New proposed setup

Support
1

I am putting together a new system. Looking for some recommendations on following.

  1. Preamp. Looking at Focusrite Clarett 8Pre 18x20 Thunderbolt Audio Interface. I was told get usb version because more robust even though latency increases. Any experience with this.

  2. Looking at 8 channels so i can have cymbal overhead mics. Do mesh heads bleed into overheads?

  3. Need new laptop and prefer windows but music store mentioned that Mac would be more stable. Looking at 8gb assuming will help if I integrate with ableton. Any other recommendations?

  4. Trying to put together a travel kit. Am I better with single or dual drum heads? If dual heads as good as single I would have 3 snares in separate baskets. Many sets appear to have concert Toms.

5 I am assuming a smaller bass drum will have better response. Will there be any noticeable difference in a 20” vs 16” skinny bass drum?

Thanks in advance for any input you have.

2

Here’s my suggestions.

  1. I have a Focusrite Scarlet 4i2 and it works pretty good. I tried the Clarett 8Pre for a bit and had some issues with a high-pitched frequency emanating from it that was messing with the SP software. The guys ended up diagnosing and patching it, which is in the updated software. But in the end, I decided I wanted something more portable, so I downgraded to the 4i2.

  2. Pretty sure you’ll hear mesh heads in the overheads. Not sure how noticeable that’d be in the final mix, assuming you’re planning to track live cymbals with sampled drums – samples might drown the mesh hits out. With single head drums and 7a or lighter sticks I’m guessing it’d be less apparent. Curious to find out.

  3. I fully support mac. Heavily biased though. I have a 2015 15" mbp w/ 16gb RAM. I’m running Ableton Live with SP software in the background, and driving visuals, and haven’t had any issues once I figured everything out. Road tested on a one-month tour.

  4. In the process of spec’ing out a seamless spun aluminum kit from Oriollo (http://oriollo.com/) with single drum heads, so I can nest the kick/floor/rack inside each other in a single hardcase that will qualify as a checked bag. I’ll let you know how that goes. Secondary benefits of single head: more controlled sound, lighter. Highly recommend taking a look at Oriollo – the sound coming out of those kits is crazy, and they appear to have a very wide tuning range.

  5. I assume the same. Currently looking at these dimensions: kick 16x14, floor 14x12, rack 12x8. Initially I was thinking I’d go with deeper dimensions for the kick, but 14 is the max depth Oriollo can do for a 16" kick. Looking forward to hearing how it sounds.

Would love to hear other people’s thoughts. I’m still far from an expert.