How much is "too much" when spending money on recording equipment?

I only do audio for radio shows and audiobooks, so my advice may not be right. In my photography classes, I see people buying the high priced bodies and the cheaper lenses. It should be the other way around, as the lenses may be used for 10 years but the bodies change and improve often.

So, I would guess that, in terms of input, a really good mic and either really good headphones or true monitor speakers would be the best choice and a decent mixing board. You need to be able to record and hear clearly. Then work around the DAWs, as they keep getting better and cheaper.
 
Ronbert said:
I'm still at the dabbling stage with recording but it seems that almost any hobby you care to name needs about $1000 input in order to get an adequate setup to get a good experience with it. Even backpacking can add up. Never mind such things as shooting, motorcycles, RC flying, quilting, sewing, fly fishing, jeeping, ham radio etc.

And then there is the really expensive stuff- racing cars, flying (real) airplanes, women, vacation homes ..........
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Horse shit. You can get very good results from any gear whether it be recording or hiking. If you want to hike the Appalachian Trail, then you cost for equipment will be more than for a walk on the bike path. People have done the AT in running shoes and damned good recordings have been done on $200 worth of equipment.
 
radi0j0hn said:
I only do audio for radio shows and audiobooks, so my advice may not be right. In my photography classes, I see people buying the high priced bodies and the cheaper lenses. It should be the other way around, as the lenses may be used for 10 years but the bodies change and improve often.

So, I would guess that, in terms of input, a really good mic and either really good headphones or true monitor speakers would be the best choice and a decent mixing board. You need to be able to record and hear clearly. Then work around the DAWs, as they keep getting better and cheaper.
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The analogy isn't bad but it's not exactly right. Yes, the microphone makes a huge difference to the sound you get--but the room acoustics make an equally big difference. However, after that comes the audio interface which usually contains a mic pre amp and A to D converter. Skimp on that and you'll mess up the sound of even a great mic. I'm not meaning you have to spend thousands on audiophool rubbish--just get on that can provide plenty of clean gain for you mic and enough headroom that you don't get into clipping in the analogue domain.

For a lot of applications, a mixing board isn't even needed. If you do need to have one, this needs to be decent quality or it's not worth having.

Yes, monitors (or headphones) are important but only as a way to judge what you've done. They do directly effect what you're recording. Going to your photography analogy, poor monitors are like looking at your pictures on a rubbish video monitor. You wouldn't want to use it to adjust things but it doesn't change the quality of the pictures in the camera.
 
radi0j0hn said:
I only do audio for radio shows and audiobooks, so my advice may not be right. In my photography classes, I see people buying the high priced bodies and the cheaper lenses. It should be the other way around, as the lenses may be used for 10 years but the bodies change and improve often.

So, I would guess that, in terms of input, a really good mic and either really good headphones or true monitor speakers would be the best choice and a decent mixing board. You need to be able to record and hear clearly. Then work around the DAWs, as they keep getting better and cheaper.
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Exactly right - perfect. :thumbs up:
 
Bobbsy said:
The analogy isn't bad but it's not exactly right. Yes, the microphone makes a huge difference to the sound you get--but the room acoustics make an equally big difference. However, after that comes the audio interface which usually contains a mic pre amp and A to D converter. Skimp on that and you'll mess up the sound of even a great mic. I'm not meaning you have to spend thousands on audiophool rubbish--just get on that can provide plenty of clean gain for you mic and enough headroom that you don't get into clipping in the analogue domain.

For a lot of applications, a mixing board isn't even needed. If you do need to have one, this needs to be decent quality or it's not worth having.

Yes, monitors (or headphones) are important but only as a way to judge what you've done. They do directly effect what you're recording. Going to your photography analogy, poor monitors are like looking at your pictures on a rubbish video monitor. You wouldn't want to use it to adjust things but it doesn't change the quality of the pictures in the camera.
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I agree about room acoustics - but you can still get excellent recordings in a bad room by the careful choice of microphones and position - I have certainly made excellent recordings in poor rooms in the past by choosing the best mic. and positioning it at the best point so the bad room does not show as bad.

Microphones are a mature technology (like camera lenses) and will last very many years - and good ones will actually increase in value (eg: Neumann U47 was £100 when it came out, the going rate today is approaching £10,000 for a good one) - so getting the very best mic. you can afford is an excellent thing to do.

I have microphones which are 30 years old, bought new by me, that are still current models, but are x5 or x6 the price I bought them at and the s/h value is well over what I paid for them. :thumbs up:

The same goes for monitors and headphones.

The things to watch are the DAW, and any components based on computer technology, that are continually getting better and cheaper and therefore have to pay for themselves in just 2 or 3 years. A good microphone will last 50 years or more and good monitors at least 20 or 30 (and often more) - so it's good to invest well into the items that you are unlikely to buy again. :thumbs up:
 
I must say I also am new to the home recording world. But I've been driven by needing NEEDING to get all my ideas down instead of tossing around in my brain. When I was 13 and becoming better at guitar and purchasing a bass, I used two boom boxes with blank tapes. About a year or two ago I purchased a boss rc3. Ran two sm 58s into an OLD two input Yamaha amp and ran a 1/4" from the back into the rc3. One mic at the kick and one mic at the snare shoving my guitar amp against the kick mic. And letting it ride. THEN I got an 8 channel mixer and WOW what a difference. Still two mics but guitar and bass straight into the mixer.

But this is before I knew about this forum. Or that home recording was as big as it is. Now I have a zoom r16 and can see in the future of a daw and what not and breaking my mind out of NO COMPUTERS!! There's just no two ways about it. If you'd like to hear the mixer/boss rc3 you can google us using Groveview band in google. Go to our soundcloud account and listen for yourself!
 
John Willett said:
I have microphones which are 30 years old, bought new by me, that are still current models, but are x5 or x6 the price I bought them at and the s/h value is well over what I paid for them. :thumbs up:

The same goes for monitors and headphones.

The things to watch are the DAW, and any components based on computer technology, that are continually getting better and cheaper and therefore have to pay for themselves in just 2 or 3 years. A good microphone will last 50 years or more and good monitors at least 20 or 30 (and often more) - so it's good to invest well into the items that you are unlikely to buy again. :thumbs up:
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You set me to working out how old some of my kit is.

You top me on mics...my oldest are "only" 24 years old...5 AKG 451 EB models complete with some of the extension tubes.

However, my monitors are practically antique...they were purchased in 1983 and are still going strong (Rogers Studio 1 if you're interested).

I agree with much of what you say but do think there needs to be some balance in the gear you use. A $10,000 microphone into a Behringer mixer is a waste of money. I'd also say that, above a certain level, the differences between a $500 mic and a $5000 one are subtle enough that, unless you have the best monitoring gear and "golden ears" you'll like not hear them. Well, not any more than the difference between two different $500 models.
 
Well, I'm way late to the party, but my initial setup was about your $800 budget. Propellerhead Reason/Record @$169, M-Audio Firewire Solo @ $189, MXL 2001 @ $200 and Rokit KRK5's @ $300. I've upgraded Reason over the years, bought a pair of SM57s, made some semi-horrid recordings and then I found this site.

Once I figured out what I was doing wrong, I spent $1500 on room treatment and $700 on a pair of decent monitors. My mixes soared. Upgraded to the US1800 that was previously mentioned, got some Sennheiser HD380s on recommendation and am getting a lot better at tracking as well. Added a splitting mixer last month to tame the volumes and I'm finally getting the hang of not overcompressing. Everything helps, but when you start, you need to have a goal, and a budget, and get the best equipment you can afford by getting good advice.

AFA DAW. Reaper is a GREAT choice. I will repeat, GREAT choice. It's inexpensive ($60) and if you don't have a ton of experience with another, any DAW is as good as any other. If you have a lot of experience with a specific DAW, don't reinvent the wheel. Bear in mind I use REASON, not Reaper and I'm recommending it as a GREAT choice. But if you are choosing ProTools for some "Industry Standard" or whatever bogus reason, that's just hype.

Spend your money on a decent inexpensive mike (I noticed the 2001 that I use and love is under $100 now) and maybe a 57.

When you get out of the apartment and into a decent space get some room treatment, even if that's just buying 5 cases of Roxul and stacking up superchunks in the corners. If your room lies to you, it won't matter how good your skills are (my first mistake). But in the mean time, get some GOOD headphones. HD380s or even 280s, AT M50s, AKG K171s, Sony 7506s. All great gear. Avoid DJ and hyped (consumer grade) headphones.

Start with free plugins. Density MKIII for example, is one of the best compressors around, and it's free. Spline EQ and Blue Cat's Triple EQ are both outstanding. There's a lot you can pick up for free. May not be the best, but we're not budgeting to afford the best, just yet :)

Mostly, though, be happy with what you do. Spending a lot more than you planned is a quick way to feel pressured to use the stuff. Then it becomes a chore and not a pleasure. As always; Happy Recording :D
 
BroKen_H said:
If your room lies to you, it won't matter how good your skills are (my first mistake).
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So true!

This past weekend (after losing my cable, phone and internet lines to falling ice), I had the chance to plug some recordings I did 4 years ago back into Reaper - now with my room treatment and half-decent monitors I can hear the crap low end I had in them because I couldn't hear what was really going on before.
 
Monitors, an audio interface and plugins are enough for a home recording studio.

Never more than ~$600 if you don't know exactly what you're doing
 
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