Advice On How To Set up a recording studio for my room

X-Men

Member
Hello everyone, I would need some advice on how to start / set-up a recording station for my room. I'll be getting my new house soon, I'm planning to turn one of the room into a recording station. Can someone advice me what do i need to buy, like what kind of computer, equipment & etc. Just for info i am a guitarist.Currently, I have a line 6 POD Studio UX2 audio interface.

Also, what studio monitors are recommended? desktop or mac? what kind of mixer need? user friendly and easy to use Daw? and many more????

Thank you for taking the time to help!
 
ok firstly, before you buy anything. have a good read on some of the following old threads I posted
- http://diy.blueprintstudios.org
- http://diy50.blueprintstudios.org
- Google / Youtube will also show up endless tutorials

those will cover mainly the "signal chain/connection" basics.
You didn't mention budget, a safe bet is check out what other popular brands/models people use.

So depending on what you're recording. if
+drums = need an audio interface that can record many inputs + lots of drum mikes + space etc.
OR
+digital drums = an e-drumset > midi/sound module > midi to USB cable > your DAW. then from there you need virtual drums sampler VSTI to trigger.
digital drums demonstration + guitar bass DI would be something like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y1xUByWakA

I was formerly using a Zoom R16 for my miked drums recordings. you can check out some of my recording videos -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4pCC8xbqsk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE8HX44apDY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvLJyh4lzoE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eGgnK16OuQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18XurAoxqgM

+guitar/bass = I'm sure you know by now with your ux2 as the guitar DI processor.
+vocals = you need a basic large diaphragm condenser mic. something like Audio Technica AT2020 onwards. remember usually they require phantom power don't think you need to worry cos your UX2 has it.

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pc or mac is your call. PC is cheaper by a little and a lot only if you know how to DIY and maintain. mac is stable and comes with garageband. I'm a PC guy and there are numerous Mac users here and we're not doing that Mac VS PC plus one or two guys using Linux and coke vs pepsi and one or two preferring gatorade thing again. As of 2014, any PC/mac out there has specs good enough to record as long as you have a well maintained PC/laptop. this I can vouch for because I'm still using my 10 year old free laptop from starhub (1.66ghz core 2 duo 3gb ram. windows xp now records 24bit audio and 8 tracks simultaneously) do not mix games/other cpu intensive thing with audio usage/antiviruses etc.
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Studio Monitors = my take on this is, it's no use if you have $3000 monitor speakers / Adam / Genelec / Mackie / etc and your room is barely acoustically treated (pls do not scotch tape egg shell trays. it stinks + fire hazard and doesn't work.) And even if you have killer speakers + room acoustics but your ears are abused equivalent to a baked potato it's not going to work too. I personally practise good hearing health habits , some favourite IEMs made locally that cost $25 , audio technica ATHM30s $60-$70, USB powered altec lansing pc speakers $30 , ipod earphones , iphone speakers, car stereo and my clients' hearing mediums and their friends' hearing mediums. if a mix sounds good on all of these , I don't think you'll have anything to worry about not having thousand dollar setups. now the tricky part is to mix it to work this way....
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you don't need a mixer, you need an audio interface.
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DAW : PC - Reaper, Cubase , Cakewalk Sonar , Mixcraft Acoustic something , Audacity (very basic free one) , Ableton, etc some of these support mac also.
Mac - Garageband , Logic , ProTools (not sure about whether now works on PC or requires M-Audio gear for M-Powered versions etc)
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You will need a headphone amp + multiple headphones if you're recording live.
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Social Soundproofing - take note if you're recording drums, pls take neighbours into consideration. which is why some people start to invest in electronic drums. as you can see.. I do my recording at jam studios/other people's homes/schools etc..
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after recording .. your hands and ears will be itchy for the next stage - mixing you've been warned. have fun.
 
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