Tomas Casals' "Studio" Setup

So after a good deal of tinkering and a small amount of welding I figured I would fish for some validation with my inaugural post here at DJTT

Here are some pics
Studio Pic 1.jpgStudio Pic 2.jpg

I'm running Ableton Suite 8 with Max/MSP and a few VSTs etc.
The PC is a Lenovo X220 Tablet (The primary focus when I got this was SolidWorks, not audio production but its done alright nonetheless)

I picked up the Rokit 8s on Thursday and I am absolutely loving them! Definitely a huge upgrade from just the 5s through the 10s (which weren't bad at all). I am currently short a legitimate audio interface and am running everything through a FiiO E7. The setup is audio out to the E7 with one 3.5mm to dual XLR to the 5s and the other 3.5mm/dual XLR to the 10s and out to the 8s and it is coming out surprisingly balanced. The 3.5mm thing is a bit of a drag but the disc noise from my laptop is more of an impediment. All of a sudden its like mastering through the monitors actually translates elsewhere to some degree.

My biggest complaint at the moment is the lack of multiple, separate, stereo channels because I can't preview tracks through my headphones. I only have one powered usb port and I spent most of today messing around with drivers, hubs, my DAC and a friend's borrowed MBOX 2 trying to figure it out before finally giving up, deciding that there is probably a solution that I'll discover after it means anything, and ordered a Mackie Blackjack.

On the monitor front, I originally figured on selling off the 5s after getting 8s but now I'm not so sure I want to do that. Its very nice to be able to go from sitting to standing and not hearing the change.

Oh and also it was the moron before me who took it upon himself and some of his inebriated friends to write BOOM on the cone of one of the 8s, but hey I got a great deal for that with the X1 so oh well. Maybe I'll spend a few hours with a Q-tip and some acetone trying to deal with that or maybe I'll call it character.

On the X1 front, I almost certainly would not have chosen it as a controller if I was buying new but given that it was tailored pretty heavily for Traktor/Serato I'm not too upset with it. Price/control was pretty good and it came with a face plate I got to make all pretty without feeling too guilty (read: the markings were getting confusing as all hell). I have always found knobs to be more to my liking that sliders anyways although I do wish at least a few of them were infinite and I haven't figured out the details of the deck control ones (they appear to be just functioning as switches for me right now but I've only played with them for about 20 minutes).

The MPK was an awesome starter choice as far as I am concerned and haven't regretted it since the minute I bought it. I love love love knobs and I believe I have an entire control bank that is entirely mapulator glitch shenanigans for a few templates. I don't play piano (I was always a guitar and trumpet guy before getting into all this fancy 1s and 0s stuff) so the mini keyboard is fine although I've had some latency issues (not a huge deal if I just ignore what I'm hearing for my short licks. I almost always end up editing after the fact anyways.

I'm stoked for the blackjack to come in so I can start playing with some of my old analog guitar gear. Ive got a half dozen pedals lying around and my favorite Marshall amp head so I'm planning on doing some sidechain glory.


As for the actual desk layout, I believe I've spent maybe $5 on fasteners and that's about it. The glass table was an awesome grab from the sidewalk and pretty much everything else I got dumpster diving. The stand for the controllers is made entirely out of scrounged rigid steel conduit and tacked together with a little flux core welder I brought from my shop at home. The monitor stands were originally fish market boxes I believe and right now they're just held on with some cabinet maker's clamps I have lying around (I guess when I actually need them for something I'll get around to attaching them in some sort of permanent way).

I believe next on my list is some sort of bracket/stand for the 5s to angle down a bit although we'll see.

Room acoustics are surprisingly good considering I've got a queen sized bed in one corner but for some reason the closets seem to balance it out a bit and hanging a canvas drop cloth in one actually gives some really good distribution. I do have some rubber/foam gym mat on the floor below the sub that was originally in an effort to not completely enrage my neighbor downstairs but I believe its beyond that point. Especially since between us all there is is 1" of hardwood and some foam drop ceiling.


Anyways, I hope someone enjoyed this kluge exhibit and maybe got some ideas.
I'll probably update this fairly soon when that blackjack comes in and I set up the rest of my noise makin stuff.