Anyone Building Recording Gear?

[micpoc]

Such as preamps, compressors, EQs, etc. intended for recording purposes only? I want to slowly start building up a complement of some great outboard gear; right now, all I've got is a couple of mics and a firewire interface, so I'm thinking a mic preamp - tube or solid state - might be the way to go; any ideas?

I am already aware of many of the kits for clones of classic stuff like Neve's, Pultecs, etc. I'm also hip to the online forums dedicated to this stuff like Gearslutz and Prodigy Pro, but TDPRI is. . . you know. . . so much more inviting.

[richon]

i've build the GREEN PRE (prodigy.com) sounds awesome

[ibobunot]

I haven't built anything but I have some links for anyone that's interested.

FiveFish Studios

RecProAudio

Gyraf Audio DIY

Pat's Schematics

[mudbean]

I built a PAiA Stereo Tube mic Preamp kit, upgraded the signal path electronics - very nice.

Here's an idea: Get yourself a Rane MS-1b on eBay (around $100) - swap out the signal path caps for audiophile quality ... sweet.

mud

[11 Gauge]

I've built lots of stuff for recording over the years, mainly just to make it all happen on a miniscule budget. Mainly pre's, buffers, mixers, and lots of analog boxes to get different stuff to pass the signal around.

Graphic EQ's can be had for cheap - I'd suggest concentrating more on specialized parametric builds. JMO.

[Anchoret]

Originally Posted by micpoc

Such as preamps, compressors, EQs, etc. intended for recording purposes only? I want to slowly start building up a complement of some great outboard gear

The current goal with home-studio recording in 2009 seems to be to eliminate as much outboard gear as possible in favor of VST plugins -- many, many excellent ones being freeware, with far more capabilities than you're going to have in some relatively primitive homebuilt equipment.

This totally makes sense from every angle. I just don't see the point of spending the time and money to build (or buy!) a lot of dubious outboard clutter that -- at best -- will do nothing but limit my later track editing options.

Most people I know have nothing outboard any more but a mixer/preamp.

Put the money in extending your recording computer's resources, download your effects and spend your time doing music.

[Ben Harmless]

Originally Posted by Anchoret

The current goal with home-studio recording in 2009 seems to be to eliminate as much outboard gear as possible in favor of VST plugins -- many, many excellent ones being freeware, with far more capabilities than you're going to have in some relatively primitive homebuilt equipment.

This totally makes sense from every angle. I just don't see the point of spending the time and money to build (or buy!) a lot of dubious outboard clutter that -- at best -- will do nothing but limit my later track editing options.

Most people I know have nothing outboard any more but a mixer/preamp.

Put the money in extending your recording computer's resources, download your effects and spend your time doing music.

While I absolutely agree that it would serve us all to spend less time tinkering and more time making music, I would recommend that at some point you sit in a old-school recording studio and mix something. There's a whole lot of reasons why real outboard is still the rule on many, many major recordings, and why the industry is still pretty strong.

That, plus some people like to tinker, and like the feeling they get from using the gear they make themselves. If we asked ourselves what we need to simply make music, we'd all be clicking on softsynths all the time. They're a lot cheaper than guitars.

[Flashback]

I have never thought of building my own mic pre!

I would love to have a nice quality mic pre, with my interface and little labs red eye for DI and reamping.

Other than that its all Cubase 4 for me and a handful of plugins.

[wnorcott]

How about instead of downloading somebody else's software plugins we just take it to the logical extreme and download somebody else's music?

Think of the time we could all save by not building effects or playing guitar.

Bill

[Anchoret]

Originally Posted by Ben Harmless

There's a whole lot of reasons why real outboard is still the rule on many, many major recordings, and why the industry is still pretty strong.

There are two primary reasons:

Resistance to change by producers (I recently read some very interesting examples of that), and unlimited budget and space by big studios to indulge in hardware that may have some ergonomic advantage over software -- which of course is offset by its destructive nature in terms of editing.

plus some people like to tinker, and like the feeling they get from using the gear they make themselves.

I understand that, but it's totally counterproductive in terms of efficient use of time and money in producing decent home-studio digital computer recordings.

You just can't make a sensible case for it.

Where analog devices are still used on the front end, you'd be very hard-pressed to build something that objectively works half as well for twice the money. Compressors and that stuff, forget it.

"Tinker" with the couple of hundred different VST compressors that are available for download.

If we asked ourselves what we need to simply make music, we'd all be clicking on softsynths all the time.

Face it, most of the industry is.

I wish I would have learned keys instead of guitar/bass.

[vikki]

Built a pair of the JLM Audio 99v amazing preamps, just purchased the pcb's and discrete op amp modules from JLM and sourced the components myself.
http://www.jlmaudio.com/JLM99V.htm
A rough recording done on them, voice level wants raising a bit but you get the idea, not tele i'm afraid
Sound quality of these preamps is top notch, doesn't really come over in this clip.
http://www.2dadventure.com/stuff/Mus...kkiVocals1.mp3
Vikki

[Ben Harmless]

Originally Posted by Anchoret

You just can't make a sensible case for it.

I'll try not to take that personally, but I will go ahead and point out that I use both outboard and virtual gear for a living, and there are pieces of analog gear that I would not give up if you paid me. That's just how it is.

There was a poster not long ago who visited the amp forum to tell everyone that tube guitar amps only continued to be produced because guitarists are closed-minded traditionalists. There is, of course, truth in that, but to simply reject older methods because of the expectation that everything can be done better digitally opens a great bit pit which we could all easily fall into, with actual quality being the first casualty.

Besides, aren't you the one who's worried about all the undocumented characteristics of SMT components? What about all the undocumented characteristics of all the vintage outboard gear out there? Are you going to try to tell me that there's simply no more to understand about it, and that everything we look for in those devices is available to us in the digital domain?

...Talk about something that one can't make a sensible case for.

Top that off with the fact that there are simply no quality A/D converters that operate at microphone level, and realize that we will continue to need mic preamps for a good long time.

As far as the quality of the equipment that I can build, I wouldn't judge it without trying it. Sure, I might not be able to reproduce something that will beat out a $4000 boutique preamp, but I'm pretty confident that with the right components, I could piece together something that will beat the vast majority of prosumer gear for well under that price.

Hell they all said the same thing about tube guitar amps, but people on this board (including myself) are regularly turning out amps that can go toe-to-toe with "the real thing" for a whole lot less than they'd have to pay - and most of the time for less than a comparable modern amp.

Bottom line is that we're not all looking for the same thing here. For some of us, the process of recording sound is not something that we want to streamline to the point where it's all done in the box. Some of us like turning knobs and mixing with our ears, which is something that even the best designs in DAW hardware and software are nowhere near as good at as a big ol' rack of knobs and flashing lights.

Heck, there are folks out there playing with wire recorders. Should they give it up too because you can just toss distortion and EQ on a digital track for free?

[FenderLover]

That's how I feel too (Ben). Not everyone plays music professionally, including myself. I've been playing for 35 years mostly as a hobby and only do it because I enjoy it. I have some chops, but frankly I have more ability and interest building and messing with guitars and audio hardware. I LIKE to turn knobs. Vintage gear is cheap. I have a whole rack of analog gear and another rack of digital gear, and I wouldn't trade any of it. I can use it all for the next 10-20 years and have a ball doing it for no reason at all other than I like to tinker.
To answer the original question, check PAIA.com for some kits. I don't build many rack effects any more because vintage gear is plenty affordable to be spending too much time away from spanking the plank and building amplifiers.