? How does good advice for "beginner gear advice" equate to "don't use any?"
Beginner Gear Recommendations
- Thread starter synthpunk
- Start date
I disagree with a thing or two but GREAT OP! My 2 cents:
GENERALLY:
Take all suggestions with a grain of salt. People will swear by this or that but for every one of those, there is someone else to say something totally different. It's all so subjective. Try as much as possible to try things out first (this is a lot easier with software than hardware).
AUDIO INTERFACES:
Disagree on the Audients (see?
). Good units, yes, but well overpriced and not IMO really better than stuff comparably equipped and costing half as much, such as the FocusRites, Steinbergs, etc. IMO Behringer are the best bang for the buck. They used to be cheap stuff but have upped their game recently.POWERED MONITORS:
JBL LSR 305/308's, totally agree there.
HEADPHONES:
For mixing, probably Sony 7506s. Most ATHs are hyped in the bass, not exactly flat (which is the whole point if you're mixing). Personally I would opt for the ATH 20s at a mere $50 over the ATH 50s.
DAW:
Mixcraft ($50-75ish). Second choice, Reaper ($60). IMO these two are not only two of the least expensive but far easier to use than any of the others, most of which I hated. (Pro Tools was worst of all and crazy overpriced)
SYNTH/WORKSTATIONS: (88 keys, up to ~ $1000)
Roland DS88 for weighted. Second choice, Korg Kross. I liked the Kross' slightly lighter touch, but the UI wasn't as friendly as Roland's. Side note, I am amazed any keyboard even $500+ has those ridiculous 80s-era blue-gray LED screens. The Roland FA series has one like they should all be, but that's like $1800.
I did not like anything Yamaha or Casio; the keys (esp Casios) make a loud THUNKing sound that I couldn't stand. Yamahas also IMO have a rather unfriendly UI.
MICROPHONES:
I very much agree with trying before you buy if possible, with mics as much as anything, as there are only about a billion choices.
For the budget conscious and those not interested in pissing money away for the sake of it (that's me) - I'll let the rich and influential speak to the pricier stuff
Dynamics:
Sennheiser 835, 935
Shure Beta 57, 58 (supercardioid)
isK ISDM (supercardioid)
Condensers:
se X1A, X1S
Rode NT1 (NOT the 1A)
Studio Project B1, B3 (B3 is multi-pattern)
Ribbons:
Cascade Fathead
SOFTWARE:
First and foremost TRY FREE STUFF. There is a ton out there and a lot of it very good (often stuff that comes with a DAW is good too). For example:
Effects:
TDR, TAL, Voxengo, Variety of Sound, Blue Cat, Melda: try all their stuff (Voxengo's "Old Skool" reverb is esp good IMO, and TDR's Nova EQ)
VSTi's:
Ample Guitar Lite
MT Power Drum Kit
VSCO Orchestral (for sketching out at least)
Soft synths:
- FB3300 (Moog)
- Podolski
- Synth 1
- Lord of the Springs (unique sounds)
- OB xd (for a great Oberheim sound)
- Abakos
- Chimera
OK stuff that costs:
Vahalla Vintage Verb definitely, but it's not for everything. Close though.
Serum, great soft synth
Native's Massive and Absynth soft synths - presets aren't great but you can do a lot w/these two
Ample's other guitars
I can't speak to the orchestral suites !
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DimensionsTomorrow
Active Member
This is a very personal decision, but my vote is the Steelcase Gesture. Not cheap, but I started working from home during the pandemic, and it’s great having a very good chair considering the amount of time I’m at my desk these days for work and music.
Gesture
The first chair designed to support the body when interacting with modern technology, Gesture is a unique chair that is perfect for any office space.
www.steelcase.com
from_theashes
Senior Member
Well, I have to disagree here. Logic Pro X is so much more userfriendly and easy to use than Reaper. I mean sure... Reaper is crazy cheap and a great DAW, but definitely not easy and intuitive to use for a beginner.
So on a Mac, Logic is first choice.
pondinthestream
Active Member
If an audio only person then Reaper is fine. If a synth person then have a serious look at Bitwig which has most of the sound making gear you need, and good quality. So even if Bitwig looks expensive compared to something like Reaper it is actually not given the included functionality.
As for FX, use free stuff until you genuinely understand why you need more. Tokyo Dawn Labs cover the basics with very high quality free products. Then buy quality only when on sale.
Interface - Focusrite is easily good enough.
Headphones - Audio technica, beyerdynamic, lots of good ones but make sure they are for studio work with a flat frequency response.
Synths etc totally depends on what you are doing, but as has been said, use free and maybe later update to quality when it is on sale
Eg Iris2 is interesting, good quality and sells for $10 as often as not. Sonible fx sells for crazy prices from time to time. Izotope bundles sell for giveaway money quite often. Pluginboutique is your friend there
As for FX, use free stuff until you genuinely understand why you need more. Tokyo Dawn Labs cover the basics with very high quality free products. Then buy quality only when on sale.
Interface - Focusrite is easily good enough.
Headphones - Audio technica, beyerdynamic, lots of good ones but make sure they are for studio work with a flat frequency response.
Synths etc totally depends on what you are doing, but as has been said, use free and maybe later update to quality when it is on sale
Eg Iris2 is interesting, good quality and sells for $10 as often as not. Sonible fx sells for crazy prices from time to time. Izotope bundles sell for giveaway money quite often. Pluginboutique is your friend there
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Pier
Senior Member
You need a Mac though, which many beginners will not be able to afford. Or they may already have a gaming PC.
pondinthestream
Active Member
If Reaper clicks with a new user then it is easy to use, if it doesn't then it isn't. Like every other DAWOr they may just hate Macs.
from_theashes
Senior Member
Or they may just hate Macs.
Yeah... something I never understood: the amount of hate against Apple/Macs coming from Windows/Android-users
I mean, we‘re talking about tools to make our life easier/more productive. And every individual person can decide, which tool (PC/Mac/iOS/Android etc.) fits best for his/her needs. No need to hate or bash one or the other. Constructive criticism is totally fine (and I absolutely don’t like everything about Apple products and there are tons of good arguments against using a Mac), but pure bashing is just childish.
Pier
Senior Member
Yeah... something I never understood: the amount of hate against Apple/Macs coming from Windows/Android-users
Or the other way around, Apple users hating on Windows or Android users.
Or sports teams.
Or political parties.
Etc.
Humans are still very much irrational and tribalistic, unfortunately.
PaulieDC
Too much gear, not enough composing. Oy vey.
If I were a new member and my beginning gear question was answered like this I would have rolled my eyes and probably been a bit put off. NOW, looking back, I wish I started at this very place, with Sam Adler's book added to the list. And the 24-hour classical station (89.5 KBAQ in Phoenix) playing constantly.
I assume you're speaking generally for some reason and not implying I was "bashing" Macs. I was just pointing out some people don't like them and/or aren't about to get one, least of all just so they can use a particular DAW.Yeah... something I never understood: the amount of hate against Apple/Macs coming from Windows/Android-users
I mean, we‘re talking about tools to make our life easier/more productive. And every individual person can decide, which tool (PC/Mac/iOS/Android etc.) fits best for his/her needs. No need to hate or bash one or the other. Constructive criticism is totally fine (and I absolutely don’t like everything about Apple products and there are tons of good arguments against using a Mac), but pure bashing is just childish.
MarcusD
Tinkerer
ID14 drivers got updated ages ago, low latency performance is good now. Julian does some very, very good reviews on interfaces.
Audient iD14 USB Audio Interface Review (audio performance measured) - YouTube
Audient iD14 USB Audio Interface Review (audio performance measured) - YouTube
Michael Antrum
Only the good die young....
I have an ID14, and I'll never buy another Audient product again.
It's been a pain since I got it.
I'm on a Mac, so no drivers required, and still every time my computer goes to sleep I lose audio until I reboot. No issues with my Roland Quad, SPL Crimson of Apollo Twin on the same Mac.
There are plenty of interfaces about this price point - so there are plenty of similar cost alternatives.....
It's been a pain since I got it.
I'm on a Mac, so no drivers required, and still every time my computer goes to sleep I lose audio until I reboot. No issues with my Roland Quad, SPL Crimson of Apollo Twin on the same Mac.
There are plenty of interfaces about this price point - so there are plenty of similar cost alternatives.....
If you're just starting out with music gear and looking for something unique and visually interesting, you may want to consider orange lava lamps. These lamps, which are designed to mimic the flowing movement of lava, can provide a relaxing and inspiring ambiance in your music space.
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The list might need to be updated as it was from 2018. Amazon doesn't sell Yamaha P-71 anymore.
The 3rd Robert
New Member
I write classical music in a very traditional way, using the Score View of my DAW. So one thing that hasn't been mentioned that could be very important, depending on your workflow, is a very good high quality UHD monitor. You will be looking at this for hours and you don't need to add an additional eyestrain burden. If you have large scores, full orchestral for instance, you will want to be able to see as many staves as possible in your system (of staves) at once with minimal impact on clarity.
I chose (a few years ago now) a BENQ PD-3200U-T and have not been disappointed in the least. It cost me about $800 and is actually the single most expensive purchase I have made in my gear (so far!).
I realize this may not be the biggest priority, especially for a beginner, but perhpas this overlooked item in this list deserves some consideration?
I chose (a few years ago now) a BENQ PD-3200U-T and have not been disappointed in the least. It cost me about $800 and is actually the single most expensive purchase I have made in my gear (so far!).
I realize this may not be the biggest priority, especially for a beginner, but perhpas this overlooked item in this list deserves some consideration?
