Studio Build

[Archie]

Over the last 2 weeks I've been building a crude but hopefully productive video/audio/photography studio.

I'll list the equipment I've bought and my hopes and dreams for the set-up.

Studio:

Backdrop:

Titanium backdrop paper 2.7m x 11m
Oxford Blue Backdrop Paper " "

Mixer:

I've purchased an Allen & Heath 6 channel, USB mixer (4 XLR Mic inputs, 2 HiZ ). It has some effects but no compression. I might replace it with another Allen & Heath with channel compression but stock on everything is pretty low.
I chose the Allen & Heath because the knobs don't wobble all over the place unlike on the new Yamaha USB mixers.
I've tried using the 'USB Out' on the mixer but it actually doesn't work for my needs. This is because the USB sends 4 signals out to the computer and I'm trying to use an iPhone, as my recording device. The iPhone doesn't recognise it as it appears as a multi channel interface, not a stereo line in.

Guitar amps:

A Quilter "10 and head;
Quilter US tone-block (arriving tomorrow).
Evans AER12
Two Rock Studio Signature.

Mics:

Sennheiser e906
Shure SM57
Audio-Technica M305
Sennheiser Me 2 Lav mic.

Recorder + A/D Converter:

The Iphone 13 will be my recording device and video camera. I might end up using Nikon Z50 for filming but the iPhone offers very good convenience. The A/D converter I'm using to convert the analog signal from the mixer, is the iRig Duo Pro. This will be the interface that connects to the iPhone.

Sound Proofing:

2 x 13.5 tog hanging duvets.

Lighting:

1x Amaran 200X LED light.
1x Aputure 120D Mk II LED light
3x Bowen LED panels.
1x Lantern Light Box
1x Strip box


Goals:

My goal is to get the best audio for the easiest access. I can't be faffing around trying to run a YouTube channel with all the other things I'm attempting to do. It's already far too much work so I'm going for convenience.
I want to record video and audio straight into my iPhone. All the stuff will be set up and ready to go, I'll just have to sit down and turn it on, press play on the iPhone and that's it. No syncing audio in some software etc..

Audio Set-up:

The guitar goes into an amp and the amp goes into the mixer, either via a mic'd cab or through the amps 'output'.
There will also be a clip on guitar mic, for acoustic signal, which will goes straight into the mixer.
In the mixer the channels will be sent out to an analog digital converter. That converter is then connected to the lightening port on my iPhone. All this can be seen in the pics below. Pic No 8

I will use a 3rd party iPhone camera app like Filmic Pro, so I can improve on the video quality, over the standard iPhone video app.

So far the audio set up works very well and as intended. I'm thinking of removing the D/A converter from the chain and going straight out of the mixer through the main 'XLR Outs' into the iPhone. To do this you need to lower the line level so the iPhone accepts it and converts the analog signal. It will do this but you need a double XLR to 3.5mm cable, which then goes into an Apple lightening converter.
That might not work too. I might need a double XLR to 3.5mm jack, a 3.5mm jack to USB and then a USB to an Apple camera converter adapter. That apple camera adapter lowers the line level from the mixer.
It saves me having to have the D/A converter and £200. I'll test it out when the cables arrive on Saturday.

In regards to lighting and making videos, I've watched a ton of lighting videos on YouTube. John Gress's channel is particularly clear and helpful. Hopefully that will make the videos somewhat professional looking. It seems that light is the most important factor in making good quality videos.

The two duvets (blankets) aren't the best for sound deadening but they make a very good improvement over what was there and I'm very happy with the result. I was going to use curtains but curtains would have come to around £200 and the duvets came to £50.

The last thing I need to do for the studio is build a stage, to get everything up off those ugly blue carpet tules.

I'm hoping to have the suit finished by the end of the week.

[Ukena]

It seems to be very well thought out. I suspect you've already checked interference from the lighting power supplies...

Filmic Pro is a good choice.

Interestingly, I have the same A&H mixer. I had the previous model, the ZED 10FX, but sold it and replaced it with the ZEDi model, precisely because it output 4 channels via USB to my laptop, where the ZED only had a stereo out on USB. IIRC, that's pretty much the only difference between the two models, except that (I think) the ZEDi weighs slightly less and the dimensions are slightly smaller. Oh, yes, the earlier model also had sweepable mids.

If you like the ZEDi otherwise, you might check out a used ZED 10FX, which would simplify your setup slightly.

[pingu]

all great mate

the only thing i would comment on
is that I would stay with the ‘mics to
mixer to irig to iphone’ setup
you describe
because it gives you the flexibility to
mix sources on the way into your
iphone

yes it’s a shame there’s no compressor
on the mixer just to catch the ‘overs’
but if you don’t play too dynamically
you’ll be ok

[Tricky Fish]

I’m envious

[Archie]

all great mate

the only thing i would comment on
is that I would stay with the ‘mics to
mixer to irig to iphone’ setup
you describe
because it gives you the flexibility to
mix sources on the way into your
iphone

yes it’s a shame there’s no compressor
on the mixer just to catch the ‘overs’
but if you don’t play too dynamically
you’ll be ok

Yeh I agree. The point of the mixer is to focus and mix all my inputs, which are going to be around 5. I don't really know how I could get round not having one but I can get past the Irig, by going straight from the mixer to the iPhone.

I've bought some cables that should help me achieve this. They're arriving on Saturday.

[vintagelove]

Over the last 2 weeks I've been building a crude but hopefully productive video/audio/photography studio.

I'll list the equipment I've bought and my hopes and dreams for the set-up.

Studio:

Backdrop:

Titanium backdrop paper 2.7m x 11m
Oxford Blue Backdrop Paper " "

Mixer:

I've purchased an Allen & Heath 6 channel, USB mixer (4 XLR Mic inputs, 2 HiZ ). It has some effects but no compression. I might replace it with another Allen & Heath with channel compression but stock on everything is pretty low.
I chose the Allen & Heath because the knobs don't wobble all over the place unlike on the new Yamaha USB mixers.
I've tried using the 'USB Out' on the mixer but it actually doesn't work for my needs. This is because the USB sends 4 signals out to the computer and I'm trying to use an iPhone, as my recording device. The iPhone doesn't recognise it as it appears as a multi channel interface, not a stereo line in.

Guitar amps:

A Quilter "10 and head;
Quilter US tone-block (arriving tomorrow).
Evans AER12
Two Rock Studio Signature.

Mics:

Sennheiser e906
Shure SM57
Audio-Technica M305
Sennheiser Me 2 Lav mic.

Recorder + A/D Converter:

The Iphone 13 will be my recording device and video camera. I might end up using Nikon Z50 for filming but the iPhone offers very good convenience. The A/D converter I'm using to convert the analog signal from the mixer, is the iRig Duo Pro. This will be the interface that connects to the iPhone.

Sound Proofing:

2 x 13.5 tog hanging duvets.

Lighting:

1x Amaran 200X LED light.
1x Aputure 120D Mk II LED light
3x Bowen LED panels.
1x Lantern Light Box
1x Strip box


Goals:

My goal is to get the best audio for the easiest access. I can't be faffing around trying to run a YouTube channel with all the other things I'm attempting to do. It's already far too much work so I'm going for convenience.
I want to record video and audio straight into my iPhone. All the stuff will be set up and ready to go, I'll just have to sit down and turn it on, press play on the iPhone and that's it. No syncing audio in some software etc..

Audio Set-up:

The guitar goes into an amp and the amp goes into the mixer, either via a mic'd cab or through the amps 'output'.
There will also be a clip on guitar mic, for acoustic signal, which will goes straight into the mixer.
In the mixer the channels will be sent out to an analog digital converter. That converter is then connected to the lightening port on my iPhone. All this can be seen in the pics below. Pic No 8

I will use a 3rd party iPhone camera app like Filmic Pro, so I can improve on the video quality, over the standard iPhone video app.

So far the audio set up works very well and as intended. I'm thinking of removing the D/A converter from the chain and going straight out of the mixer through the main 'XLR Outs' into the iPhone. To do this you need to lower the line level so the iPhone accepts it and converts the analog signal. It will do this but you need a double XLR to 3.5mm cable, which then goes into an Apple lightening converter.
That might not work too. I might need a double XLR to 3.5mm jack, a 3.5mm jack to USB and then a USB to an Apple camera converter adapter. That apple camera adapter lowers the line level from the mixer.
It saves me having to have the D/A converter and £200. I'll test it out when the cables arrive on Saturday.

In regards to lighting and making videos, I've watched a ton of lighting videos on YouTube. John Gress's channel is particularly clear and helpful. Hopefully that will make the videos somewhat professional looking. It seems that light is the most important factor in making good quality videos.

The two duvets (blankets) aren't the best for sound deadening but they make a very good improvement over what was there and I'm very happy with the result. I was going to use curtains but curtains would have come to around £200 and the duvets came to £50.

The last thing I need to do for the studio is build a stage, to get everything up off those ugly blue carpet tules.

I'm hoping to have the suit finished by the end of the week.

Skip the compressor. Unless you know what you're doing, you can do more harm than good. Especially running your audio through a low budget compressor. Furthermore, if this is for demonstration purposes, a compressor really begins to change things, which moves you further away from demonstrating what something sounds like.

If you must, you might want to try the Klark technic Kt2a. It only has two knobs, can very cleanly takeoff a couple DB, and has a pleasant sound. Trust me, I've used compressors much much more expensive, that aren't any better.


Good luck with your endeavors.

[Grez]

Looks great! You may know me as a luthier, but my side job is as an acoustician. So, your blanks look to have a good thickness and probably are doing a better job than curtains would have unless you were looking at unusually thick plush heavily pleated curtains.

As a general rule, the thicker the material the wider the frequency range of absorption, starting at the high frequencies moving down. So thin things like your carpet may only absorb from 3kHz and up. Your 1" thick blanket might work from 1kHz up. Nice 3" thick proper sound absorbing panels might work from 100Hz and up. Your acoustical tile ceiling will be helping a lot.

The thing to avoid is too much coverage of thin material. This will put your reverberant field out of balance, absorbing a lot of HF energy and leaving the MF and LF energy so the room will sound tubby. As an experiment, you could hang your two blankets back to back, doubling their thickness but halving the total square footage presented to the room. With this, you would absorb a little less high frequencies because there is less footage but you would absorb more mid frequencies because the footage that is there is thicker.

Barry
Grez Guitars
Grzebik Design Group
https://www.gdgpro.com/

[TedBPhx]

I have a Scarlett 4i4 and like you was unable to use it as the sound in to an iPhone. Until I learned the trick. Start the camera and set it to video BEFORE connecting the interface.

[tramline]

This is looking great! You might be interested in checking out the Roland Go:Mixer for routing audio to the iPhone. I’ve been using this for quick video recordings on iPhone for a while, and I think these cheap smartphone mixers do help simplify some of the hassle of getting the connections and in-camera level right.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Archie]

Skip the compressor. Unless you know what you're doing, you can do more harm than good. Especially running your audio through a low budget compressor. Furthermore, if this is for demonstration purposes, a compressor really begins to change things, which moves you further away from demonstrating what something sounds like.

If you must, you might want to try the Klark technic Kt2a. It only has two knobs, can very cleanly takeoff a couple DB, and has a pleasant sound. Trust me, I've used compressors much much more expensive, that aren't any better.


Good luck with your endeavors.

I should have mentioned that I want light compression for my vocal channel, not for the guitar. Otherwise you are entirely correct and your advice is spot on.

As I'm trying to showcase each guitar, I intend on trying to do so as fairly as possible. I even feel at odds with adding EQ on the mixer. That would be as far as I would go with it though. I will do a dry signal and then a worked signal to show the difference in guitar sounds. Another variable is the pickups themselves so it's never an apple's to apples but if I can show each guitar at its best, they can be judged from there. No special tricks, just a good amp and a good hook up.

[Archie]

Looks great! You may know me as a luthier, but my side job is as an acoustician. So, your blanks look to have a good thickness and probably are doing a better job than curtains would have unless you were looking at unusually thick plush heavily pleated curtains.

As a general rule, the thicker the material the wider the frequency range of absorption, starting at the high frequencies moving down. So thin things like your carpet may only absorb from 3kHz and up. Your 1" thick blanket might work from 1kHz up. Nice 3" thick proper sound absorbing panels might work from 100Hz and up. Your acoustical tile ceiling will be helping a lot.

The thing to avoid is too much coverage of thin material. This will put your reverberant field out of balance, absorbing a lot of HF energy and leaving the MF and LF energy so the room will sound tubby. As an experiment, you could hang your two blankets back to back, doubling their thickness but halving the total square footage presented to the room. With this, you would absorb a little less high frequencies because there is less footage but you would absorb more mid frequencies because the footage that is there is thicker.

Barry
Grez Guitars
Grzebik Design Group
Home | Grzebik Design Group

Hi Barry.

Thanks for the advice. I was surprised at how well the blankets worked and the cost saving.

I'll take your advice on board. I have one open end to the studio and one untreated brick wall. I resisted adding a blanket to close the studio off as I wanted the remaining sound waves to have somewhere to go, just not back towards me.

I've done some recording and will post some clips. Have a listen, let me know what you think.

Cheers!

[vinnyv1k]

WOW ! Sweet.

[citizenk74]

This is looking great! You might be interested in checking out the Roland Go:Mixer for routing audio to the iPhone. I’ve been using this for quick video recordings on iPhone for a while, and I think these cheap smartphone mixers do help simplify some of the hassle of getting the connections and in-camera level right.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fep]

Looks great.

With all that effort and investment it seems a shame to not use a computer as your video editing and audio recording device. I suspect you'll get better audio quality and it is what most music folks do. The big advantage in my eyes is the larger screen and better interface like a computer keyboard and mouse. The editing can be pretty fast once you learn the flow of things, I pretty much do it now without a lot of thought. Made a video just now for you showing how quick and easy it is to line up video and audio.

[Archie]

Looks great.

With all that effort and investment it seems a shame to not use a computer as your video editing and audio recording device. I suspect you'll get better audio quality and it is what most music folks do. The big advantage in my eyes is the larger screen and better interface like a computer keyboard and mouse. The editing can be pretty fast once you learn the flow of things, I pretty much do it now without a lot of thought. Made a video just now for you showing how quick and easy it is to line up video and audio.

Hi Frank. Thank you very much for making and posting the video.

I'll admit my eyes did start to glaze over when you bought the EQ out lol

I'm getting round to making some video and audio samples next week, let me know what you think before we jump in and start adding more links to the chain.

In ways I'm happy to sacrifice some sound quality as most people will be listening through small or cheap speakers anyway.

[vintagelove]

I should have mentioned that I want light compression for my vocal channel, not for the guitar. Otherwise you are entirely correct and your advice is spot on.

As I'm trying to showcase each guitar, I intend on trying to do so as fairly as possible. I even feel at odds with adding EQ on the mixer. That would be as far as I would go with it though. I will do a dry signal and then a worked signal to show the difference in guitar sounds. Another variable is the pickups themselves so it's never an apple's to apples but if I can show each guitar at its best, they can be judged from there. No special tricks, just a good amp and a good hook up.

Got it, for "can't mess up, subtle voice compression", definitely check out the Klark teknik kt2a.

Good luck!!!

[fep]

I'll admit my eyes did start to glaze over when you bought the EQ out lol

In ways I'm happy to sacrifice some sound quality as most people will be listening through small or cheap speakers anyway.

Yeah, part of making good youtube content is having the gift of gab, animated expressions, and talking fast. I strike out on all three.

In ways I'm happy to sacrifice some sound quality as most people will be listening through small or cheap speakers anyway.

Yes, most listening on their phones, 1/8" speakers, makes me crazy. I certainly didn't need to eq the boominess out of my recording for someone listening on 1/8" speakers. Guitar isn't as bad over phone speakers as many other instruments such as bass and drums, so there is that going for you.

[skykomishone]

AH, you're appetite for more projects is inspiring, as helpful about how one would go about setting up a small demo room. FEP's and Grez's contribution, and others comments here help me and others like me get some context and gain understanding of what you're doing. It's a fantasy for me, with occasional brief attempts at moving beyond that through experiment. I wish you success on this and appreciate the sharing. Very cool!

[Archie]

AH, you're appetite for more projects is inspiring, as helpful about how one would go about setting up a small demo room. FEP's and Grez's contribution, and others comments here help me and others like me get some context and gain understanding of what you're doing. It's a fantasy for me, with occasional brief attempts at moving beyond that through experiment. I wish you success on this and appreciate the sharing. Very cool!

Sky you're welcome and thanks so much for the comment.

It took me a week + of 15 hours a day grinding, to review, learn and choose the gear you see here.
I've learned so much from others doing the same thing so I'm just happy to pass on something of value in return.
This forum has always been such a wonderful place for sharing.

If you ever need any help just ask. Can't say my way is right but I'll post updates as I go.

Cheers.

[Archie]

I've changed a few bits today in order to recoup some costs and trim any fat.

I replaced the Irig Pro duo with the Irig Pro (single channel xlr). Since I'm going into the Irig via a mixing desk, it makes sense to have a single channel input device connected to the iPhone. Changing over from the 'Pro Duo' to the 'Pro' (single), saved me £60.

I swapped over the Allen & Heath Zedi8, with a Zed6. The Zedi8 had a USB connection I didn't need; FX I didn't need and 2 extra XLR mic inputs I likely wont need.
Allen & Heath are hands down the best small mixers on the market in terms of build quality/price, so I wanted to stay brand loyal but switching from the Zedi8 to the Zed6, saved me £180.

I also decided to return the Sennheiser e906 Micrphone, as I didn't find it £100 better than my Shure SM57. I prefer it but I that's not necessarily a decision based on sound quality. The Sennheiser is £200 (roughly).

The total saving from this realignment is £440.

I'll use the £440 to buy some rails for the mirrorless camera and iPhone, so I can improve the quality of my videos. Camera shake is proving a big issue.

I also replaced the Hercules Boom Stand I use to mount my iPhone and Irig, for a K&M one of the same price. The K&M is just better in nearly every respect.

All I need now is a twin female XLR to single male XLR to go from the mixing desk to the Irig.

[pingu]

All I need now is a twin female XLR to single male XLR to go from the mixing desk to the Irig.

if you’re going mono (mono is cool)
you could just pan everything centre
and go desk left out to mono irig in

[icr]

Wow, very impressive setup!

My setup is only for recording and mixing sound. I only found I could record movies by accident a few years ago. My workstation computer has a little camera and I found 'Photobooth' records a feed from my mixer while playing along with YouTube videos. Rational thought suggests that would feedback like heck, but for some reason it does not. So all my videos are live takes with whatever was showing up on YouTube that day. Very crude image and no editing available but zero cost and 16bit resolution sound.

[Archie]

Wow, very impressive setup!

My setup is only for recording and mixing sound. I only found I could record movies by accident a few years ago. My workstation computer has a little camera and I found 'Photobooth' records a feed from my mixer while playing along with YouTube videos. Rational thought suggests that would feedback like heck, but for some reason it does not. So all my videos are live takes with whatever was showing up on YouTube that day. Very crude image and no editing available but zero cost and 16bit resolution sound.

Now that's a proper looking studio. Very nice!

You can buy a piece of software Called 4k downloader. I don't condone that sort of thing of course

[Archie]

I've been playing around with the new layout today. Things seem to be shaping up nicely.

The audio side is pretty much sorted.
The video side is coming along well. The led lighting is more than powerful enough for video and I found a guy up north, who makes motorised sliders (rails) for cameras.
I'm looking forward to getting some smooth, wobble free, video work of the guitars.

The only problem I'm having is with photography. The LED lights although powerful, aren't quite powerful enough, so I might have to buy a powerful flash, with a giant octobox and use that as my key light. The LED lights will work fine as kickers and fill etc.. That being said the lantern modifier on the left hand side light, is throwing light everywhere. I'll replace that with another strip box, like the one on the right and see how that improves things.

Here's some pics of what's happening. The first greenish pic of the JP20 is with an iPhone. The second and last one is with the Nikon Z50. You can see it's struggling for light.



Adding the two shelving unit benches, has been a real blessing. It's given me storage to put leads and bits and It allows me to lay the guitar down for the video work.