How Do I Build a Home Studio on a Budget?
- averyblueproductions
- Nov 7, 2018
- 3 min read
So you've wrote some great songs, and now need a way to record your Grammy worthy album. How should you approach building a home studio? There are a few things you will need for sure to get started.
Things you will absolutely need: Interface, a DAW, and a Microphone.
How much you decide to spend on each depends on your goals and your budget.
Interfaces: Some individuals would prefer to invest most of their money into an interface to record production quality audio. Others choose to invest into an interface that is more economical because their goal is to record demos where decent audio is passable. We like to think of interfaces in terms of entry level, intermediate, and professional. Entry level standouts in our opinion are the Focusrite Scarlett series between $99.99- $499.99, and the Presonus Audio Box and Studio series in the same price range. Both try to accomplish transparent preamps, high sample rates, and high bit depths. Both feature a sturdy chassis and are an minimal investment. This option allows you to invest money elsewhere.
Price Range: $99.99-$399.99
Midrange Standouts: Universal Audio Arrow 2x4 Thunderbolt , Apogee Element 24 - 10X12
Features better preamps which give you more tone control.
Price range: $499.99-599.99
Professional Interfaces: Universal Audio Apollo series, Apogee Element Series, Antelope Audio. In this range you get interfaces built to last with superior processors, preamps, and control over tone. You can expect lower signal to noise ratios and large dynamic range.
Price ranges: $600-$3,000. The price differences in professional interfaces is based on the number of preamps, processing power, and A/D converters.
DAWS: DAW stands for Digital Audio workstation. The top DAW's are Pro Tools, Logic Pro X, and Ableton. Pro Tools is known as an industry standard in terms of mixing and recording. Logic Pro X is made by Apple is a Mac only platform. This program is used mostly for Midi based projects and film scoring. Ableton is primarily used for electronic music and hip/hop and features lots of software instruments and looping capabilities. Every DAW can accomplish the same tasks but the way they accomplish the tasks can differ widely. Pro Tools for example is known for its routing options, Logic known for its quick workflow because of AUX's being created automatically, and Ableton for its midi editing. Choose a DAW that meets your primary need.
Price Range: $199.99 - $999.99+
Microphones: In our opinion, Microphones either work for your needs or do not. You don't need to spend 3k to get a great mic. You can find a microphone for $200 or $300 that will be the tone that you need and want. We will give a few recommendations based on tone and genre.
Pop: A great pop vocal microphone sounds open, smooth, crisp so shop condenser microphones. Mentions: Neumann U87, Blue Baby Bottle, Neumann TLM 103, Blue Encore 300
Rock/Metal: If you want an aggressive rock vocal tone, shop studio dynamic microphones. They give the vocal a live sound. You can also use a nice tube microphone or condenser if you want a more crisp tone such as in indie rock music. Metalcore vocals are recorded quite frequently on the Shure SM7B. Mentions: Shure SM7B, Shure SM57, Electro-Voice RE20, Sennheiser MD 421 II, Neumann U87, Blue Encore 300, Avantone CV12
Hip-Hop/Rap: These genres are about capturing clear, crisp, and present vocals. For rap you need a microphone with great transient response. Hip-Hop vocals that are sung are usually recorded just like a standard pop vocal so there is some cross over. Mentions: Neumann U87, Blue Encore 300, AKG 414, Shure SM7B
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