Kinda depends on what you are recording, yes? It's not about the money, use couches, mattresses, heavy curtains, (I did not say egg cartons), a full bookcase of your favorite audio books, etc... Hell, a dozen acoustic tiles don't cost that much. Step outside and record, it's free.
I agree.Treating a room first before you have any kind of idea what your problems are or before you get to grips with the gear and recording process seems odd advice to me. When people want to start a little home studio it's usually because they want to record. In other words, they're generally musically oriented. So I'd say that they need to crack on with writing and recording their stuff. Then as one progresses, the things that will improve that become apparent.
Whatever dude. Treatment isn't something you need once you are committed to recording. It's something you need to sound good. Most of the people I know that record are musicians and have been for a long time before they made the venture to record.
And there is a difference in the treatment you may need for tracking instruments and what you may need for mixing in a controlled environment. When you don't have $, sofas, bookshelves, leftover insulation from construction projects, throwaway cubicle walls, or moving blankets can work for you. I can't advise on exactly what gear to get, but try only to spend money on things that you will be using in ten years...or that has resale value. I have a friend who plays a lot of instruments and makes a living writing, producing, recording radio jingles. His tools for a very long time were a mac, pro tools, an M-box, Ozone, a few inexpensive dynamic mics and a KSM27 in an untreated bedroom. His work has always sounded very polished and professional. He has added more gear and made a better space to work in, but it seems to be the guy behind the stuff more than the gear.
That's rather missing the point. Few are experts when they start recording. So it takes time before your ears and know~how are at the point when they can identify that something needs fixing. Like I said, it's a different matter as a newbie if when you strum on an acoustic you get a long uncontrollable bassy reverb in the room you're in. But that's not common. No one's shooting down treatment. It's just that when most newbies think of setting up a home recording space, what comes across as 'construction', whether rightly or wrongly, doesn't even figure into it !
That is my point. Sure you can play with your equipment all you want and learn how to fix things in the mix but is that what you want to learn as a newbie?
