So many times I see people thinking about upgrading their audio rig and they always wonder which of several places in their signal path that they should begin upgrading. I’m of the mindset that once you have a working recording rig that gets it’s basic function of tracking and mixing done well, then you only have to upgrade further as absolutely needed and one piece at a time.
Take the time to make sure that you have fully exhausted the capabilities of the pieces that you’re working with. This is a big deal as you have no reason to spend money if you’ve already got a good thing going that you don’t use fully. So in short, use it fully. Take each piece to the max. If you still need more then you’ll know exactly where you need to start upgrading and you’ll be in a much better position to want to research the specifications and capabilities of the piece that you’re interested in. There’s no need really for someone with experience to constantly be asking questions of others about what they might think of one’s upgrade ideas. Only you know exactly what you need and you’ll know that for sure when you use what you have to the fullest.
Say you have a pair of entry-level monitors. After a few weeks or months of mixing on them and fighting to figure out why your mixes don’t translate to the widest variety of playback systems then you will naturally seek out exactly why this is so. You will likely come upon the issue of room treatment and then you’ll notice that before any monitor can be fully useful it must be placed well in a well treated acoustic space. Thus, proper room treatment becomes a priority on your upgrade list. So you write down, “room treatment”, and you get on with the business of researching the types and costs of room treatments that will work for your acoustic space. After a while you will have a definite plan of action for what you need and you’ll know what you want without having to constantly ask people to tell you what you want. That’s the professional approach in my opinion.
The same goes for anything. Say you have a microphone that you use for vocals and you notice that everything that you record comes out sounding a bit harsh in the high end of the frequency spectrum. After deliberation you will likely start to research microphones that don’t sound harsh in the high end. You will likely come to the conclusion that many cheaper microphones suffer from this problem and that it’s difficult to find a cheaper alternative that happens to keep a smooth, classy sound when you’re shopping for microphones. That’s when you start looking to spend more money on microphones. Because you’ve found that you’re just not satisfied with many of the cheaper alternatives. You never had to ask people, “How much should I spend on a mic?”, because you already know that you’re likely to get what you pay for,(with a few notable exceptions). Also you easily know what to put on your upgrade list because you’re not just buying things to say that you have them. You’re purchasing because you know what you need and you’re not satisfied with the quality of the sound coming from what you already have and use all of the time.
When you take the time to go to the manufacturer websites and read about their products, go to the respected gear magazines and read their reviews, go to the forums and do searches for gear info. You educate yourself. You educate yourself not only about the gear you have in mind, but also the techniques of use and esoteric info surrounding that gear. That’s how you become aware of what you need and how to implement it in your rig.
It’s not enough to buy a piece. You need to know how to use it and how to integrate it into your setup before you put your money into purchasing it. That means that if there is a piece that you think you want, you should take the time to research how it’s used before you buy it. Trust me. It saves a lot of time and it makes you a better engineer. You’re no longer a wannabe who’s buying gear. You become an experienced user who knows what they need and want and knows how to ask for it and discuss it’s proper use. That’s commitment to your practice and education. That’s what needs to be done.
Specifically regarding signal processors and plug-ins, don’t go buying the hottest thing on the market if it isn’t going to be “the answer” to your problems. The vast majority of the time it isn’t going to be anyway so why are you fooling yourself? I recently saw somebody’s rig that had multiple thousands of dollars of big name, outboard signal processors and yet this person was using entry level monitors to mix with. I don’t get that. I think that if you’re going to be using expensive signal processors then you’d probably want to use some decent monitors so that you could hear what you were doing without having to second guess. Why spend thousands on processing stuff but only hear it through a couple hundred dollars in monitoring? It doesn’t add up to me.
As far as plug-ins go, why would one purchase a bunch of high dollar, big name compressor, EQ and reverb plugs when you can only master the use of a couple at a time? I find that I use the same two EQ plugs on about 80% of everything that I mix. What can I say? They work and they sound great. That’s why I keep using them. I can’t even imaging having to figure out the sonic differences between a dozen different EQs or compressors. I figure one should use a couple and master their use. After a few weeks of use on several mixes you will really start to get a feel for what they can and can’t do well and what they actually sound like and are doing to the sound. Then you’ll be in a better position to know what to look for in an upgrade. Also, when you compare them side by side you’ll know the differences between your plug-ins, and the new ones without having to second guess because you’ll be so familiar with them. That helps you by making you an “expert” on the use of your chosen software. You’ll know what to look to improve upon and what happens to be just fine. There’s no need for a million plug-ins when you’re, realistically, only going to use a few regularly. The rest is marketing hype that suckers those that don’t know any better. Don’t let it happen to you.
The bottom line is for you to use what you’ve got and use it to it’s fullest. Then research anything you wish to upgrade. Make sure you know how it works before you buy it and make sure you know exactly how to incorporate it into your rig. That’s the way to make smarter decisions on gear without having to be spoon fed by someone else.
Happy recording,
Liz