I have been asked this question numerous times: "What kind of gear do I need for my home studio?" So, I've decided to take some time and write a small article about what I think would be some great setups for a "start up" home studio.
First of all, understand that in the Audio world, most people are always confused from the start between what type of computer they should run their systems on, and what will work on their operating system, and what wont. You need to understand that it is important from the start to choose the system that works the best for you. It's really just a matter of preference. Some people will SWEAR to you that PC is the way to go, and others are die hard Mac geeks. It's all a matter of preference.
Personally, I run my studio off of a Mac. But everything that I will discuss in this article will work for both Mac and PC.
With that said... You need to start your quest of building a home studio off at the heart of the project... that would be YOUR COMPUTER! The better your computer, the better your studio will run. The same way your heart works. The stronger your heart is, the faster and longer you can run.
The most important thing when looking to purchase a computer for a studio would be your processor speed, and your RAM. The higher these numbers, the better. Now you may be wondering… “What are some numbers? Can you give me some examples?” – The best answer I can give you is – THE LARGER THIS NUMBER – THE BETTER YOUR STUDIO WILL RUN. Processor speed, and RAM. Don’t settle for less, get the highest you can possibly afford.
Hard Drive space doesn’t matter one bit. Which brings me to the next item on our grocery list of studio equipment. An External Hard Drive! I can’t stress this point enough. Whatever DAW (digital audio workstation) you decide to run on your computer’s hard drive, should be completely separated from where the AUDIO files will be saved. This will increase performance, durability, and most importantly – SAFETY! If your computer crashes, you don’t have to worry about losing your session. Computers can be replaced, but that amazing Jimi Hendrix style solo you just recorded on your guitar CAN’T!
As far as types of external hard drives go… I would recommend Glyph. All my external drives are Glyph, and I’ve never run into a single problem. They can be connected via FIREWIRE cable rather than USB… which means better performance.
CHOOSING YOUR DAW
Next on the list… Choosing your DAW. I have always been a strong supporter of Digidesign’s Pro Tools. I think it’s the greatest bang for it’s buck, the most professional, flexible, and up to date software there is. If you are going to purchase your first studio, why waste your time learning some software that will only limit you in the future… Use the best, and learn from the best. Pro Tools gets my vote.
Note: Illegal downloads of Pro Tools won’t work! Pro Tools makes it mandatory to purchase HARDWARE along with the software. You will have to buy an Audio Interface in order to get it to work. Lucky for you, DigiDesign has some affordable solutions. (and when you buy them, they COME with the Pro Tools software)
You will find that there are 3 different types of Pro Tools. As a start up studio, you will need to just focus on two of them. Pro Tools M Powered, and Pro Tools LE. With the growing technology today, the difference between M Powered and LE hardly even exist. So the software is the same.
Here is a list of some audio interfaces: (You will have to choose one, do some research on each, and pick the one that will best fit what you need)
The Mbox Series
The 003 Family
www.digidesign.com
Do some research between all those products, and decide which one you need. (NOTE: If you have any further questions between which product you want to choose, FEEL FREE TO ASK ME!)
SPEAKERS
Some great studio monitors are important in the chain. You need to make sure what you are listening to sounds good and clean so that you can get an accurate mix. I personally use M Audio’s Studiophile series. They are powered, so you don’t need to buy a separate amplifier for your speakers.
MICROPHONE
A great microphone is the most important part of the recording chain, but it really depends on what sort of music you are recording. A vocal microphone isn’t usually the best solution to record an acoustic guitar, or vice versa. So you need to decide what you will be recording, then choose the right microphone. (NOTE: You can feel free to ask me any questions about microphones.)
MICROPHONE PREAMP
Even though the Mbox Family and the 003 comes with pre-amps already built into the system (just plug and play) … I would recommend on investing into a good preamp once you have some money put aside. I use Focusrite’s octopre. The better quality your preamp, the better and more accurate sound you will get from your recordings. The preamps in the Digi products just aren’t flexible enough for me.
THE REST
Don’t forget headphones (Sennheiser’s are one of my favorites. (If you plan on using more than one headphone at a time, you will need to invest in a Headphone Amp)
Don’t forget to buy plenty of cables. (Monster is the way to go)
Everything else really depends on what you plan on doing. Are you a vocalist? (you will need some cool vocal plugins and reverbs) Are you a guitarist? A producer? (Midi keyboard controller)
Lastly, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - You should find an audio forum to join like http://www.audioneeds.com and ask some audio professionals for their tips and advice. Forums are great because they're free, and there are usually tons of people there that are willing to give you wonderful advice on exactly this topic.
So I’ve given you the basics… now what you need to do is take a good look at what YOU plan on building, what style of music you will be playing, and decide on more accurate details.
Feel free to post and ask questions, and discuss. I will be MORE than happy to help you further. That's what http://www.AudioNeeds.com is for!
Thank you.
----------------- Guitar Center also has a really cool deal going on that introduces quite a few pieces of gear (including the Mbox 2 Factory Bundle) perfect for a start. It includes The Mbox 2 Factory bundle, Fostex PM0.4 powered studio monitors, Audio Technica AT2020 cardioid condenser microphone, a 20’ microphone cable, tripod microphone stand, and 2 10’ (1/4 – ¼”) cables. It also comes with the ILok USB Smart Key so that you can save all of your authorizations for your plug-ins.
