Help me spend money

Thanks Mesh. i'd looked at the digi 002 setup b4 i posted i'm glad to here you think its a good buy. Do i need any special interfaces upgrades to the powerbook (sorry if that sounds stupid i've never used mac b4 or pro tools) to use the digi 002 board with it i'm pretty sure it comes with a firewire port.

I agree with mesh about Pro Tools though I'm not very fond of Macs right now. Our studio has the Digi002 w/ a Mac G4 dual 1.25 processor and we're maxing out at 24 tracks with a popular torture test for PT setups. We also have an AthlonXp based laptop that functions much better and is cabable of 32 tracks and 8 aux tracks wtih PT(Pro Tools Le only allows 32 tracks).

If your set on a laptop I would suggest a Centrino based system as these are murdering PT right now. They're running about 1200- 1500 bucks right now but they're worth it in my opinion. I'd also suggest the 002 rack for price and portability unless you really need/want the faders. As for mics I would suggest a Shure SM57(90.00, a lot of pro recordings have been done with this mic) and a good condenser mic. Mesh's mic recommendations are solid. You also might want to consider a Nady SCM1000(100.00), this mic has been favorably compared to the classic Neumann U87(not just cuz it looks the same).

I bought a vs-1880 a few years ago for the same reasons.. I wanted the music to sound like a professional recording. I finally learned how to use it (I realize that I really dislike the recording aspect now) and made a cd with some decent sounding tracks.. it wasn't bumpin like a puffy cd, but the sounds were clear enough. I passed them out to some MC's at a few spots around here, and they took the tracks to the studio the way they are. My point is this, people just want to hear the music, and MC's just need beats. At first, your music is going to be underground.. and underground hip-hop doesn't need pro-tools, cubase, a VS-2480, or any of that sh!t. Trust me, I overspent.. even though I paid $1500 2 years ago for a fully blown vs-1880 (saved over 1200 bux) I would have been better off with a cheap dat machine and a cd-burner. Just get your mix right, set the levels on the mixing board, and record to the dat. Don't worry about all that compression crap people talk about on here, or the new G5 to record the vocals, your the beat maker, let the MC's worry about vocals, and have the real studio get the G5. Once you sell enough of your underground cd's, you can afford the hit the studio up. So keep your cash, and buy a dat recorded, or an external cd burner (not the basic computer ones) but I believe fostex has one that is like $250..
Good luck..

roxstar / dyrt.trax

P.S how many sucessfull artists do you know had buckets of cash for gear? Most artists are starving.. there is always an alternative to spending cash.

thanks for the reply rox! I don't wanna spend money on stuff i won't use later but i do want to get into hard drive recording and editing I'm leaning toward digi 002 with an Amd pc setup i read in in digi forum that amd's are out performing mac's right now with pro tools plus i'm more familiar with pc. I just need to read up on the 002 control surface to see if its worth the extra $1000 compared to the rack.I'm still gonna cop the powerbook and try and trade it for some gear or just re sell it. As far as mics i'll start off with an el cheapo and some plug ins to see if i can make that work that's the least important part of my setup vocals don't take alot of time so if i have to hit a big studio for those it won't be that bad. Now my Asr10 anybody sell good synth sample cd's (mo/planet fat motif style sounds)??? I can save alot if i don't have to cop a sound module plus i love the editing and effects on the Asr.