Home Music Recording

Discover How to Build a Home Recording Studio on a Budget? - Part 3

(Click this link if you want to see Part 1?)

(Click this link if you want to see Part 2?)

“Dave, I have $xxxx to spend on Home Recording gear…What should I buy?”

In this 3rd part today, we’ll cover what recording equipment to buy with budgets of:

• $4,500
• $7,500

Please feel free to let us know if you found these examples useful. Just use the Comments section at the end of each post.

Thanks!

Many thanks too to Dave, our home studio recording expert, for his advice in this series.

Ken Johnstone
(Publisher)

PS: Of course there’s much more than just budget to consider. Click this link for more information on our step by step guide to selecting the right kind of gear for your recording needs.

Dave, I have $4,500 to spend on Home Recording Studio Equipment, what should I buy?

You will be able to get some great music studio equipment with this level of budget. Go to your favorite online store, or click the links provided below, and buy:

• Shure SM58 mic - dynamic microphone $100 - This all purpose, durable microphone is a basic good quality piece of studio equipment. Plug it into your friend’s computer and start recording using Pro Tools Free downloaded from the Digidesign website and record using this.
• AKG C 414 B-XLS Condenser Microphone 5-Pattern ($950) - This microphone is great quality and very useful features. A must have in the recording studio. Great on acoustic guitars, vocals, drums, bass, electric guitars - almost anything.

• DBX 376 Tube Channel Strip ($500) - A great channel processor with built in pre amp, eq, compressor and de esser. Not only does it sound good but it has an onboard A/D converter that sounds great and is virtually unclipable! This means you get a great quality digital input to your computer.
• *Tascam CDR-788 CD Burner (<$200) - A CD burner is essential if you want to be able to output your music to CD to listen to on your personal stereo. If you already have one on your existing PC, most likely you’ll have a CD burning package included. If not, download Nero ($80), or CDBurnerXP Pro (free).
• CDR 80-Minute 50-Pack - Blank CDRs in Spindle ($40) - You need to get some blank CDs to record onto!
• Sennheiser HD25 Headphone - Studio Monitor Sealed Headphone ($180) These fantastic, flat-response headphones will let you hear very clearly what you are working on and you will start to learn to listen accurately to music before progressing to studio monitors. BE AWARE - Headphones do not give a totally accurate representation of sound but this is not really a problem for most people.
• Mackie HR624 Active Studio Monitor ($900) approx - This pair of reference monitors are great to start recording on. They give you accurate sound so you know what you are listening to. These are active monitors which means they don’t need a separate amplifier.
• Apple Logic Pro 7.2 (Macintosh) $1000 - The professional package for musicians wanting to write and record. This is a fantastic program that will do everything you need it to and more.

or

• Cakewalk SONAR 6 Producer Edition Recording Software $500 - A slightly less expensive alternative to Apple Logic. While not as fully functional as Logic, still a fantastic program.

• Mark of the Unicorn MOTU 828mkII Audio Interface - Firewire 24/96 ($750) - The 828mkII contains everything you need to turn your computer into a powerful 24-bit, 96kHz digital audio workstation. The 828mkII provides 10 channels of pristine 96kHz analog recording and playback, combined with 8 channels of ADAT digital I/O and stereo S/PDIF. This great soundcard does all it’s processing externally.

Dave, I have $7,500 or more to spend on Home Recording Studio Equipment, what should I buy?

Now this is getting serious! You will be able to get some incredible music studio equipment with this amount of money. Click the links above and below to buy:

• Shure SM58 mic - dynamic microphone ($100)
• AKG C 414 B-XLS Condenser Microphone 5-Pattern ($950)
• Focusrite ISA220 Microphone Preamp and Compressor Session Pack ($1500)
  The ISA 220 Session Pack provides all you need to record your session with precision and Focusrite sonic performance. This incredible sounding channel strip delivers top quality sound. A must have - if you can afford it!
• Focusrite MH434 A/D Card for the ISA220 ($480) - This is the A/D converter card that can be fitted to the ISA220 channel strip to send a digital signal to the computer.
• CD Burner (on existing PC?) and Nero (or CDBurner XP Pro) Software ($80)
• CDR 80-Minute 50-Pack - Blank CDRs in Spindle ($40) - You need to get some blank CDs to record onto!
• Sennheiser HD25 Headphone - Studio Monitor Sealed Headphone ($180)
• Mackie HR624 Active Studio Monitor ($900) approx
• Apple Logic Pro 7.2 (Macintosh) ($1000)

or…

• Cakewalk SONAR 6 Producer Edition Recording Software ($500)
• Mark of the Unicorn MOTU 828mkII Audio Interface - Firewire 24/96 ($750) -
• Apple iMac 24 - Personal Computer with Combo Drive ($2,000) - The new iMAC family gives you power in a choice of three ultrafast models. Whether you prefer the ultra-compact 17-inch model, the coveted 20-inch powerhouse, or the stunning 24-inch beauty, every new iMAC is loaded with advanced capabilities.