WHAT TO GET: Building a Basic Home Recording Studio

manlovesit

New member
Not sure if this is going to be moved to the right thread/ room.

I'm building a very basic home recording studio. I already have some items like macbook, midi controller, logic studio. Now I'm moving a step further and getting more equipment, like monitor speaker, mixer (if required), condenser mic, etc. What honestly, I don't know what is more important or required to make my home recording studio in a state of basic recording-ready.

WHAT AM I RECORDING:
1. Vocals
2. Electric/ Acoustic Guitars
3. MIDI keyboard

WHAT OTHER EQUIPMENT SHOULD BUY?
1. Mixer?
2. Monitor Speaker?
3. Condenser Microphone?
4. Others?

My budget is below $800, if can lower la.. :) And currently, I'm looking at Yamaha 8-track mixer, some low-end-good-enough monitor speakers and condenser microphone. So, if possible I try to spend as little as possible. Bear in mind, a basic recording home studio not Abbey Road :) hehe...

So my idea is to just record guitar, keyboards (midi), then vocals, then mix and master it using my macbook logic studio.

Some said mixer isn't important, some said I need it. Ahhh.. very confused. What do I really need now? I don't wanna be buying something and later find out that I don't need it, like some said mixers are not very important, since I already can do it in my Logic Studio, which is true in some or many ways... well, that's an example, and I'm sure there's more to discover from you experts and pros out there.

So please be kind and delicate, and help me.

Thanks buddies, I love you all :)
 
Do you have any audio interface?

that is one piece of equipment of most importance if you are recording into the laptop.

You will need it to connect physical hardware like instruments, mic to it and let the signal talk to the daw, which is your logic studio. Bascially that is the soundcard you will use instead of the internal one of the laptop

as for the mixer, there is no need to get it if you are just planning to record individual instrument on its own then within logic studio, doing all the arrangement and sequencing.

Unless you wanna record everything at the same time, some special routing arrangement with hardware effect instead of using those from within logic, then yes, you can use a mixer to do it.

the primary role of a mixer is to combine different signal source, send it to different path, before mixing it back at the output. If you cant think of any way to utilise it at the moment, you can skip it.
 
Hi PatheinRaindropMoe, thanks for your input, appreciate it a lot. Ok, so, its firm now that I can stop looking at mixers, so they are right too. :) and I don't have to spend too much money..

Ok, the audio interface thingie is the part which I'm kinda lost, esp. in terms of brands and models. Its something like for e.g. the pod studio ux2 thingie? that kinda device? Would you be able to help me identify a fairly good one for home studio that doesn't burn a hole in the pocket. Also, I need recommendation on MONITORS SPEAKERS and CONDENSER MIC, mainly for use on vocals then electric/ acoustic guitar mic-up. If you can include the price range and where to get it would be great too, else, I'll find it out myself. Another thing to take note with the MONITOR SPEAKERS, my home studio is normal HDB bedroom, currently without any wall insulation though I'm already looking at that now too.

Thanks again bro!
 
1) incase you missed out the sticky thread http://tinyurl.com/diyrecording

2) your DAW = Logic/macbook and you got a midi controller.

you need audio interface/preamp/phantompower/xlr cables if you haven't gotten any and mics.

Vocals > *popfilter > *Large diaphragm condenser mic > *xlr cable > *preamp/audio interface 1 mono input > usb/firewire > macbook.

E/A Guitars > *you can use the same mic or if your budget allows you to get additional pencil condenser > *Xlr cable > *preamp/audio interface 2 inputs > macbook

Midi keyboard > A) USB > macbook
B) *midi cable > *audio interface with midi > macbook
C) *midi to USB interface > usb > macbook

Monitoring > headphone OR headphones* > headphone amp (optional if more than 1) > audio interface OUTPUT.
-----------
headphones : I highly recommend Audiotechnica athm30s it's around $60, nice lows, has a slightly deceiving midscoop, but reliable,comfortable,durable,great noise isolation, long cable, comes with 1/4 inch jack or 1/8 earphone jack adapter.

at budget of $800 (without including recording necessities)getting monitor speakers may not be efficient. you may wanna settle with headphones first.

condenser mic for vocals I recommend Audiotechnica AT2020 at citymusic around $160.

audio interface you may wanna get presonus audiobox/firebox / line6 ux2 / zoom H4n depending on whether your midi keyboard is midi output or usb output. or you wanna get Zoom H4n then get another additional midi USB interface for your keyboards.

hope this helps
 
by the way, in my opinion , branded and expensive monitor speakers are somewhat useless without a proper treated room.
cheap and inaccurate monitor speakers are useless in general. treated or not. you might as well buy a normal hearing medium like some PC speakers with nice highs,mids,lows.
 
Wow blueprintstudios, crystal clear explanation, I like!

Ok, I have better picture and idea on what I really need now.. And yup I was reading about monitor speakers vs treated/untreated rooms before lunch so as an alternative I began looking for good flat monitor headphones instead of flat monitor speakers... erm.. gotta do a bit of reading about that too, and see if it's worth it.

Seriously I need a bit of time to go through every details that you've written above, and hopefully my list of questions get shorter after every reply..

I'll be back and thanks again for your tips!!!
 
thanks for sharing from me too.. :)

edit: oh can ask u guys one more thing,
what min spec for mac advisable? pre intel dual g4 below 1000ghz can do?
 
Last edited:
manlovesit : you're welcome. feel free to post again so others can also learn from it too

eieieo : I'm not sure about the mac spec, but what I know for sure is, try to record/etc with whatever you got first, if it lags, or spasm out, then you know it can't and time to upgrade heheh. don't rush into upgrades cos there's always newer,better,cheaper (esp year end sales) gear
 
with your low budget, probably need to just budget for 1. condenser mic 2. digital interface (eg. presonus firebox) and 3. Monitor Speakers.

Doubt you can cover those for $800 only though! Forget about the mixer as it will blow your budget already.

cheers!
 
manlovesit : you're welcome. feel free to post again so others can also learn from it too

eieieo : I'm not sure about the mac spec, but what I know for sure is, try to record/etc with whatever you got first, if it lags, or spasm out, then you know it can't and time to upgrade heheh. don't rush into upgrades cos there's always newer,better,cheaper (esp year end sales) gear

Hi blueprintstudios, thanks for all the tips. I've just read your last post again and doing some research and readings on the net for the stuffs you mentioned. Hope I can bring something home this weekend and make myself busy fitting and fixing the stuffs.. :)

eieieo: i'm using macbook with 4gb ram, 500gb hdd and run logic studio. so far so good, have had no problems 99% of the time. i experienced once or twice when logic studio 'refused' to play my tracks as I had too many stuffs/ applications opened; itunes and garageband, safari, imovie and vlc. i closed vlc, imovie and garageband and everything went back to normal. i wished I could have macpro or mbp but really this macbook is doing its job well, really well i must say. but then again, mbp or macpro would be best, i like over-resourced :) :) :)
 
look like my mac is really ancient, only got 4 slots of 256mb sdram.. :(

Hahaha.. due for retirement.. :) eh bro, get mbp if you will... I should have gotten it before I got my second macbook. And got 4 retired macs at home.. haha.. legendary color classic II, powermac g3, imac 1st gen and an ibook!

ok ok..

now the burning question, how should I insulate my room walls. insulate the whole room? I've seen people only insulate the front and back walls where the monitor speakers are.. does that work? and what material should I use, i know sound proofing materials are not cheap so i'm thinking of buying cheap mattresses at the pasar malam.. omg, im so cheapo...
 
If you can shift you monitor, find the sweet-spot. It affect the sound most. It is quite hard, as your monitor tend to be 1/3 or 2/5 away from wall. Then you do surface treatment. Attack the first reflection with those black ugly thing. It is pretty unless to surround those black ugly around the room. It will make be the room dead.Of cos, sound proofing is other thing.
 
Last edited:
anyone here keen on building up home recording setup in a retail outlet together? can private msg me
 
by the way, in my opinion , branded and expensive monitor speakers are somewhat useless without a proper treated room.
QUOTE]

so treat the room - not very hard to do, plenty of instructions to be found for free on internet...good monitors are amongst the most important things you install in your studio - if you are somewhat serious...
 
patrich : to treat a room you have to have space, more cash cost than a pair of studio monitor headphones, and permit. as in permit from either your parents, or your wife lol. most people here don't have that kind of luxury. I only run on car stereo, pc speakers, and a pair of athm30 $60 headphones .
 
patrich : to treat a room you have to have space, more cash cost than a pair of studio monitor headphones, and permit. as in permit from either your parents, or your wife lol. most people here don't have that kind of luxury. I only run on car stereo, pc speakers, and a pair of athm30 $60 headphones .

only problems - no solutions blueprintstudios..?

all solutions doesn't need to be costly
good monitors are good monitors - throw the cash at those.
and then surface treat, not with "those black ugly things" as kongwee wrote.
there are creative solutions out there that might even please a wife and a girlfriend....
and when she hears your good music properly - she will be happy right..?
 
patrich : all talk and no $numbers to back this statement : "all solutions doesn't need to be costly". and "there are creative solutions". kindly lead the way, but pls don't give me the "google DIY gobos" , cos I've been there.

most softies here so far do not have cash to "THROW" nor have a "rich" in their username to start with.. so before I get as assumptious, may I ask, do you have a wife or a girlfriend? I do ask for her desired influence for all realistic singaporean women out there because she would be the dream girl for almost all musicians here who's that easily appeased. then our married lives won't be that restrictive because we love our women more than our passion.
 
Back
Top