Decent throw together studio for my bed room less than $500?

[Krainatz]

Hey there. Well I'm finally considering to get some recording gear for in my bed room. I figure it will help me take up some of my time..and enjoy what I'm doing at the same time. I really dont know what to look for...or anything of that sort. I dont know whats good or not..but yea. I will probably just be playing guitar, bass, and keyboard...and drumming if its possible to do under that price range thing. What do you guys suggest? From recording gear to headphones, mics, monitors? Thanks for the help...

[Kevin Deschwazi]

That’s a toughie, really. You’re talking about a pretty lo-fi/ghetto set up with that sort of money. Not that that matters too much, if you have good songs and play them well that’s more important than any gear. One of my favourite albums was recorded on a Yamaha 4 track; The Fifth Column by U.N.P.O.C.

I’d go with a 4 track tape machine, 1 x SM57 and 1 x Electrovoice 635a (mics). All used off ebay that’ll set you back $200 - $250 I reckon. You could try both mics for vocals and amps, see which you like best in each application and for drums use the SM57 on kick and the 635a as a single overhead (it’s omni-directional so should pick up a lot of the kit). The Behringer ECM8000 is a cheap and pretty well regarded omni condensor mic (will pick up more detail than the 635a, which is a dynamic omni) but then you’ll need phantom power because it’s a condenser mic. I think standalone P power sources cost around $30-$40.

For monitors Wharfedale’s diamond pros got some good reviews when they came out and are pretty cheap at around $125. Active too so they don’t need a separate power amp. Headphones? Just get the cheapest closed backs you can find. You'll need to set a bit of money aside for cables etc.

If you have a computer you can use for recording then that opens up another world.

[DAS19]

Five hundred wont get you a studio for your bedroom it will buy you a cheap interface and cheap software though!

Check out the US-122. It comes with Cubase LE and its only 200 bucks. Now you need a mic. Look at Studio Electronics. The C1 I have heard good reviews on.

BAMMO. You now have a studio.

With the 200 dollrs you have left in your budget you probably have to save for a decent pair of monitors. I realized that 200 dollars gets you shit for monitors its better savign up to 300-400 before the quality is worth it.

[buryher17]

It's hard to do that.. but for the BEST sound for only $500 and you can actually build on it in the future is go on ebay and pick up a brand new samson drum mic pack. There is an ebay dealer who gives free shipping, and 7 free mic cables with it along with the 7 samson drum mics for about only $125. All brand new, and the mics are amazing. Headphones? You should just pick up a $30 pair of Audio Technica. I have the ATHM20 ($50) and there incredible, and i got them new for only 25

mixer wise, my suggestion is go for an analog mixer because you get more out of your money. Get a $100-$150 behringer analog mixer that can hold up to 8 mics and your set.

Thats like $350 and you already have a mixer, drum mics, After that pick up an sm57 online for about $70 including shipping new. For monitors? I’d suggest anything around the $100 range like m-audio or something if you want to get something worth using. I have a pair of edirol monitors I started out with that only were $100 including shipping. It can hook up to 2 different computers at once and has settings for bass/treble/volume for both and pan.

If you decide to go with all that its $400. With the other $100 you can either pick up an at2020 condensor to use for vocals and even overhangs if needed. If not then you could pick up a blue tube 1 channel for the vocals r cymbals or what have you. I also heard the $60 art pre is really good, especially for the money.

Hope this helped. I personally think all this is a good beginning set up for $500. And everything can be upgraded or used later.