Mix Challenge

Hey! I wanted to make a thread so we can all share the equipment we are currently using for mixing/recording, what we got and how much we like it, maybe add instrument collection too but mainly focusing on audio gear: speakers, headphones and mics. It could be interesting to know how it affects your mixing techniques and what we can learn from it.

Okay let´s begin:

Studio monitors:
JBL lsr305 pretty much the best sounding pair of speakers in that price range, it´s either that, the krk rokit 5 or yamaha hs5 which in my opinion add tons of coloration to the sound (specially the krk series)

Audio interface: Tascam US 4x4
4 inputs and 4 outputs, amazing preamps, sampling rate goes up to 96Khz, also the inputs are not the xlr/trs combo most cheap interfaces use wich breaks more easily.

Mics
Shure Pg58 (old cheap version of the Sm58 I bought a lot time ago without even knowing how to connect it to a pc, works pretty well for electric guitar though)
Rode Nt1a Use it to record vocals and acoustic guitars, very transparent sound, super sensitive and dynamic mic.

Amps
Vox valvetronix 80, digital modeling amp that has a vacuum tube in the power stage

I recently got a PDI-10 passive direct box so I´m going to be reamping a lot

MIDI controller
Nektar Impact lx49+ bought this two days ago, it has 9 faders,9 buttons, 8 encoders, transport controls, 8 velocity sentitive pads. It also comes with downloadable daw integration that maps the controls to be used for mixing or for instrument mode, I love it.

That´s pretty much it for now, some things I definitely need to get are acoustic treatment as a top priority, good headphones (I´m in between the Senhheiser hd280 or the Audio Technica Ath-m40x), and crappy speakers to reference my mixes for translation problems.

I don´t know if I should add software to this list , it seems to me that it should be part of another dedicated thread, that of course depends on whether this gets any attention or not, any feedback is welcome!

Well, for me it's pretty simple and although I'm adding new (much needed) monitors next year, I'm not working on audio treatment until I move to my own house...

I "work" with a pair of Alesis Elevate 3. They are almost nothing more than high frequencies everywhere but you get accustomed to them and I've managed to work with them for some years, although it's been a year since they started to give me headache from all that high content.

Then of course a PC with Reaper, although I also work pretty fast with FL Studio, but the former allows me to work with audio much faster even if the MIDI edition is a bit slower. As of plugins, the typical budget studio kit, with the CM plugins, Hybrid and Xpand (pretty big part of my sound), MJUC AND SDRR, and lately the outstanding Sonic Anomaly Transpire and Unlimited. I have more but those are the best.

For recording MIDI I use an M-Audio Venom, pretty weak sound but it works as a MIDI controller. I have also a full loaded digital piano with hammer keys so other instruments and synths get recorded with that too, I almost never program synths by hand (something I had to do in FL).

No soundcard (for now), but I do not need to record any audio source though... And of course I record at 44.1 KHz but it does not matter since all the samples I use are in that rate and I hardly ever bounce synths, so I could easily export my tracks at 192KHz...

FixInTheMix how's the Rode NT1A overall? I'll be buying a microphone when I have the rest of my studio ready, mainly for recording vocals, so does it sound too harsh?

Hi Jorge! Thanks for the reply, as for the NT1A it is pretty much made for vocals, not harsh at all, it sounds very natural from the start so little to no eq is needed after recording but it also works great with acoustic instruments so in a way it is like the condenser version of the sm57 as in you can put it on almost anything and it sounds good!
Once you get your new studio monitors you should really consider acoustic treatment because the suddenly improved low end makes the room bring out the worst of it, at least that's what happened to me, they still sound good but in a very narrow spot. I also don't live in my own house yet so by acoustic treatment I mean removable panels, bass traps, difussers, nothing permanent.

Hi, good to know about that mic, will add it to my wishlist As for the treatment, yeah I should consider some removable stuff. I've been looking to bass traps and basic difussers, hopefully I can sketch a design for the room and start to buy stuff in some months, but... Oh well, it's a bit expensive :)_

It'd be great to revive this thread, I'm really interested what all you other Mixing Challenge engineers are using these days!

Currently I'm running Genelec 8341s, Avantone Mixcubes and a JBL LSR310s sub for monitoring, Grace m905 monitor controller and DAC, Focusrite Clarett 8PreX interface, mixing in Pro Tools on Mac. I also use a TC Electronic Clarity M for audio analysis.

Homebuilt PC from 2011 with AMD phenom 1090T x6, 12GB ram and a 500gb SSD.

Steinberg UR22 interface, to presonus Central station, 20+ year old fostex pm5 monitors and some sennheiser hd280 cans.

Room untreated other than broadband acoustic sheets hung on all walls. (Bedroom studio)

Cubase 10.5 DAW.

Main Plugins used: waves, soundtoys, Valhalla, sound radix, analog obsession, random free plugins

Mixing experience... Mostly rap/hiphop which started around 1999, worked with a handful of famous artists over the years, had mixes on major release video game, and some radio commercials and major cd albums. Very little experience with other genres. Since rap is mostly stereo instrumentals mixed with recorded vocals I had very little experience mixing actual instruments separately which is why I started competing on this forum to gain experience in areas I wasnt strong in.

Its a hobby now for me so although tempted to upgrade a lot of my setup...financially it doesnt really make sense.

**also my profile photo is my old studio I no longer have...

PistolPete wrote: ↑

Thu May 04, 2023 06:48 CEST

Main Plugins used: waves, soundtoys, Valhalla, sound radix, analog obsession, random free plugins

Top choices! +1 for Valhalla and Analog Obsession