HOME STUDIO

[B!56]

hey ive been looking into making a little home studio, with computer based recording, can any one tell me the basic equipment you need to do so, im not looking to spend alot, just the bare essentials to record
THANKS!

[jwl]

Originally Posted by B!56

hey ive been looking into making a little home studio, with computer based recording, can any one tell me the basic equipment you need to do so, im not looking to spend alot, just the bare essentials to record
THANKS!

a computer, a breakout box (a/d converter), software and and intrument or mic. except for your intrument of choice, everything must be compatable. or you can go to guitar center and buy a package for cheap. or you can get a stand alone unit that will do it all as well. as you have figured out, you need to do a little research.

peace, jeff

[Kosko]

Overall, here's what I'd get:

Presonus device (Firepod, or Firestudio w/ H60 heaphone mixer) ~$500
Shure Drum Mic package (3 SM57s, 1 Beta 52) ~$350
Sennheiser e609 ~$100
Studio Project C4 condensors for overhead ~$200
1 or 2 SM58s ~$1 or 2 hundred
==========================================
Thats around $1200, not too bad for an inhome studio.

At a later time get a large dyaphram condenser. ~whatever you can spend

Of course you do need the PC first as well...

[bluestarbass]

Kosko's pretty accurate right there. Dont forget your monitoring environment. Monitors or headphones. If you get headphones dont expect them to be very realistic, and get a very good pair so your not worn out after 2 hours of mixing. If your getting monitors dont forget to budget some acoustic material to get your room sounding acceptable. Maybe a midi controller and some soft synths wouldnt be a bad idea either.

Also is your computer a mac or PC? Id suggest a different setup for mac vs pc. Not that i feel one is better than the other, but some things that work great for pc work terrible for mac and vice versa. Also how many tracks are you going to need to record at once. The firepod or firestudio is a great blanket answer, but if you only are ever going to track guitars then 8 inputs is probably overkill.

[frankosaurus]

If you are OK with recording 2 tracks at a time (e.g. bass+vocals), you don't need to spend much to get started.

Here's what I use...

PC w/firewire running Windows XP SP2
Cubase SX 3 (or get Audacity if you want to go the free route)
Behringer FCA202 Firewire interface ($80)
Behringer Xenyx 1002 Mixer ($70)
Comfortable headphones and misc. cables (~$65)
Nady SP1 microphone and stand ($20)
I use my home stereo for "control room" monitoring. Cheap, I know.

You could always spend more, but it might be better to go with a simple setup and find out if studio recording is really something you enjoy.
Also... recording software like Cubase has a high learning curve so it takes time to get proficient. I'm practicing with cheaper gear until I get dangerous enough to make full use of the elite stuff.
Good luck.
-Frank

[Hawaii Islander]

Dell PC based home recording system


Tapco Blend6 mixer


KRK Rokit 8 powered monitors


Line6 GuitarPort interface, Rifftracker recording software and Gearbox (Gold version) Amp models and effects software.

I also have AKG 171 studio headphones and a Shure SM57 mic with boom stand.

The Line6 GuitarPort or TonePort with Rifftracker is fairly inexpensive and simple.

[stranger0]

The beer beside your PC/Mac is mandatory

The firestudio is great, worth the extra coin to get the software it comes with.

[jwl]

nice little studio ya got there.

[tZer]

Here's my setup (and I will upload pics after our session tonight)

Dell PC (XP Home, 2.4gHz Pentium)
Sonar 6 PE
Delta 1010LT AD/DA converter

Audio Centron Stereo Power Amp
Alesis Monitor One MK II passive near-field monitors
Carvin M400 Headphone Amp

Behringer UUB1002 mini-mixer
Phonic MM1002 mini-mixer
Studio Master 621 Mixing Console

We have an array of "typical" dynamic band mics - SM57's and SM58's
Also an Oktava MK012 Condenser mic (Hypercardioid)
A pair of dynamic stealth mics and a nice little preamp by Church Audio
Guitar and Bass patch in Via POD's (no amps in the room)
Keys go direct
Kit is miked (not close-miked - we can use the entire room just to get the kit since everyone else goes direct)

It took me a while to figure out the signal chain and how to get everyone patched in, monitored, sent to Sonar, etc. - but I finally have that all resolved and we can all play together using the headphone mix (no bleed).

If you are at all interested, here is a Google Spreadsheet that details the signal chain we are currently using.

[EricF]

Minimum requirements...
1. Computer (duh!)
2. Recording/sequencing software (Cubase, Logic, Reaper, ProTools, etc.)
3. Audio Interface w/ instrument, mic, and monitor commections (gets sound into and out of your computer)
4. Listening device (proper monitors are best, headphones are passable if you have no other choice)
5. Microphone (if you want to record something that needs a mic, if not, skip it.)
6. Cables (duh, again)

How much you spend on each of these could range from very reasonable to astronomical. How complex or expandable each one of these is also varies widely. There are a lot more components to the system that you COULD buy, but they may or may not be necessary for your needs.