You asked what to focus on and in order to assess that, perhaps it would help if you provided more detail on the facility, the use and your goals. For example, better mics and interfaces may be nice but if the result is primarily hearing any
HVAC noise or students in the adjacent hallway better, then those may not be the best place to invest your budget. Factors such as whether you do just single DJ type shows or also have talk or live interview programming or whether you have shows involving multiple students may affect the equipment and the facilities. So may the potential move away from separate studio and control room to a combined function.
For example, why are you considering 'acoustic
insulation foam'? Is it to solve a specific problem or simply because it makes it look like a radio station? Does it being installed in a University facility affect what can be used, such as requiring it to be fire retardant? This general concept actually applies to pretty much all of the items listed, are you getting them to provide a specific functionality or
address an existing deficiency or are they more because of a perception they are needed? It is difficult for us to judge the potential value without a good basis.
In addition, I am a little confused by the budget numbers. You note a budget that includes $1,430 for tools, instruments,
etc., $2,825 for dues, licenses and memberships and $150 for office supplies, for a total of $4,405. You then indicate $5,139 worth of equipment and services you are considering but that seems incomplete. What about rights licensing, is that covered by someone else, such as the University having a blanket license? What about tools, maintenance, supplies,
etc.? How much of your $4,405 budget is realistically available for the types of purchases noted?
As far as specific gear, let's start with the BBE 362 Sonic Maximizer. For one thing, that is an unbalanced
unit not in keeping with the other changes noted, you'd probably want the 882i that has balanced I/O. But even then, what leads you to include this
unit in your list? Similar for the
compressor, assessing whether it is the right tool for that job or is a priority depends on how you envision using it and what you expect.
I'm also not real
clear on how you plan to configure everything with the interface, computer,
mixer,
etc. If you were thinking of the Apogee interface being solely to get the
mixer output into the
Mac, then how do you plan to get the students' iPods and laptops into the
mixer? I would look at getting a couple of interfaces like the Whirlwind pcDI or the ProCO iFace/iRack or the Radial Engineering JPC/ProAV2.
Years ago when I was involved in college radio (back in the days of turntables, reel-to-reels and carts) the control room and studio had been already been combined into one function at our station with the old control room becoming the record library. We used monitors much as Mike described, to
monitor the live signal and for cueing as well as when producing station promos, PSAs,
etc. The monitors were cut off whenever a mic was switched live on the
console. I would hate being tied down to
headphones all the time.
I would skip the low cost
power 'conditioner' and consider getting a good
UPS for your computer, perhaps even large enough to keep you online during brief outages.