I'm not sure I totally agree with the philosophy of requiring high-end gear to create a great production.
Check the track below, all of which was done in my home studio using a Tascam-32SD recorder and Hosa cabling (save the lead guitar solo at around 03:30, which was recorded via a Fractal Audio Systems Axe-FX II amp modeling unit into a studio recorder).
Besides that lead guitar, I played and recorded all other tracks. Here's the instruments that I used:
Guitars line-in to a Carvin DX1642 mixer, feeding the Tascam via a single XLR input:
– Godin Seagull Entourage acoustic
– Fender Jazz bass
Line 6 Spider III modeling amp, line-out to same mixer:
– Fender Stratocaster
– Gibson Les Paul Studio
Keyboards, line-in to same mixer:
– Korg MS-20 analog synthesizer
– Yamaha MX49 digital synthesizer
Drums, the only thing that were mic'd, with 7 direct XLR inputs into the Tascam using CAD microphones. Yep, cheap mics, but proper placement is everything.
– DW Drums with Zildjian, Paiste and Wuhan cymbals
– Additional percussion by Treeworks and Rhythm Tech
Granted, it was mixed and mastered in a Pro recording studio, but no amount of mixing/mastering is going to make a recording sound great unless the sources are good in the first place. It's the old, garbage in, garbage out routine.
Experiment to maximize your existing gear set-up, and you'll produce the great sounding source tracks required for an awesome overall production.
https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13734072