10 Best Home Recording Studio Equipment For Beginners
Are you one of the aspiring artists who want to build your recording studio? They say that smart is small, but where do you start? This article will suggest the ten best home recording studio equipment for beginners.
For all the music enthusiasts, whether an aspiring or professional singer, music producer, passionate musician, or songwriter, it should always be the top priority to get the studio equipment.
Sound quality is essential in creating a very good music and mastering how to record the music. Getting a budget studio equipment for a home setup should not be very compromised.
Setting up an amateur or professional home recording studio at home with good quality and functionality is relatively easy, as long as you have the right tools and the budget to build it. This guide will discuss the essential equipment you need for your home studio and how to set it all up.
How Is Cheap Too Cheap?
Since we all know that home recording can be costly..musicians often will search for one of the cheapest possible solutions to record their music. And that is so fine, expect..there is such a thing as “too cheap.”
While it is also technically possible to build a working studio for as little as $400-$500.. There are such low limits to what can be accomplished in such a studio..and I really would not recommend it to anyone truly who is serious about recording their music.
Know That What You Need And Work Within Your Budget
If you are on a very tiny budget, you can go for the minimalist approach and buy compact and affordable gear. As long as it does the job, you are better off by starting with the basics. However, if you have more money to spend, you can also splurge on a more intermediate set of studio equipment.
But before you buy anything, it’s so important to set a specific goal
- Are you taking music production as a hobby?
- Or are you planning to make a full-time living with it?
According to Stephen Covey, author of about 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, influential people always will start with the end in mind. So knowing the main reasons you set up your studio and visualizing it will determine the type of equipment you will invest in. Below is the equipment that you will need.
1.Computer
Note that all the recording studios have gone digital; you must have a computer for the software, storage, and management of your music, mixes, and other digital files that you will need for all your music production needs.
You will need to have a fast and capable unit that can quickly handle your Digital Audio Workspace software, as these programs will often require a lot of processing power.
You will eventually need to invest in a premium laptop or desktop, like the Apple iMac. Other recommended products are the 2019 Apple 16′ MacBook pro, 2019 Apple 13″ MacBook, HP pavilion 15-cs3073cl 15.6″ Full Hd Touchscreen Notebook, and Asus VivoBook 15 F512DA 15.6″ Full HD Notebook.
2.Headphones
A perfect studio headphone is a vital piece of equipment in any recording studio. It will produce a very natural and detailed sound with the capability to handle high volume levels. The Tascam TH-07 High Definition Monitor Headphones for the home are designed for the studio, which is intended for a comfortable fit and cozy.
When choosing the headphones for your home recording studio, keep in mind that there are only two types: open-back headphones and closed-back headphones. Open-back headphones will give you the optimal sound quality and are much better for mixing the music. On the other hand, closed-back headphones are much better for tracking since they will isolate the sound more efficiently.
3.Microphone
A microphone will help you record the vocals and the sounds from the acoustic instruments. Having a very high-quality mic at your disposal offers the optimum sound reproduction as it is critical to your music production processes.
The number of microphones that you will need depends mainly on the magnitude of your operations and the sounds you will want to record. For example, some of the mics are much better for the vocals, while some are better for the typical home recordings studio.
The Samson Meter Large Diaphragm USB Studio Microphone is just an all-in-one mic that is perfect for any of the home studios, whether for the amateur or the professional applications. It will produce rich audio recordings with a smooth frequency response and the 16-bit, 44.1/48kHz resolution that will ensure professional quality playback.
To make your home recording studio much more professional and to easily facilitate better recordings, you will be able to need a microphone that stands to hold all the microphones for the singers and instrumentalists. You can also easily start with just one or two for the singers, typically with a lightweight one like the Samson MK10 Boom Microphone Stand.
A straightforward tip is to figure out what you will need it for. Tripod stands are for general purposes, while the tripod boom will offer a much longer reach. Round base stands are also perfect for singers, and low-profile stands are specifically made for kicks, drums, and guitar cabs. For bedroom recordings and podcasting, desktop stands are among the best and most affordable choices.
4.Pop Filter
Most home studios now aspire to produce a professional quality output with the help of the few pro items that are still relatively affordable. A pop filter is just one of them. This tiny filter is placed between the singers and the other vocal microphone during the recordings to help reduce thump or popping sounds when pronouncing p aor b sounds.
The filter, which is usually very circular and is made of metal and mesh, works by catching the blasts of the air before the sound hits the microphone to create a much more desirable recording output. The NADY SPF-1 is a perfect and affordable example of the excellent pop filters for the home recordings studios.
5.Musical Instruments
Your set of musical instruments is another such core component of your home recording studio. It will give your sound and complete the music production process. There are many several instruments to consider in choosing your home studio gears.
For a versatile acoustic guitar that can easily roll along with all the other instruments, a guitar like the Fender CLassic dESIGN cd-60S 6-Strings Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar is a good choice.
A keyboard like the ICON Digital iKeyboard 3 23-key USB MIDI Controller Keyboard features a velocity-sensitive, piano-style keyboard, modulations touchpads, and the pitch, a 3-segment LED screen much many other customizable sound settings, on the top of built-in recording and the playback features. It is a good match for the mixers and the cool home studio gear.
Meanwhile, a drum kit like the Carlsbro CSD130 Compact Electronic Drum Kit sets some new electronic percussion standards. This kind of electronic drum set has adidition display, has about 250 demo songs, and many suitable connectors that can be so compatible with many other personalized home studios.
6.Control Surface
The MIDI controller and the sound mixer often confuse a control surface. While they all will have the buttons and the knobs for manipulating the sound, a control surface is the much more general recording studio equipment that will offer the classic analog controls that can control the on-screen faders and buttons in your DAW and knobs.
Some of the modern control surfaces gave the audio interfaces and the even mixers built in them. Still, it will help to have a completely separate control surface like the Sound Devices CL-16, which is for more control and the ability to perform more advanced mixing techniques, such as audio automation.
7. Studio Monitors
Studio monitors or the monitor speakers will help prevent the artificial boosting of bass, treble, and the other frequencies following an attempt to make the speaker sound better. The presence of a monitor speaker is so essential since you can not produce a good mix without them.
Professional quality monitors are a significant investment when building your home recording studio. Still, you can also easily purchase some more affordable ones that do not sacrifice much of the quality.
The JBL 305P MKII Powered 5″ Dual 41W Two-Way Studio Monitor will feature Waveguide’s revolutionary JBL image control, giving it exact imaging and a wide dynamic range. It also has very refined transducers for better linearity and transient response. These JBL transducers can quickly reproduce the transients and the micro-dynamics for your recordings and mixing.
8. Digital Audio Workstation
A very digital Audio Workstation, as it is mentioned earlier, is usually the centerpiece of all the home recording areas. This may refer to either the audio hardware, both simply put, or audio software designed for recording and digital audio editing.
The MOTU DP8 Audio Workstation Software, for example, comes with the MIDI sequencing and has the Performance-Oriented Loop Audio Recordings. It can also provide support for both 32-bit and 64-bit operations and can work simultaneously with both.
It has such a close window for quick access to the essential features and will allow for extensive customization to let you work according to your preferences. While the DAWs will come with free software and many free plugins as part of the package, you may still want to purchase the premium plugins for a much more unique and professional sound.
9.Virtual Instruments
A virtual instrument is the type of software that will act as the sound module that can be detailed with various keyboards, analog synthesizers, and other traditional instruments. This software can quickly expand your musical instrument’s capabilities for much higher quality recording productions.
XILS Lab XILS 3V2.0 Virtual Instrument Software will add emulation of the 256 Analog Sequencer, the natural companion of the VCS 3. This extends to the maximum of 800 connections which is per patch.
10. Recording Mixer
A recording mixer will merge two or more audio signals to create a new sound. Its job is to ensure that all other sounds are weaved harmonically. The mixer will also helps the filter and optimize sound using the controls by adjusting the sound levels, enhancing the sound with equalization and the effects, creating the monitor feeds, and recording various mixes.
11.Audio Interface
The Audio Interface is the only hardware that will connect your computer to the rest of your gear. So unless you are planning on using the only virtual instruments and the samples which are in your productions, you will be able to need an audio interface.
The audio in the interface will always allow you to record the audio, such as your voice, guitar, or other acoustic, including your headphones and monitors. Audio interfaces can range in price from $100 to thousands of dollars.
However, you probably would not need that many inputs for most home recording studio enthusiasts unless you are recording a live band? Ensemble or want to record the drums with lots of microphones and can thus easily buy a much cheaper interface.
Final Words
This article has discussed the ten best home recordings studio equipment for beginners. However, we recommend you do some research to get the best results of your choice.