Should I buy equipment?

[Articulate]

I have been listening to DnB for over a decade now and have decided to get into my own production. I have done a lot of research and have decided on getting Cubase. I have a new PC with the correct specs to run a DAW efficiently but I am wondering if it would be in my best interest to buy any equipment now or if it is too soon considering I do not know that much about production.

I am thinking about buying an MPK25 MIDI controller, RME Babyface Sound Card, Yamaha HS8 studio monitors, Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones, and a Soundcraft MFXi 8 mixer. This is going to cost a decent amount of money and I need your opinion on whether I should hold off until I know more about DnB production. Maybe just spend some serious time getting to know Cubase and reading about music production?

 

[Dark Lizardro]

I have been listening to DnB for over a decade now and have decided to get into my own production. I have done a lot of research and have decided on getting Cubase. I have a new PC with the correct specs to run a DAW efficiently but I am wondering if it would be in my best interest to buy any equipment now or if it is too soon considering I do not know that much about production.

I am thinking about buying an MPK25 MIDI controller, RME Babyface Sound Card, Yamaha HS8 studio monitors, Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones, and a Soundcraft MFXi 8 mixer. This is going to cost a decent amount of money and I need your opinion on whether I should hold off until I know more about DnB production. Maybe just spend some serious time getting to know Cubase and reading about music production?

since you're starting right now, I'd say that it's better for you to save the money for later purchases. Know how cubase works, read it's manual, watch tutorials. And when you get the hang of it, invest on some hardware.

 

[RUSSLA]

^ This. You can do everything with a demo version of things these days without a single bit of hardware, just some headphones. See how you get on as darky said before spunking a bunch of cash

 

[Articulate]

Thank you for the advice. It is much appreciated.

 

[Dark Lizardro]

Thank you for the advice. It is much appreciated.

I'd like to add to my answer this: don't limit yourself to cubase. Try other DAWs as well, like Ableton, FL Studio, Reason, the newly released Bitwig. See if any of them suit your needs (aka have the best workflow for you). Don't believe what people say on the internet about "This DAW is more professional than that one". All DAWs can do the same shit. And believe me, you'll hear this A LOT.

 

[miszt]

buy equipment as you learn imo, the best bit of kit you can buy is monitors to start out with, you probably wont need a mixer for quite a while unless you have lots of synths or instruments to record live


do you have any friends that already know a DAW reasonably well? if so, its a good idea to start with that one, so you have hands on access to someone who can help you out learning it

I switched from Cubase to Ableton a few years ago, and I prefer the work flow in Ableton, but cant really fault Cubase, the audio engine amazing...but pick one where you have access to someone else who knows it; you can always ask questions here of course


i don't know if theres any point in trying out lots of DAW's, if you don't have any production experience already, I think it may just make the decision harder, all DAW's are highly capable, and they all take years to master...so pick one, and get ready to dedicate every minute of your time to learning it

 

[Articulate]

buy equipment as you learn imo, the best bit of kit you can buy is monitors to start out with, you probably wont need a mixer for quite a while unless you have lots of synths or instruments to record live


do you have any friends that already know a DAW reasonably well? if so, its a good idea to start with that one, so you have hands on access to someone who can help you out learning it

I switched from Cubase to Ableton a few years ago, and I prefer the work flow in Ableton, but cant really fault Cubase, the audio engine amazing...but pick one where you have access to someone else who knows it; you can always ask questions here of course


i don't know if theres any point in trying out lots of DAW's, if you don't have any production experience already, I think it may just make the decision harder, all DAW's are highly capable, and they all take years to master...so pick one, and get ready to dedicate every minute of your time to learning it

Thank you for the info! Unfortunately, none of my friends really listen to DnB nor are they in music production so I do not know anyone that uses a DAW.

I will definitely buy a pair of studio monitors and some headphones but what about a sound card? Will that be helpful to me at this point?

 

[miszt]

Thank you for the info! Unfortunately, none of my friends really listen to DnB nor are they in music production so I do not know anyone that uses a DAW.

in that case I'd suggest Ableton, the work flow is much nicer (and easier, arguably) than Cubase, you can quickly create phrases (using Scene View) and play with the structure of the track without having to rearrange everything manually on the timeline, and theres lots of Ableton users on here to help you get started - once you have learnt Synthesis, Samplers and the basics of EQ and other processing, you will be able to transfer those skills to any DAW (of course each interface is different, but the principals of sound engineering are the same)

 

[Skuff]

I agree with Miszt, cubase is a pukka DAW, but personally I think the work flow isn't as easy as Ableton or Reason. Ableton would be my recommendation to anyone starting out

 

[Articulate]

Thanks guys. i just downloaded the trial version of Ableton Live 9 so i am going to play around with that a bit.

 

[Skuff]

Good choice. Just watch tutorials on YouTube to help you get started, especially if you haven't got anyone to show you the ropes. All daws will take time to learn if your just starting

 

[Sulihin]

Also one way to get a feel for DAWs and workflows is to look for a bunch of different tutorials using different DAWs. Watching how other producers use the DAW can be insightful. They aren't DNB, but Tom Cosm and Mr Bill are great for this, they do some videos that are just recording their process of making a tune. And IMO when you're starting out you can't watch too many tutorials.