Studio 101: Is it really this hard?? (AKA: I have no idea where to start)

DougUSMC

Perpetual Practicer
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Feb 27, 2019
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A little background: Right now I have a corner of the basement where I head down to play. It's cool, but as I've been a little more focused on my playing, and my gear acquisition has brought in nicer gear, I'm looking to upgrade.
I have a decent sized room that I'm looking to re-do, and make a small Guitar Cave / Home studio. (I have renderings, if anyone cares...) I've been trying to put together a list of what I'd use to make that happen. Here's the "wants" for the room serving two purposes:
1) Nice sofa/loveseat, string swings on the wall, shelving for pedals, amps & cabs along the wall. Cozy place for a couple to hangout/play
2) Starting on some kind of studio setup on the other side of the room. Mics, studio gear, etc

What I'm looking for is help w/the studio gear. Trying to research has really led me to two options: 1) $99 USB mic, 2) $20k in gear

There HAS to be a way to start in the middle?!?!? I'd like to start somewhere "decent", and be able to upgrade along the way, without throwing out gear as I go? Is there a primer anyone would recommend for getting started? Most of my research so far has been thru Sweetwater, and taking notes on what I see my favorite YouTubers using.

I realize the first questions will be "What do you want to do?", so here's my wishlist:
- Learn to record audio/video, play with it, mix, etc
- Record vocals through a nice mic (lg condensor?)
- Record acoustic through (sm condenser?)
- Record electric guitar, incorporate the Ox Box
- Record video along with the audio
- Budget of ~ $2-3k to start
- Build ONTO what I buy w/that $2-3k, not toss it as I go

Here's what I have to start, and some things I'm leaning towards adding:
- Have: Decent Windows 10 laptop (i7, 24g ram, remote storage in the TBs)
- Have: iPad Pro
- Have: UA Ox Box
- Have: Nikon D3200
- Add: I have a line on a blue dragonfly for some short money (lg diaphragm for vocals?)
- Add: Moderate lg diaphragm (Blue Bluebird? Aston Origin?)
- Add: Audio interface (UA Apollo or Arrow? PreSonus 26c?)
- Add: Sm diaphragm (Golden Age FC4? Blue Ember? Matched Pair?)

I know there are lots of knowledgeable folks out there, PLEASE help me along my path!
 
I think I'm in your budget range, but I'm Mac-based, so that's not an ideal thing to build on. But...

For a DAW, I'd look at Reaper. It's popular, and for personal use, it's $60. Right now, they're offering a temporary free license good through the end of June. So it's a great time to jump in and try it. You can also look at Audacity - I've used that, but not as a DAW. I use Logic, which is Mac-only, and ProTools, which is not. PT is $600 to start, and like $200/year after that to keep access to plug-ins and maintenance updates. I don't know if Reaper handles video - PT does.

For an interface, given what you describe, you can get off fairly cheap - Presonus has some nice interfaces under $300 that'll give you something like 2-in, 2-out. I'd highly recommend at least 2-in - give yourself the option to record acoustic in stereo.

You didn't mention monitors or headphones, but you'll need to allocate money there. You'll want to think about plug-ins as well - I'm not sure what Reaper comes with. PT has a decent amount with it, but you do have that maintenance fee. If you want to have drums, EZ Drummer is a great option - comes with MIDI grooves so you can build a song w/o playing or entering a note. If you can be patient, they frequently run deals where you can bundle the base package with add-on kits for a very reasonable price. The list of instrument and effects plug-ins is nearly endless. Steven Slate Drums is also an excellent product for a good price (and I believe they're running a deal because they just released version 5.5). EZD is a less-steep learning curve, IMO.

That's hardly comprehensive, but I think it's a decent start. Probably the best advice is to get the best quality you can afford that meets your needs.
 
Talk about potential rabbit hole! The entryway looks small, but directly below that is a money pit with no bottom. You are wise to tread lightly... one classic mic could top your $20K mark! I am just learning, so you can consider mine a hobbyist opinion.

I’ll second Alan’s suggestion to look at Presonus gear. I do some beta work for them, though not on their recording gear. I did end up dumping the software based ProTools I had, which was a freebie that came with the Avid Eleven Rack, to go with Presonus’ Studio One V4. Should you decide to get a Presonus interface, I believe a free version of Studio One is included. It doesn’t include all the bells and whistles, but will get you doing basic recording for free. The lowest priced interfaces are so inexpensive, you can rotate them to doing remote recordings, etc, should you want to bump up to, say, an 8 input interface in the future (live drum recording, etc).

EZ-Drummer is just that, and good practice at the cutting, sliding, pasting stuff you’ll do in a DAW. It’s about $150, and you can upgrade it to Superior Drummer later if you want more so, again, no dollars lost.

Mics are the never-ending story. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t start recording with just a Shure SM57 or 58. If you have one, use it. That will help you recognize what you’re buying other mics for later. For budget friendly condenser mics, I’ve had great luck with Rode microphones. They actually have a “Studio Kit” with the NT1-A condenser mic, suspension, pop filter, and interface for $350. I have that mic, and it sounds amazing at the price. You can get just the mic, suspension, pop filter, and cord for under $200. Just depends on where you want to start. Go to their website for a variety of videos on people recording with their gear.

I admit that microphones were my first overspend. I have several pro studio mics and what they have done is mostly show how badly sound-isolated my music room is! I swear those things could pick up a fly passing gas at 50 paces. I’ll eventually build a small iso booth, but it bears out the point that you can get ahead of yourself. Wade in from the shallow end!

Your DAW will be able to incorporate the Ox Box through the interface, nothing else needed there.

I don’t know a thing about video. There are controls for it in the DAW, but I’ve never used them so I hope one of the pros here can walk you through. I’m going to follow this thread and learn with you!
 
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Good point, Rick - I forgot about Studio One. It does come with Presonus interfaces. I registered for it but never installed it or used it. But it's there if I want to.

I have a modest mic collection - a couple SM-57s, a few Audio-Technica condensers (two small, one large), a couple Blue dynamics that were a sale from Sweetwater, a ribbon that was pretty cheap on clearance. The pres on the Presonus are very good. I also have an ART pre that gets used now and again. I haven't tried a Rode yet, but they're on my list.
 
Good point, Rick - I forgot about Studio One. It does come with Presonus interfaces. I registered for it but never installed it or used it. But it's there if I want to.

I have a modest mic collection - a couple SM-57s, a few Audio-Technica condensers (two small, one large), a couple Blue dynamics that were a sale from Sweetwater, a ribbon that was pretty cheap on clearance. The pres on the Presonus are very good. I also have an ART pre that gets used now and again. I haven't tried a Rode yet, but they're on my list.
Just to bear out my “overspend” comment, I have mics with the names Neumann, Bock Audio, AKG on them... in addition to the under $1K variants that I would have done just fine to stick with! Good use of gig money, and worth their cost, but I could have bought things I’d use more for all that cash! Live and learn.

Presonus gear is a solid option. I also have a set of Scepter S8 monitors that sound pretty incredible. I need to get another interface though. My drummer liked the Presonus so much he ended up just buying it from me!
 
Thanks for all the input fellas, it really is super helpful!

I guess the main think I don't know is "what don't I know"? I'm a hardware guy by trade mostly, but I can't visualize a signal chain in my head. Can someone help me w/that?
 
I'll likely never outgrow the Zoom Livetrak L-12. Can record to DAW, or to on board SD card, so it's very portable. Also has interface for iOS devices.
Look at Studio Projects mics. Bang for buck with those. Of course mics are critical, so spending more on them is never unwise.
Also very happy with Yamaha HS 80m monitors I got used. Bargain.
DAW Reaper and Samplitude.
Headphones I use are Sennheiser HD280. Pretty good cans.
Generally other stuff in this price range will be great for the average joe to capture excellent sounds.
 
Thanks for all the input fellas, it really is super helpful!

I guess the main think I don't know is "what don't I know"? I'm a hardware guy by trade mostly, but I can't visualize a signal chain in my head. Can someone help me w/that?
Doug, check out this video for a really good, basic this-to-this-into-that video Justin Spence at Presonus did. Simplest, cheapest, record right now option. It does show the most basic recording option. You can expand by adding a mixer, etc, but this will get you recording and is a great example of how you can be recording with minimal money and training.

 
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Great video, thanks! It makes me have two immediate questions tho:
1) Why would I buy the PreSonus vs. a UA Apollo? I'm cool if the PreSonus is all I'd ever need/want, but I wouldn't want to be listing the PreSonus on Reverb in 6 months to finance the Apollo
2) What did he use to record the video I just watched? Is that just a webcam plugged directly into another recording tool that does A & V?
 
Ok, just had a good convo w/my sales guy @ a certain large online vendor (can we use company names here?).

Who knew that my insistence on NOT buying a Mac to run things on would be such a PITA???
 
he’s a salesman.

You got that from "w/my sales guy", huh? ;)

The comment wasn't about whether or not he was pushing me towards one manufacturer or another. It was due to the fact that one of the companies I was looking at (UA) is focused on Thunderbolt, which I can't support in my PC laptop.
 
The comment wasn't about whether or not he was pushing me towards one manufacturer or another.

so you see what i was sayin. your salesman should be like ‘noo, dougusmc! don’t buy that hardware dongle fulla sparc chips, you’ll be forced to use an apple computer!’
 
Great video, thanks! It makes me have two immediate questions tho:
1) Why would I buy the PreSonus vs. a UA Apollo? I'm cool if the PreSonus is all I'd ever need/want, but I wouldn't want to be listing the PreSonus on Reverb in 6 months to finance the Apollo

The one Justin is using is no longer out, but you can still buy it from ~200. I’m guessing they have a similar current option. My thought was it would get you recording, teach you the way around an interface and DAW, and get a few decent recordings to boot! The plus is that it would be a low buy in for the experience, and something you can easily drag to a buddies house if you’re networking. If you’re sure what you want, you’d be totally right to bypass this and go to a UA, larger Presonus, Focusrite, or other option. I’m like that... buy once, cry once. But sometimes a small investment in gaining experience can end up being a money saver in the end.

2) What did he use to record the video I just watched? Is that just a webcam plugged directly into another recording tool that does A & V?

That one I can’t help you with. I sent Justin an email to see what he was using. I’ll let you know!
 
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