equipment to start with

D

dawgtree

New member
Hello all

I'm new to this site. I am hoping to get input on what equipment I need to start off with for a small home studio.

I'm wanting to start off with the minimal cost, simply becuase I am new to this and want to start off small before I work my way on to bigger sound.

I would like to start off with a digital recorder, but am thinking maybe I should go 4-track. Please share your ideas with me in my hopes of helping me set up a small home studio.

A list of equipment, etc.. would be greatly helpful. THanks for your help!

This is a great site, wished I would have found it sooner.
 
This is not too expensive and reportedly very easy to learn. This would be a step up, and this would do if you're on a very tight budget.

This is the microphone you should probably get.

And welcome to the board!
 
Go to Fasoft.com download the demo of N-track. Get familiar with it.... ask all of the 1 000 000 questions that you will have once you have a basic idea of how it works.


Simon
 
Ditto on the n-track approach. It lets you use you present computer to get started with, and even the standard gamer sound card will work for a while until you get frustrated with it. So that leaves mics and preamps. Depending on what you want, those options will be all over the landscape. But what I did was use a small mixer - say, a Yamaha MG series mixer (I did the mackie thing) - and stereo outs to the sound card direct inputs (avoid the sound card micorphone imputs as the preamps are poor). Signal to the Yamaha can be a direct guitar, a dynamic or a condenser mic. I used Musicans Friend cloth covered cables until I started to build my own, which most people will suggest is preferable.

A good starter dynamic is a Shure SM57 or SM58. A good condenser set might be a MXL starter pack with a large diameter condenser and a pair of small condensers. You might outgrow them pretty soon, but the tuition you'll be paying for learning a whole lot will still be cheap. So that's one approach.

I built up a mic cabinet with Studio Projects mics (I love the B1) and MXLs, then moved on to Sennheiser wireless (fabulous), AKG, and some A/T boundary mics. Decent and basic; no thoroughbreds in the stable (except maybe for the Sennheiser) but all of them are good workhorses.
 
Basic Setup

I posted this to a local music forum so I'll apply the old copy/paste routine for the bulk of it. ;)
Obviously this is to do with setting up a Computer-based studio. Portable 2/4/8 tracks have everything you need apart from the mics & monitors.

Hope it helps!
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Hi gang

Throwing my 0.02c into the ring; I have set up my own home studio and work in a music shop and the following is a list of basic stuff I believe you need to have in a home studio:

*Good quality sound card.
Ditch the sound blaster. Something with preamps and XLR balanced inputs with phantom to power a condenser mic preferrable (or get a mixing desk - see below).
If you can avoid using a USB-powered device, even better. The power drag on these babies has gotta interfere with the audio you're trying to pump through it. USB device with mains-power is ok. Firewire or PCI is the better way to go.
Something with two inputs will permit you to record guitar effects or synth stuff in stereo.
Go via a small mixing desk if you need to boost the signal from a dynamic mic, adjust levels from various bits of gear, power condenser mics, etc.

*Monitoring
Good (and I mean GOOD) quality headphones have given some truly excellent results for some songwriters I know, but they must be GOOD (got the picture?) Stomp on your soundblaster speakers and invest in some desktop-sized reference monitors. Even large hi-fi speakers will do at a pinch, but will colour the sound you are hearing to some extent.

*Software - LEGIT software.
Sure, we have all used cracks, but sooner or later they're gonna stuff you right up. And no shop is going to support the installation of your soundcard if the PC is full of cracked software. The real McCoy is cheap nowdays so no excuses!

*RAM
The more RAM, the happier your computer will be.

*Dedicated PC
Use the PC for music only. Use another one for the internet. Keep your studio computer virus and spyware free and don't load games on it which can clag up your system.
(Same goes for Mac users)

*Mics
Sooner or later you're going to want to record guitar, voice, Norwegian nose flute or whatever. Dynamic mic (eg: Shure SM58) is fine if you have the ability to boost the signal (via mixing desk or preamp). Jacking straight into soundcard is going to leave you with a low-level muddy signal.
Condenser mics are the shizzle for studio recording, but you *will* need a pre-amp that can supply phantom power to it (unless it is something like the Rode NT3 which can be battery powered).

Stuff like compressors, Eqs and high-end channel strips are also extremely useful, but only once you have got your head around the basics of recording and can understand *why* you need them.

The great thing about setting up your own home studio is that you can fool around in there and learn how to record and mix everything yourself. Sure, you'll make mistakes and it might take a while to get your head around how everything works, but that's all part of the fun.

Good luck, and happy recording!
 
I'd ask yourself three questions:

-What's my budget (and am I willing to go over)?
-What will I be recording?
-Why am I recording it?

Obviously, your budget is your total dollar amount to spend, but just taken alone it doesn't mean much, until you get to the second quesion. What you will be recording determines how your budget is allocated to various things, and different needs require different equipment. For example, a studio that does hiphop will probably emphasize stuff like samplers, MIDI controllers/sequencers, turntables, and one or maybe two channels of preamp/AD/DA (if applicable), and maybe one good dynamic and one good large diaphragm condensor mic. A studio that works with rock bands will probably need many more channels of preamps, and various kinds of microphones for guitars, drums, and other instruments, plus vocals. If you're recording solo acoustic guitar with sparse accompaniment, you'd probably focus on a good pair of small diaphragm condensors and a couple good preamps. As you can see, what you hope to accomplish dictates how much you spend on each aspect. And, of course, a studio of any type is going to need stuff like monitors, cables (this can become a HUGE expense very quickly), mic stands, headphones, pop filters, and other "utility" pieces of gear.

The third question kind of ties into the first two because it can help dictate your budget, and relates to what you are recording. The budget for someone who wants to record simply as a musical "notepad" for recording ideas and such probably isn't putting pure quality as his first priority, as long as he can tell what's being played to recall it. You wouldn't buy a $100 pen just for jotting down stuff on Post-It notes. On the other hand, recording stuff for commercial release on CD generally requires a higher level of quality, which often means that the budget must be higher. Also, recording yourself playing one instrument at a time requires less than recording a four-piece rock band playing "live" in a room, so if you plan on recording other people's music, you'll probably be looking to spend more than if you are recording your own.

As far as budget is concerned, I would just say to buy the best that you can afford. I wouldn't approach recording with the mindset of "I'm going to spend the bare minimum and see if I like it", for a number of reasons. First, it takes practice. Lots of practice. You won't pick it up overnight. Secondly, chances are very good that you will enjoy recording music very much. I think most of the posters here could testify to that. There's a saying that I picked up here that says "buy cheap, buy twice", meaning that if you buy cheap, low-end gear, chances are quite good that you'll wind up either replacing or upgrading it before too long. There will always be a market for used recording gear, so if you need to unload something, or everything, you probably won't have difficulty, but you'll probably have a much easier time getting rid of stuff with names like Shure, Sennheiser, and Audio-Technica than you will with Nady and Behringer. So yes, buy the best you can afford at the time, because you'll either hang on to it for a lifetime, making that seemingly greater initial investment seem negligable, or you'll sell it, and get a good percentage of your investment back.

Once you let the people here know what your budget is, what you're going to be recording, and why, I'm sure you'll get more great suggestions than you'll know what to do with.
 
My standard reply:

Immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/07...ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance

Good Newbie guide:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

Other recording books:
http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html


Plenty of software around to record for free to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/

Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com

I use N-Track Studio (a great $60 low cost package) and CubaseSE ($99); you cant go wrong with either one of those.
 
Adam P said:
-What's my budget (and am I willing to go over)?
-What will I be recording?
-Why am I recording it?

For example, a studio that does hiphop will probably emphasize stuff like samplers, MIDI controllers/sequencers, turntables, and one or maybe two channels of preamp/AD/DA (if applicable), and maybe one good dynamic and one good large diaphragm condensor mic. A studio that works with rock bands will probably need many more channels of preamps, and various kinds of microphones for guitars, drums, and other instruments, plus vocals. If you're recording solo acoustic guitar with sparse accompaniment, you'd probably focus on a good pair of small diaphragm condensors and a couple good preamps. As you can see, what you hope to accomplish dictates how much you spend on each aspect.

The third question kind of ties into the first two because it can help dictate your budget, and relates to what you are recording. The budget for someone who wants to record simply as a musical "notepad" for recording ideas and such probably isn't putting pure quality as his first priority, as long as he can tell what's being played to recall it.
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That's a really good piece of advice, and one I should have used as an overall outline to my 'equipment list' post.

Different requirements = different equipment needed. Good pickup, Adam.

The gear I listed was for a kind of 'all rounder' small home studio which could handle just about any small job thrown at it (but mainly for noodling around in when there's nothing on TV) ;)

As far as budget is concerned, I would just say to buy the best that you can afford.

There's a saying that I picked up here that says "buy cheap, buy twice", meaning that if you buy cheap, low-end gear, chances are quite good that you'll wind up either replacing or upgrading it before too long. So yes, buy the best you can afford at the time, because you'll either hang on to it for a lifetime, making that seemingly greater initial investment seem negligable, or you'll sell it, and get a good percentage of your investment back.
Click to expand...

Another problem with buying *really* cheap gear is that you'll probably end up being disappointed with the sound you're getting which will spoil the music making process for you. The point of having a home studio is you get to do everything yourself (all your toys are belong to you :D ) so if you have to go elsewhere to record vocals or guitar properly it is kind of defeating the purpose.

Adam has some good advice - look at how much you have available to spend and purchase the best gear you can afford at the time.
Check out gear around the price range you feel you can afford then check out reviews which will undoubtedly be scattered around the internet. It will help you make up your mind about which bit of gear to add to your ever-expanding list of equipment.
Oh yes, it *will* grow.
Trust us ;)

Dags
 
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