Which Recording Studio is best? (1 Viewer)

[JOHNSON PETER]

I know it's not exactly home recording but it's recording nonetheless.

I've already done an album in the house on Cubase SX...and released...so I've been there and done that, but now I wanna go and have a recording experience which I can remember as being of a moment in time, thus capturing the songs at a certain moment.

Unlike recording at home which always takes months to complete.

Can anyone recommend a studio and relate their experiences? I hear Asylum are good...

Also if you have a studio...what price for an album, say, 10 full days recording and 4 to mix?

 

[bombidol]

www.creamysonicstudios.com

 

[The Demo Place]

Agree with bombidol talk to Pete in Creamy

 

[kings lead hat]

http://www.cauldronstudios.com/

wkd studio
i did an album there before
wkd sound-mics-rooms-people etc

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Yeah, I've heard great stuff about Cauldron, but isn't it about €800 per day?

 

[kings lead hat]

think its cheaper then that esp. if you buy a bulk amount of time.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Hm. Must find out. I'd love a go of their plate. Alawys wondered if them TLA valve deks are any good.

 

[kraster]

Alawys wondered if them TLA valve deks are any good.

They're crap IMHO. I mixed a few songs on one and they really do take the warm sound to the nth degree. For warm see : muffled, distorted and muddy.
I had to remix the songs on a computer. Much nicer.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Lol. And were you hitting the inputs especially hard? Or beating the shit out of the stereo buss?

 

[kraster]

Lol. And were you hitting the inputs especially hard? Or beating the shit out of the stereo buss?

Nope. Exceedingly moderate levels. On the inputs and the two buss.That's what surprised me about the TLA. Maybe there was something wrong with it but it sounded really shit. I think a lot of TL Audio stuff is pretty bandwagonesque. Those Ivory preamps are super shit. "Valve Tone"? Ask me hoop.

If I want that amount of distortion I just need my Boss Heavy metal pedal.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Yeah, that is surprising. It's not a cheap desk, like.
I know I always smack things into my Drawmer 1960 that need slowing down. Or should that be 'sludging up'? Hm. Really must sell that 1960..

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Oh, and yeah.. cheap valve stuff can ask me snatch.
Like that Behringer unit with the lit up valve that's not connected to the audio path in any way.
Or any gear with a window so you can see the valve.
Bah.

 

[kraster]

Yeah, that is surprising. It's not a cheap desk, like.
I know I always smack things into my Drawmer 1960 that need slowing down. Or should that be 'sludging up'? Hm. Really must sell that 1960..

Yeah. It certainly isn't cheap. TL Audio are next to Behringer in the "stick a valve in it" stakes. Whatever circuit topography they are using in their pres and that desk just leads to a lot of distortion, shaved transients and a general woolbag of a sound.

I like the 1960. It's nice as a DI on Bass. It aint very subtle though.
Have you checked out the DAV electronics stuff?
Really cool, not that expensive and no novelty valve window.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

I've heard good things about it as a bass DI alright - I'm just thinking for what it's worth I could get one or two more versatile units. Must try it DI first though.
I should add that I generally don't like using DI bass, as much as there are generalities in this game.

 

[kraster]

I should add that I generally don't like using DI bass, as much as there are generalities in this game.

Do you get all the Bass sound from an amp? I couldn't get the articulation I want from Bass without using a DI of some description. (I'm a Bass Player BTW)
In my experience most Bass Amps have too many dead spots usually because of the dominant resonant characteristics of the speaker array and cabinet. Couple this with the frequency/amplitude response of the room and Mic/Preamp chain and I find that the A note might disappear and the D note might be twice as loud as the A. BTW It's not a Mic placement/selection issue. DI Bass suffers less from these things. Mind you, a good preamp is essential for a good DI'd Bass sound. The 1960 is great. Particularly driven a bit! (after all I said about the TLA stuff!). Very easy to place in a Mix.

I usually record an amp as well as DI but the amp is usually there to colour the sound if the DI is too sterile.

Sorry if I appear argumentative. It's not at all my intention. I just like talking about this stuff.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Not at all dude, that's why I'm here too.

I usually combine a mic for low end with a mic for mid/high end definition.
Them Oktava ribbons work as the low end mic, but I really need to get a shockmount for mine - they're prone to rumble. Tried a D112 once, but the big midrange scoop they have meant mudsville. Guess what's good for articulation? 57, baby. Or a small diaphragm condenser.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Also, sometimes I don't want a whole load of articulation from my bass sound - It's nice to have tucked in under guitars as a seen and not heard thing on some songs.
Like you said - cheap/low end DIs can be damned nasty, and I ain't using up a channel of goodness on DI bass

 

[kraster]

Not at all dude, that's why I'm here too.

I usually combine a mic for low end with a mic for mid/high end definition.
Them Oktava ribbons work as the low end mic, but I really need to get a shockmount for mine - they're prone to rumble. Tried a D112 once, but the big midrange scoop they have meant mudsville. Guess what's good for articulation? 57, baby. Or a small diaphragm condenser.

I've tried a tube 47 and an sm57 on an ampeg SVT mark 1 with a 9X10 cabinet. Everything on the monster cranked up and I still was missing the articulation. The 47 gave me unbelievable bass end and the 57 had a nice pokey midrange but i couldn't get it to gel unless the DI was dominant, particularly on smaller speakers. The finger articulation on the Bass was best captured by the DI and the overall sound was more even. Mind you, the "DI" in question here was a Helios channelstrip and the Bass was really nice too. The Amp made it more unique as a sound. The two together were amazing.

I do agree that a lot of the sound is dependent on the music but in my experience a lot of bass sounds are ill-defined and inconsistent when it's just an amp even when they're less prominent in the mix.

And you're a brave man putting ribbons in front of Bass amps. I hope you don't get any funk players!

 

[kings lead hat]

youre supposed to hit em really hard...

tla desk....

i really liked it ..
for tracking i suppose

 

[kraster]

tla desk....

i really liked it ..
for tracking i suppose

It's when I hit 'em hard that the problem became worse. Just sounded over saturated to me. The Bass was really Boomy,the High end sounded clipped, the midrange was really dense there was no seperation between the instruments and the stereo image was all over the shop.

Having said that, I did track and Mix everything on the same desk so the doubling up might have just been too much. When I mixed it on the computer it did sound better. It's a very coloured sound though.
The guitarist didn't like the sound at all. He plays with a really bright attacky sound and the TLA mushed it to hell. It sounded like it had a Boss compressor pedal on it. It could have been a situation dependent thing ie. the desk might have been screwed.

youre supposed to hit em really hard...

I thought you were talking about the funk bass players in my previous post.
Not a bad idea, all the same....