects, I went with a Lexicon PCM70 multi fx unit. This unit is old but do not let that stop you. The algorithms in this unit sound amazing with delays, reverbs, chorus, etc...The circle and pan delay settings are especially great for guitars. Version 2 is the sought after unit. I bought the version 3 and the version 2 eprom chipset and did the swap. Voila!
Oh wow! That’s a nice bit of kit you’ve got going over there my friend. I came across a used distressor for $800 a few years ago (the face plate was slightly dinged up, hence the low price) but it was at the local chain guitar shop, was fully tested and included a 3 month warranty. I’m still kicking myself for not grabbing it lol. I do see the PCM70 pop up around here for around $1000 or so. I didn’t know there were different versions of it though. Good to know 🙂 I think I paid $150 for my SPX900. The only issue it has is 1 button isn’t working. But it’s only the blend or balance (it’s not in front of me so I don’t remember how it’s labeled) button which I’ve never needed. The part I think is $10 so one day I’ll have to have someone fix it. Works like a charm otherwise. I don’t know about you but I’ve got a list of 80’s and 90’s fx units I’ve been keeping an eye out for that lots of studios still have and use, and sell for very little, and no one has made plugins of any of them either. So that’s where I have put my gear priorities.
@@EverythingMusicRecording that is cool! I had a sweet Yamaha spx90 that I sold but should have kept that I gave under $200. I have a 80's Roland space delay unit.. It's a cool piece. The PCM 70 I gave $750 for about 10 years ago and $45 for the chipset. It is the my favorite piece of equipment besides my AEA R88 stereo ribbon mic. I have their R84 as well. I love the recording sounds from the 50's ala Sam Phillips, Norman Petty, etc...
Oh nice! Too bad you sold it though. The guy I bought my 900 from was also selling a 90 but I guess after he placed the ad the 90 starting having some melt downs so he was going to get it repaired before selling it, so I bought the 900 off of him instead. And I have zero complaints lol. Which Roland unit? I just looked at my "gear to keep a watch for" and I have 6 old Roland units on it. Thats not bad on the PCM 70. I'm hoping one day I can pick one up. I also have the PCM 42 delay on my list. I need deeper pockets lol Oh 50's recording!! That would be such a fun thing to try to pull off. As soon as you mentioned that I remembered a video that SOS did a few years ago. You may or may not have seen it but I'll leave the link. I haven't watched in a couple of years but its very cool =) ruclips.net/video/_Q-scxybnp0/видео.html
@@EverythingMusicRecording Check out one mic recording series with John Cuniberti. He's Joe Satriani's engineer. I also want a pair ofPCM 42's. Great delays. Unit I have is the Roland space echo RE-3. Thanks for the video!
Rock solid points my man. I’m mixing into an DDL Fusion with a WA Bus comp on the insert and then all that feeds into a Burl AD. What’s super interesting is that not only am I able to use the compression from the bus comp but I’m also able to activate the listen mic compressor on the SSL and blend a little bit of that in to glue the midrange. Ok top of that, between all 3 units I’ve got three different pairs of transformers, 2 of which can be engaged or bypassed. That’s a lot of really amazing mixing and matching options not even considering that the Burl gives me different tones depending on how hard I hit it/how much I back off the post-transformer makeup gain.
Wow, thats a pretty nice setup! All you need now is something with tubes and you've got just about every colour you could need (I'm guessing all of this is on your master bus) I'm a little jealous =)
Thanks for this! These are actually the 3 things on my list. For the compressor I'm gonna start by an ART Pro VLA II The multi-fx I'm going for the Lexicon MPX1 or, preferably if I get it at a good price, a TC G-Force The channel strip I am going to leave for the end because I have a couple of bass preamps already and an ART simple Mic Preamp. Also I haven't settled for what to choose, maybe a 500 series box and get preamp, eq and comp separate.
Hey Carlos, no worries at all! I’ve heard nothing but good things about the VLA II. Not amazing, but for its price it’s supposed to be a very good compressor. If I can ever afford it I’ll buy a 33609, but in the meantime I’m also interested in the Warm Audio Bus Comp. Lol I’ve got a few Lexicon units on my wish list. There are a bunch of good 80’s and 90’s fx units that go for pretty cheap. And since most have never had a plugin version of them made at least you’re getting something not every one on the planet has lol I have a 500 series video I have to do, speaking of. I’m not sold on them. I get why people love 500 gear… bah I’ll grip in the video lol
Heya, depending on what you are doing, if you are mixing in the box, then you may be better to buy a plugin for reverb and upgrade the compressor to something like the warm 73 though would only be one channel. Either way, plugins for reverb and delay are so good these days out board is not as much needed unless for live use. That is my suggestion any way. Just to day I own the mpx550.. it is great, but have not used it in about 10 years now.
@@MarlonKingShow I’m not going at this from a necessity POV, I love the gear itself and having the knobs and all that. If you are a really good mix engineer you just open Logic with included plugins and just do it. I am not even good enough to hear the difference between a plugin and a hardware 76. But I like having the thing player X had in his rack in the 90s 😁
@Carlos Costa ahh okay, in which case, having gear in the rack is certainly cool, and that's why my mpx550 is still there lol. If you do buy lots of outboard gear, try get yourself some form of mixing desk also. You can pick a good one up for £300 and have a lot of fun experimenting.
I’m hoping to use the comps on the Shelford strips on the 2 bus For $8000+ I want to use all the tricks these ponies can dish out Expecting delivery any day now Good vid, sound advice
Hey Jim. I’m assuming you’re talking about what I had said about a single channel preamp/channel strip. Then you would just need to use the preamps in your audio interface to record a stereo source, or if stereo mic’ing an acoustic guitar, etc, instead. 🙂
Oh lol. Sorry Jim. It’s hard to tell sometimes just looking at words on a screen. Audio comments would make everyone’s lives easier. Google should get on that 🙂
Lol seriously!! It’s easily a $3.44 idea!!! 🤣 Imagine angry voice comments in the comments section! Being able to sit back and listen to someone rage over a RUclips video… ok on second thought this was a terrible idea lol Hey Siri. How do I un-have an idea? Siri…? Siri… and she’s gone ☹️ Lol
You are correct...just focusing on Vocals, tracking and being able to master your own mix, first....is a really good start...I agree....
Some nice suggestions there. Defo good to know first what you need it for and what improvements you will gain from it.
Thanks Marlon. Yea hardware isn't cheap so if anyone is looking to start buying gear, to me anyway, it makes sense to start with hardware you can get a lot of use out of =)
Great advice! I took the similar route. I bought a millennia stereo preamp because it is super clean and has lots of headroom. I bought 2 empirical labs distressors to go with it and to also be used for bus compression. I did buy a Vintech X-73i channel strip as well to have a preamp with color and EQ and I paired it with a LA-2A style compressor. For effects, I went with a Lexicon PCM70 multi fx unit. This unit is old but do not let that stop you. The algorithms in this unit sound amazing with delays, reverbs, chorus, etc...The circle and pan delay settings are especially great for guitars. Version 2 is the sought after unit. I bought the version 3 and the version 2 eprom chipset and did the swap. Voila!
Oh wow! That’s a nice bit of kit you’ve got going over there my friend.
I came across a used distressor for $800 a few years ago (the face plate was slightly dinged up, hence the low price) but it was at the local chain guitar shop, was fully tested and included a 3 month warranty. I’m still kicking myself for not grabbing it lol.
I do see the PCM70 pop up around here for around $1000 or so. I didn’t know there were different versions of it though. Good to know 🙂
I think I paid $150 for my SPX900. The only issue it has is 1 button isn’t working. But it’s only the blend or balance (it’s not in front of me so I don’t remember how it’s labeled) button which I’ve never needed. The part I think is $10 so one day I’ll have to have someone fix it. Works like a charm otherwise.
I don’t know about you but I’ve got a list of 80’s and 90’s fx units I’ve been keeping an eye out for that lots of studios still have and use, and sell for very little, and no one has made plugins of any of them either. So that’s where I have put my gear priorities.
@@EverythingMusicRecording that is cool! I had a sweet Yamaha spx90 that I sold but should have kept that I gave under $200. I have a 80's Roland space delay unit.. It's a cool piece.
The PCM 70 I gave $750 for about 10 years ago and $45 for the chipset. It is the my favorite piece of equipment besides my AEA R88 stereo ribbon mic. I have their R84 as well. I love the recording sounds from the 50's ala Sam Phillips, Norman Petty, etc...
Oh nice! Too bad you sold it though. The guy I bought my 900 from was also selling a 90 but I guess after he placed the ad the 90 starting having some melt downs so he was going to get it repaired before selling it, so I bought the 900 off of him instead. And I have zero complaints lol.
Which Roland unit? I just looked at my "gear to keep a watch for" and I have 6 old Roland units on it.
Thats not bad on the PCM 70. I'm hoping one day I can pick one up. I also have the PCM 42 delay on my list. I need deeper pockets lol
Oh 50's recording!! That would be such a fun thing to try to pull off. As soon as you mentioned that I remembered a video that SOS did a few years ago. You may or may not have seen it but I'll leave the link. I haven't watched in a couple of years but its very cool =)
ruclips.net/video/_Q-scxybnp0/видео.html
@@EverythingMusicRecording Check out one mic recording series with John Cuniberti. He's Joe Satriani's engineer.
I also want a pair ofPCM 42's. Great delays.
Unit I have is the Roland space echo RE-3.
Thanks for the video!
Sweet! I’ll look for that series 🙂
Rock solid points my man. I’m mixing into an DDL Fusion with a WA Bus comp on the insert and then all that feeds into a Burl AD. What’s super interesting is that not only am I able to use the compression from the bus comp but I’m also able to activate the listen mic compressor on the SSL and blend a little bit of that in to glue the midrange. Ok top of that, between all 3 units I’ve got three different pairs of transformers, 2 of which can be engaged or bypassed. That’s a lot of really amazing mixing and matching options not even considering that the Burl gives me different tones depending on how hard I hit it/how much I back off the post-transformer makeup gain.
Wow, thats a pretty nice setup! All you need now is something with tubes and you've got just about every colour you could need (I'm guessing all of this is on your master bus) I'm a little jealous =)
Great information and helpful video! 🤟🏻🎸🔥
Thanks 😁
Thanks for this! These are actually the 3 things on my list.
For the compressor I'm gonna start by an ART Pro VLA II
The multi-fx I'm going for the Lexicon MPX1 or, preferably if I get it at a good price, a TC G-Force
The channel strip I am going to leave for the end because I have a couple of bass preamps already and an ART simple Mic Preamp. Also I haven't settled for what to choose, maybe a 500 series box and get preamp, eq and comp separate.
Hey Carlos, no worries at all!
I’ve heard nothing but good things about the VLA II. Not amazing, but for its price it’s supposed to be a very good compressor. If I can ever afford it I’ll buy a 33609, but in the meantime I’m also interested in the Warm Audio Bus Comp.
Lol I’ve got a few Lexicon units on my wish list. There are a bunch of good 80’s and 90’s fx units that go for pretty cheap. And since most have never had a plugin version of them made at least you’re getting something not every one on the planet has lol
I have a 500 series video I have to do, speaking of. I’m not sold on them. I get why people love 500 gear… bah I’ll grip in the video lol
Heya, depending on what you are doing, if you are mixing in the box, then you may be better to buy a plugin for reverb and upgrade the compressor to something like the warm 73 though would only be one channel. Either way, plugins for reverb and delay are so good these days out board is not as much needed unless for live use. That is my suggestion any way. Just to day I own the mpx550.. it is great, but have not used it in about 10 years now.
@@MarlonKingShow I’m not going at this from a necessity POV, I love the gear itself and having the knobs and all that. If you are a really good mix engineer you just open Logic with included plugins and just do it. I am not even good enough to hear the difference between a plugin and a hardware 76. But I like having the thing player X had in his rack in the 90s 😁
@Carlos Costa ahh okay, in which case, having gear in the rack is certainly cool, and that's why my mpx550 is still there lol. If you do buy lots of outboard gear, try get yourself some form of mixing desk also. You can pick a good one up for £300 and have a lot of fun experimenting.
@@MarlonKingShow now that would be an amazing time waster for me 😃
Would take me back to the days of making live sound for events
👍
Lol thanks
I’m hoping to use the comps on the Shelford strips on the 2 bus
For $8000+ I want to use all the tricks these ponies can dish out
Expecting delivery any day now
Good vid, sound advice
Lmao!!! I don’t blame you one bit on that!! Congrats on the Shelford channels tho, I’ve heard nothing but great things about them 🙂
The mugs are actually really great
That’s true. It’s a scientific fact 😁
What happens when I'm s o l ?
Hey Jim. I’m assuming you’re talking about what I had said about a single channel preamp/channel strip.
Then you would just need to use the preamps in your audio interface to record a stereo source, or if stereo mic’ing an acoustic guitar, etc, instead. 🙂
@@EverythingMusicRecording Was trying to be cute about being S O L .
Oh lol. Sorry Jim. It’s hard to tell sometimes just looking at words on a screen. Audio comments would make everyone’s lives easier. Google should get on that 🙂
@@EverythingMusicRecording 😅
Lol seriously!! It’s easily a $3.44 idea!!! 🤣
Imagine angry voice comments in the comments section! Being able to sit back and listen to someone rage over a RUclips video… ok on second thought this was a terrible idea lol
Hey Siri. How do I un-have an idea?
Siri…? Siri… and she’s gone ☹️
Lol