Building a new studio

Greetings…
I am retiring my very old Roland VS2480DVD. It was a faithful friend. I find myself in the market for a new system and have done my fair share of research (and have the headache to prove it!) I considered PT 11 and The HD versions from avid and to be honest…AVID must be HIGH on something , looking at their prices.
What would a TOP OF THE LINE Cubase8 system look like? How many channels does it have? My plan is to use this system to record my band. We record each song a piece at a time.( rhythm guitar then bass, vocals then lead guitar) The maximum number of tracks we record on simultaneously are four.
I have grown very fond of the motorized faders that my old Roland had and the transport control with the jog wheel.I love real buttons ,switches and knobs. Do the Mackie control surfaces work well? Another perhaps? How about the interface? RME? Antelope? Focusrite?..Others? Then we have outboard rack units we use (tube mic preamps, reverbs and stuff…)I have NO IDEA how this stuff connects to the interface…or if it connects somewhere else.
I am looking at a computer from ADK.
With the old Roland unit…everything was there in one box. I know this new system will not be that simple.
Please forgive my long winded post and obvious ignorance.

Channels/tracks in a computer DAW like the full versions of Cubase are pretty much unlimited, as are midi channels/tracks. How many multiple inputs you can record in simultaneously depends on your interface. Any one of those interfaces are great, RME is supposed to be tops with their drivers. A friend of mine has an older RME multi-face, and he uses his expensive mics & mic pre before going into the RME. Some audio interfaces have FX inserts to use FX’s. You do know that Cubase has effects right in the program, therefore right in the DAW, and also virtual instruments (VSTi’s) and you can get 3rd party VSTi’s too, so outboard stuff isn’t a must. My audio interface has built in mic pre’s, fantom power, guitar DI inputs, etc, so I don’t use any outboard stuff for those.

The routing capabilities is a DAW software like Cubase are very extensive. I’ve never used a DAW controller with/without motorized faders , my same friend had a Mackie controller but didn’t see the point of using it. I don’t use a mixer at all anymore, I use my on screen audio interfaces software mixer & Cubase software mixer. Yeah, that was an issue at one time long ago, but I’ve grown used to it, and actually prefer no mixer…but that’s just a personal preference thing.

A computer DAW can nearly nearly a self contained recording computer…well at least the tower, but you’ll likely want a break out box for your audio interface instead of just a card that fits in your tower, where you’d then have plug everything into.

There’s much more, just random things that came to my mind here.

The number of channels/tracks/effects/virtual instruments depends upon how powerful a computer you have. It can be nearly unlimited with a powerful computer.

I record close to 30 tracks live, then overdub (at most) another 30 tracks. I can playback and mix up to 64 tracks wit some VST effects feeding my external console via an RME MADI card. And my system is barely moving the software’s VST load meter. I have had some issues with trying to run more than 1 resource hungry VST Instrument like Halionsonic SE and Groove agent at the same time. But that is due to the fact that my PC is running the 32 bit version, so the virtual instruments cannot take advantage of my extra memory due to OS limitations.

there are several controllers out there, depending upon what you are willing to spend. With a Mackie, you will get limit integration/control with Cubase because it uses HUI communication protocol. The Steinberg Nuage interfaces at a deeper level. there are many more, you will need to do some research to see what interest you.

I have only used SSL and RME. The RME drivers have had The most reliable drivers for a hardware device I have had any experience with.

As far as external gear… the preamps you can put in the signal chain before the the interface input.
For the external reverbs, etc… Cubase let’s you create effects in/out loops on the “VST connections” page.
BUT, you will need to have an interface with enough inputs/outputs to connect all your gear.

Depending upon what you want or can live with you can create a system that is completely self contained in the computer.

Have fun!!!

Later,
Brain

Thank you guys for your input!!

:question: Hey guys!!
I got my new system.Cubase 8 pro and the newest version of wave labs software. I discovered that I must download the REAL user manuals. I can’t seem to figure out how to get the PDF files onto a USB stick or a disc so I can go have the manuals printed out. Am I doing something wrong or has Steinberg blocked the files so they can’t be printed?

Hi

CONGRATULATIONS :exclamation:

No, there is no problem with me just to download the documentation and save it on a USBstick to print it out.

Cheers

Thank you Alstudios!!