Dark Lab / Studio Thread

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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Opuswerk »

Superb setup Hades!
I was cery much thinking of swapping the zedr16 to go with a midas venice 24 f. How are you finding yours? I'm assuming it's a Midas 32? I'd have a few specific questions to ask about it :)
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by ARiFF »

Pffjew thats ace Hades m8, i can hardly wait 'till end of Januari :D Quite impressive!

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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Mattias »

Nice gear. When I see pics like that I regret selling of my old stuff sometimes.
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Críoch »

Ziiiiiiiiiiiiiip... Everyone's penises have just shrunk to nothing after those photos! hahaha

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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Patriek »

I have nothing that i need to compensate John..speak for yourself pls ;-)

Nice studio Hades!
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Hades »

thx for the nice comments guys. :oops:

believe it or not, it's the 1st time I actually posted pics of my setup anywhere on the net,
just because I don't really believe in that "ooh, look at all my gear" kind of thing.
I've seen people with massive vintage studio's, and they make absolutely crap music,
and I've seen people with just a computer and not even a proper controller, and they make way better music than me. It's not about the gear, it's about wanting to put in the long hours.
And whatever works for you is fine.

I'm just happy my setup is 95% "finished". There's very little that I still want. A nice compressor, an Oberheim Xpander, but other than that ? Obviously you're always gonna run into something some time that you might consider, but nothing really big.
But I can honestly say this is the setup I always built up to, not just which synths, but also having them all run into the patchbays, having a mixer that's big enough,... And all within arms reach.

Having all this gear also has a few downsides you know. I can't imagine how pissed off I'll feel if my andromeda would suddenly die on me, for instance, or how long I'd be "out of work" if my mixer would need a repair. Just cause I'm so used to this way of working.
People used to ask me if all this stuff was insured. Nope, it isn't ! :D
But I had an electrician install a special fusebox with a switch that would flip off as soon as anything "irregular" would happen on my electrical circuit in the room. But I still wasn't "at ease" enough, so I installed that Furman on top of my rack and have every expensive piece connected to it.
I swear one month after I did that, there was a voltage peak in my street, and there were lots of people that had hi-fi's or TV's broken. :shock:
At that moment the network-company was a customer where I work (dispatch), so I was able to ask the engineers what would have happened if I would have been infected, and they assured me some insurance of the network company would have paid for the damage.
Yeah right... I don't trust insurances, they live on people's "what if..." -fear.
I'd rather prevent than having to wait for months and months afterwards to get maybe only part of my money back, plus having to go find all that vintage gear again.
No thank you, I'm happier (and safer) this way. :mrgreen:
Opuswerk wrote:Superb setup Hades!
I was cery much thinking of swapping the zedr16 to go with a midas venice 24 f. How are you finding yours? I'm assuming it's a Midas 32? I'd have a few specific questions to ask about it :)
I love my Midas Venice. I bought a small 16ch Soundcraft about 10 years ago, when I was slowly starting to build all this and it served me fine for all those years till I finally bought this Midas.
But the difference in sound quality !! wow !
I mean, I see so many people with mediocre mixers, and I've done that for years too, nothing wrong with it, but your setup really is only as good as your weakest link, no ?
I think if you do use an external mixer, you should really consider a good quality one, especially if you got good monitors and a good sound card, that way you'll have a full advantage of your investment.
And I can definitely understand people won't cash out for a 32 Venice, but the 16 or even 24 channel versions aren't that expensive for what you get. Honestly, I think they're a steal if you consider their flexibility.

If you have any questions about my Midas, shoot !
I absolutely love it.
Before I had it, I just used my old soundcraft mainly as a "volume up and down"-thing, now I can honestly say my mixer is an important tool. The EQ, the routings, even the goddamn muting I use a lot.

If you'll swap your ZED for a Midas, your sound quality will improve a lot. I guarantee you !
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Hades »

guys, I got a small question, and I'd rather not start a whole topic for it :
how long would you expect to do with a decent laptop
I mean, after how many years would you say : ok, it's been enough, if it breaks down, it wouldn't make sense to repair it anymore.

I'm asking cause my macbook pro (heart of my studio) is dead after 6 years of loyal everyday bulletproof service.
It's not even booting up, it does nothing.
It wasn't exactly the standard model, so even to today's standards it was still rather ok specswise.
But since I would need another non-standard model, I'd be out of an arm and a leg for a new one, and mine worked perfectly up till 2 nights ago.
But would it still make sense ? I mean, isn't there a point that these electronics are made to stop working ?
I know people that are convinced that 5 years is the most you can expect out of nowadays computers/laptops. That they actually build it in somewhere that it stops working after that period. I kind of believe that's just rubbish-talk, but on the other hand it wouldn't surprise me in our current throw-away-rather-than-fix-it society.
Any quick thoughts on that (and I don't wanna hijack a thread, so apologies to OP, if it does turn out that way, maybe I'll start a new thread) ??
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Hades »

AMorant wrote:Image
host images

those are some sort of hi-fi speakers, no ?
which ones ?
and what made you pick these specifically ?
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by arc »

Very nice studio you've got there Hades, I'm impressed. I can only imagine how much money you've thrown into that room... o_O

I'm just wondering how I would function in an environment like that, navigating all that gear to find an acceptable sound to use. It just makes me think about how lucky us ITB producers actually have it. Yeah, software isn't as intuitive as hardware, but then I don't think about how difficult integrating an entire studio full of gear can actually be. Now I kind of understand why Hans Zimmer works mostly ITB now instead of using his massive custom-built modular, it's just more convenient.

Also, about your laptop situation. I'd suggest buying a new one, even if you think your old one is repairable. I think you've used it long enough to justify upgrading to something newer. 5+ years is a good run for a laptop, I don't think you would be treating it as 'disposable' buy replacing after that many years. That's just my opinion though. I'm a sucker for brand-new stuff and I'm always looking for excuses to buy something... lol

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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by loopdon »

Hades wrote:guys, I got a small question, and I'd rather not start a whole topic for it :
how long would you expect to do with a decent laptop
I mean, after how many years would you say : ok, it's been enough, if it breaks down, it wouldn't make sense to repair it anymore.

I'm asking cause my macbook pro (heart of my studio) is dead after 6 years of loyal everyday bulletproof service.
It's not even booting up, it does nothing.
It wasn't exactly the standard model, so even to today's standards it was still rather ok specswise.
But since I would need another non-standard model, I'd be out of an arm and a leg for a new one, and mine worked perfectly up till 2 nights ago.
But would it still make sense ? I mean, isn't there a point that these electronics are made to stop working ?
I know people that are convinced that 5 years is the most you can expect out of nowadays computers/laptops. That they actually build it in somewhere that it stops working after that period. I kind of believe that's just rubbish-talk, but on the other hand it wouldn't surprise me in our current throw-away-rather-than-fix-it society.
Any quick thoughts on that (and I don't wanna hijack a thread, so apologies to OP, if it does turn out that way, maybe I'll start a new thread) ??
If there's one thing i know something about it's laptops/ computers.
HDDs fail, and what really makes lots of computers fail is the fans getting all dusty inside and or the cooling pads (?) crumbling.
That's pretty much it. I wouldn't get a top of the line latop, ever, rather replace every 1-3 years.
No need for Macbooks, either, sorry. If you need MAC go Hackintosh (if you feel guilt, buy an original MAC Installation CD).
And get yourself an SSD as a HDD. Biggest speed boost i have ever experienced. Feel free to PM me.

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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Hades »

thx for the help.
believe me, I'd get SSD if it were possible. But the storage capacity is ridiculous.
You pay a huge amount of money to get such a small storage capacity.
And nowadays softsynths/samplers like Omnisphere and Kontakt come with 80 or 100Gb of library content.
So I really do need 500Gb.
I took 7200rpm on my old one, simply cause Live takes a lot of content directly from disc, I want 7200rpm again.
That and RAM and a non-reflecting screen (not sure how you call that in english) are the only things I need. Yet for that stuff I still end up in the highest price range possible.

I know I should not feel bad about replacing it after all those years, but you can't imagine the bad timing.
One week earlier I bought 2 vintage hi-fi amps, 2 pairs of vintage speakers, a sherman 2x2 and Rodec Restyler, all in one afternoon.
That was one huge spending spree, but one that I only did after working my ass off for months (doing extra work) just to get the money together for all this.
I don't regret what I bought either, it's just that if my macbook would have died one week earlier, I wouldn't have bought it, and spent the money on a new macbook.
And I'm not gonna sell my stuff either.
I'm just saying : bad timing. :)
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Patriek »

I would not use an SSD as an actual storage device. I use it for my OS and my applications (read actions). Only if you got a shitload of money to spend, you could use SSD as an actually storage device :)
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by AMorant »

Hades wrote:
AMorant wrote:Image
host images

those are some sort of hi-fi speakers, no ?
which ones ?
and what made you pick these specifically ?

yamaha ns 690 2's made in 1977, 20 years of producing on all kinds of nearfield flat monitors, i could never get my mix how i wanted it. and one day i came across theses,someone was throwing them out. And just for the hell of it, i swapped out my hs80's with theses, that was a year ago.

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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Mattias »

Hades wrote:
I love my Midas Venice. I bought a small 16ch Soundcraft about 10 years ago, when I was slowly starting to build all this and it served me fine for all those years till I finally bought this Midas.
But the difference in sound quality !! wow !
I mean, I see so many people with mediocre mixers, and I've done that for years too, nothing wrong with it, but your setup really is only as good as your weakest link, no ?
I think if you do use an external mixer, you should really consider a good quality one, especially if you got good monitors and a good sound card, that way you'll have a full advantage of your investment.
And I can definitely understand people won't cash out for a 32 Venice, but the 16 or even 24 channel versions aren't that expensive for what you get. Honestly, I think they're a steal if you consider their flexibility.
Very true. Lots of producers buys a shitty Behringer and similar consoles and make their mixdowns on them as well as output their monitoring via them. Midas is what I consider pro-quality brand and even if they're a bit "behind" today their stuff will always be top notch. I dont use Midas personally but I worked on several of them before. I currently use Yamaha 01v96i these days (about the same price of a Venice 32 but more expensive if you upgrade, urgh!) along with some Mackie consoles. If I was to go analog today I would probably go with a Venice.
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by aimlessaudio »

arc wrote:@aimlessaudio

You gotta start somewhere! :)
ive had the same setup for 10 years! :D

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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Hades »

aimlessaudio wrote:
arc wrote:@aimlessaudio

You gotta start somewhere! :)
ive had the same setup for 10 years! :D
if it works for you, why not ? ;)
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Hades »

Mattias wrote:
Very true. Lots of producers buys a shitty Behringer and similar consoles and make their mixdowns on them as well as output their monitoring via them. Midas is what I consider pro-quality brand and even if they're a bit "behind" today their stuff will always be top notch. I dont use Midas personally but I worked on several of them before. I currently use Yamaha 01v96i these days (about the same price of a Venice 32 but more expensive if you upgrade, urgh!) along with some Mackie consoles. If I was to go analog today I would probably go with a Venice.
why do you consider them "behind" if I may ask ?
the Midas VeniceF I have has firewire too, so you can route every channel you want to your computer directly via firewire, or route every channel of your DAW via firewire to your mixer to make a mixdown.
Or use a combination of the firewire with analog, if you like.
(mind you I'm only using mine analog for the moment)
I'm not at all familiar with digital mixers, but I presume this is a common and handy option to have, no ?
Or do you mean the fact they don't support 96kHz, or don't have onboard FX or anything,
in that case I can see your point, but I don't think the Midas VeniceF is meant to be that kind of mixer, no ?
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Hades »

AMorant wrote:
yamaha ns 690 2's made in 1977, 20 years of producing on all kinds of nearfield flat monitors, i could never get my mix how i wanted it. and one day i came across theses,someone was throwing them out. And just for the hell of it, i swapped out my hs80's with theses, that was a year ago.
I love 70's Hifi stuff.
I got a pair of Pioneer HPM-60's, a pair of HPM-100's, and a pair of Advent speakers.
Those HPM100's sound massive.
I got 2 old Pioneer amps, and an old Marantz amp.
The thing is, these things go really cheap nowadays, but if they still work fine, or if you know someone who can put these back in perfect working condition, you get a fantastic sounding system for a fraction of the price of what you'd pay if you would get a new Hifi.

You hear a lot of people say that using hifi speakers for monitoring is a big no-no, but I honestly believe that if you know your speakers well, that's the biggest point. People are far too snobbish at times...

That's an acoustically treated room, right ? (bit of a shady picture)
Did you make those panels yourself, or did you buy them somewhere ?
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by Mattias »

Hades wrote:
Mattias wrote:
Very true. Lots of producers buys a shitty Behringer and similar consoles and make their mixdowns on them as well as output their monitoring via them. Midas is what I consider pro-quality brand and even if they're a bit "behind" today their stuff will always be top notch. I dont use Midas personally but I worked on several of them before. I currently use Yamaha 01v96i these days (about the same price of a Venice 32 but more expensive if you upgrade, urgh!) along with some Mackie consoles. If I was to go analog today I would probably go with a Venice.
why do you consider them "behind" if I may ask ?
the Midas VeniceF I have has firewire too, so you can route every channel you want to your computer directly via firewire, or route every channel of your DAW via firewire to your mixer to make a mixdown.
Or use a combination of the firewire with analog, if you like.
(mind you I'm only using mine analog for the moment)
I'm not at all familiar with digital mixers, but I presume this is a common and handy option to have, no ?
Or do you mean the fact they don't support 96kHz, or don't have onboard FX or anything,
in that case I can see your point, but I don't think the Midas VeniceF is meant to be that kind of mixer, no ?
What I mean with that they are "behind" today is that they stayed on their safe platform for many years when many other high-class companies ate away on their market since they welcomed new ideas and ideals while Midas played it safe. That's also the reason why Bosch Communications Systems sold the brand. Which was a shame. I was always in the Midas, Dynacord & Electro Voice corner. I for one hope that Midas can get back to what they used to be since even if they didn't grasp the evolution of mixers back then they still make the top of the cream stuff.
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Re: Dark Lab / Studio Thread

Post by AMorant »

Hades wrote:
AMorant wrote:
yamaha ns 690 2's made in 1977, 20 years of producing on all kinds of nearfield flat monitors, i could never get my mix how i wanted it. and one day i came across theses,someone was throwing them out. And just for the hell of it, i swapped out my hs80's with theses, that was a year ago.
I love 70's Hifi stuff.
I got a pair of Pioneer HPM-60's, a pair of HPM-100's, and a pair of Advent speakers.
Those HPM100's sound massive.
I got 2 old Pioneer amps, and an old Marantz amp.
The thing is, these things go really cheap nowadays, but if they still work fine, or if you know someone who can put these back in perfect working condition, you get a fantastic sounding system for a fraction of the price of what you'd pay if you would get a new Hifi.

You hear a lot of people say that using hifi speakers for monitoring is a big no-no, but I honestly believe that if you know your speakers well, that's the biggest point. People are far too snobbish at times...

That's an acoustically treated room, right ? (bit of a shady picture)
Did you make those panels yourself, or did you buy them somewhere ?


as far as using "hifi" speakers for monitoring, it seems silly to me to use a nearly flat monitor to mix down tracks that are going to be played on sound systems that are extremely exaggerated in just about every frequency. Theses speakers combined with my treated room just seem to work perfectly together, my mixes are finally translating correctly.I did make all the panels in my studio my self. there are bass traps in all 12 corners, 15 absorption panels, and multiple diffusers.all together i spent a little under $700 for the entire room treatment.
check out the forum below for lots of great info on acoustics and cheap diy ideas for your studio. personally i feel that your mixing environment is the most important piece of gear you own, and most people overlook that.

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php


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