Home recording gear recommendations

[JHey!]

I’d like to get some quality gear to start making recordings at home. For now it’ll just be me and my guitar, mostly instrumental (I might try and sing a little), but I’d like gear that I can build upon down the road, if I want. I’ll set the high end of my budget at $5k, but will gladly spend less. I’m only setting it that high because I don’t have a frame of reference and would like to get a range of recommendations. I don’t have a computer that I can use for recording, so maybe I’ll need one? Anyway, looking for your recommendations and insights. Thank you!

[David Rance]

So you'll need a PC. Zoom Recorder (latest version is H4N - I have slightly older one), Audacity freeware for editing then Windows 10 software to burn CD's works for me. Use .wav files not .MP3 files though. Bigger files but sound much better because of greater sampling rate. All I do is edit, fade in and fade out and add a little bit of reverb. But even with this cheapo setup the possibilities are endless!

Or you can go the whole hog and turn into the Beach Boys.

People will tell you all about condensor mics etc. but honestly you don't need all that expensive stuff for simple non-commercial recording. Set twin mics of Zoom to bidirectional 'stereo' but to be honest, singing with an acoustic? ...thats all a bit mono isn't it.

The important thing is to keep it simple and have lots of fun!!

$5K. Wow!

[rick-slo]

Post to and read threads on the "Record" part of the forum is the best bet.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by JHey!

I’d like to get some quality gear to start making recordings at home. For now it’ll just be me and my guitar, mostly instrumental (I might try and sing a little), but I’d like gear that I can build upon down the road, if I want. I’ll set the high end of my budget at $5k, but will gladly spend less. I’m only setting it that high because I don’t have a frame of reference and would like to get a range of recommendations. I don’t have a computer that I can use for recording, so maybe I’ll need one? Anyway, looking for your recommendations and insights. Thank you!

There's an entire recording subforum here, where this will probably get moved shortly...

There are several routes you can take, from small standalone portable recorders to multi-part systems that can run into 5 or even 6 figures. In addition, the room(s) where you plan to record are part of the equation as well. So it's hard to say what you might want... especially if you're not even sure yet!

Maybe you can help guide us by answering a few questions:

* What will the final purpose of the recordings be? Your own use, share with friends/family, demos for potential gigs, become a YouTube recording star?
* Do you have a set location or room you want to record in, or is portability something that might be important?
* How much space do you have in your room? Do you have the ability to store/set up computers, speakers, mic stands, instruments etc.?
* How complicated will recording the final pieces be, both now and imagining in the future? Just one take of guitar/voice, you overdubbing a few extra parts, bringing in other musicians or adding other instruments?
* How comfortable are you with technology? Is simplicity important, or would you rather learn a bit to be able to do more down the road? For example, editing tracks to more parts around, add effects like EQ, reverb, delay and compression, clean up mistakes/sqeaks, etc.

Knowing some of this will guide what you want to buy.

[JHey!]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

There's an entire recording subforum here, where this will probably get moved shortly...

There are several routes you can take, from small standalone portable recorders to multi-part systems that can run into 5 or even 6 figures. In addition, the room(s) where you plan to record are part of the equation as well. So it's hard to say what you might want... especially if you're not even sure yet!

Maybe you can help guide us by answering a few questions:

* What will the final purpose of the recordings be? Your own use, share with friends/family, demos for potential gigs, become a YouTube recording star?
* Do you have a set location or room you want to record in, or is portability something that might be important?
* How much space do you have in your room? Do you have the ability to store/set up computers, speakers, mic stands, instruments etc.?
* How complicated will recording the final pieces be, both now and imagining in the future? Just one take of guitar/voice, you overdubbing a few extra parts, bringing in other musicians or adding other instruments?
* How comfortable are you with technology? Is simplicity important, or would you rather learn a bit to be able to do more down the road? For example, editing tracks to more parts around, add effects like EQ, reverb, delay and compression, clean up mistakes/sqeaks, etc.

Knowing some of this will guide what you want to buy.

Wow, it’s overwhelming!

* The likely final purpose will be to share with friends/family, but I would also like to maybe one day put stuff on YouTube or other public platforms. I would like to be able to share recordings on this forum.
* Portability is important. I have some friends who are talented musicians and it’d be fun to record us together if the opportunity arises. I don’t have a dedicated room at home, but I do have space that I could dedicate to recording.
* I’d have to move some stuff around/get rid of some stuff, but space isn’t a big issue. However, I’d like to keep it simple/small for now.
* It’ll be somewhere between one guitar/one live track and Bohemian Rhapsody, but likely really simple. I’d like the ability to record multiple musicians, though.
* I’m not all that tech-knowledgeable, but I can learn quickly. I’d like something that’s easy to get started with, but maybe something that also allows me to go down the rabbit hole.

[pagedr]

Check out the Spire Studio, it's a portable recording unit with a built in condenser mic like the Zoom but it also has a supporting app. The app allows you to add effects and mix (in a limited way) directly from your phone or tablet. I still generally upload my music to a DAW for better mixing capabilities but for most people just doing home recording the tools in the app are probably enough. Really nice little all in one package.

[ataylor]

I typically record with an iPad and an Apogee Mic (or Jam for electric). Portable, quiet, and relatively inexpensive.

One of these days I may step up to recording in Logic on my MacBook Pro with dual microphones or something, but I do like the simplicity of the Apogee/iPad/Garageband setup.

Speaking of simplicity, I even get some decent demo recordings just using Music Memos on my iPhone with the built-in microphone these days.

Lots of options!

[Mike J. Vitale]

Get some acoustic treatment
get a decent interface like an irig pre hd start auditioning mics with your iPhone (SDC mics are most commonly recommended for acoustic guitar)
You can rent mics or buy clones that use classic designs
Don’t worry about finding the perfect mic/interface whatever right away just start trying stuff out

[stephenT]

Consider DAW style recording. Decent mics, audio interface, a mic shield and a computer will allow you to capture the quality of the instruments you own.

I use a Mac, Logic Pro X, an Audient interface, a mic shield and a Roswell mini k47.

[AcousticDreams]

Hey= JHey

As others have suggested the Record section of the forum is excellent. I have learned so much from others.

I am a relatively novice in the recording field...However, I will quickly note some thoughts:

From the very high quality of guitars you own, I would surmise that you will want a great quality recording as well in order to capture their tonal beauty. Probably low end will not satisfy your acoustical needs. Probably did not spend all that money on your guitars to not have them recorded to your satisfaction. The good thing is You can capture what you need in the 5K range.

* As others have noted, if you do not want to use computer then you can purchase a Zoom recorder relatively inexpensive. It will not give you the absolute best response...but a very good one. They have built in microphone cable inputs. Think you old fashion tape recorder..but much better. Actually surprisingly reasonable results.

**If you decide to purchase a computer, then you will also need an interface. Higher quality interfaces range in the $400 to $1200 range for just a couple of inputs. . But take in mind if you have any sort of a recent computer, that will work. If you have to buy a new one...well then more expense. As you know, computers range from 1 to 2K. And then you will need to purchase or rent a DAW as well. Unfortunately this route will eat 1.2 to 2/3's of your 5k budjet.

The Zoom recorders bypass the computer, the interface and the daw...and offer a reasonable reproduction that can be used with high end microphones. Maybe the best place to start? Allows you to spend more money on great microphones.
Doug Young, a great guitarist right here on AGF makes beautiful videos on YouTube using a Zoom recorder sometimes.

*** Also noted by others is acoustic treatment of your recording room. So very important for most rooms. If you are a handy do it yourself kind of person..you can do this for a low cost. Guides to acoustic treatment can be searched for on the Record side.

**** Microphones...are what I personally value as the most important part of the recording chain. Others would disagree.

You can purchase a pair of Gefell's M300 or Neuman KM184's for around the $1700 mark. These are small diaphram microphones that give great detail. A Pair of Used AT4050 large diagram microphones can be had for around $800. These are reasonable microphones but are more sensitive to microphone placement. They are pickier for placement. As where the Gefell or Neumann Small diaphragms.
In my opinion For the ultimate reproduction nothing beats a set of Schoeps mics...but those are $3300 a pair now. That is what I choose.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

[INDENT]**** Microphones...are what I personally value as the most important part of the recording chain.

Some would say room treatment first, but mics are definitely high up on the list for recording acoustic guitar. It think it's a good idea to devote a good chunk of your budget to that.

Maybe it would help to break the whole process into 3 parts:

1) Analog world. That includes your guitar, voice, other instruments, the room you're in, and the microphones.

This includes room treatment if your space has bad reverb or echoes, and mics.

2) Analog-to-Ditigal Interface. You need a way to get the analog stuff into digital with some kind of hardware.

Standalone digital recorders like Zoom, Tascam or the Spire can capture the analog (mic) input digitally. In most cases, you can transfer files to step 3, and some will do a few simple steps outlined in step three "in the box". But often this a separate "audio interface", with mic inputs, that passes the digital signal to a computer for step 3.

3) Digital domain. You've recorded your audio, what can you do with it now?

On standalone recorders, you can't do much here. Just save the audio to an mp3. But if you have a DAW on a computer, you can take that audio and do all sorts of things. Create multi-track recordings. Re-record mistakes. Add effects. Clean up noise, pops or squeaks.

(There's also sort of a "reverse step" #4 at the end we tend to gloss over: getting the digital audio back into analog at the end via speakers and/or headphones)

Many on this forum are just doing guitar and maybe voice like you, so the first two steps are really all they care about. A Zoom, or the Spire, suits them well. Others may want to add other musicians. Some like polished final recordings doing lots of editing in a DAW.

Here's my final two cents: Zooms and Spires are nice and simple ways to get started, but have limited expandability down the road. If you go the audio inteface+computer+DAW route, not only do you have the most capability, but it's also modular so you can change out each piece at a time for better stuff as you grow.

My advice would be to get a laptop, audio interface and DAW. Audio isn't super intensive so you don't need a gonzo computer. Something with an i7 and decent amount of RAM (8G+) will be fine. There are good audio interfaces in the $400-600 range, and a DAW can be anywhere from free to several hundred dollars.

If you budgeted around $2K for mics (fwiw there are perfectly good options for half that; Knives&Guitars is steering you towards "never have to upgrade again" models ) and $2K for a laptop, audio interface and DAW, you'd have $1K left for the misc stuff: mic stands, cables, speakers and headphones.

Laptops are portable, and most 2-channel audio interfaces are small enough to tuck into a bag as well, so IMO you don't lose that much portability vs a Zoom and you'll have your full DAW wherever you go. You can just use headphones or even built-in laptop speakers just to hear generally what you're doing when recording tracks, and wait until you get home to listen on speakers.

That's a bit more than my two cents but I really think you are limited if you don't at least get your tracks into a DAW at the end.

[JHey!]

Thanks for all the information. It’s a lot to consider, and now I’ve got some research to do. Hopefully I can get a bit more focused now when it comes to the research, but right away I’m noticing that there’s no general consensus when it comes to specifics (favorites mics, daws, etc).

I think I’m going to explore the laptop/DAW setup. I’m thinking a MacBook Pro for the laptop. Any recommendations on DAWs and audio interfaces, based on personal experience? If I were to go for the KM 184, is it better to get a single or a pair? New or used? I like buying used and saving money, when possible.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by JHey!

Thanks for all the information. It’s a lot to consider, and now I’ve got some research to do. Hopefully I can get a bit more focused now when it comes to the research, but right away I’m noticing that there’s no general consensus when it comes to specifics (favorites mics, daws, etc).

I think I’m going to explore the laptop/DAW setup. I’m thinking a MacBook Pro for the laptop. Any recommendations on a DAWs and audio interfaces, based on personal experience? If I were to go for the KM 184, is it better to get a single or a pair? New or used? I like buying used and saving money, when possible.

It seems overwhelming at first no doubt But will become more clear as time goes on particularly if you get your own thoughts and requirements even more organized detailed.

A Mac Pro is a great choice BUT will arguably use up 1/2 your budget.

That said try get even more specific . Your wording is vague you are are,,, or are not,,,, going record vocals ?
Also before shopping for an "interface" try to narrow down how many mics you may want to record simultaneously ? If you are recording even solo guitar only, IMO you will want at least two mics and inputs to be able to record in stereo.
When recording multiple musicians there is one basic choice to make #1 one mic for each musician, OR #2 one or two room mics for everybody

Obviously the #1st involves much more inputs and mics and much more money.

[Wrighty]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

Hey= JHey

As others have suggested the Record section of the forum is excellent. I have learned so much from others.

I am a relatively novice in the recording field...However, I will quickly note some thoughts:

From the very high quality of guitars you own, I would surmise that you will want a great quality recording as well in order to capture their tonal beauty. Probably low end will not satisfy your acoustical needs. Probably did not spend all that money on your guitars to not have them recorded to your satisfaction. The good thing is You can capture what you need in the 5K range.

* As others have noted, if you do not want to use computer then you can purchase a Zoom recorder relatively inexpensive. It will not give you the absolute best response...but a very good one. They have built in microphone cable inputs. Think you old fashion tape recorder..but much better. Actually surprisingly reasonable results.

**If you decide to purchase a computer, then you will also need an interface. Higher quality interfaces range in the $400 to $1200 range for just a couple of inputs. . But take in mind if you have any sort of a recent computer, that will work. If you have to buy a new one...well then more expense. As you know, computers range from 1 to 2K. And then you will need to purchase or rent a DAW as well. Unfortunately this route will eat 1.2 to 2/3's of your 5k budjet.

The Zoom recorders bypass the computer, the interface and the daw...and offer a reasonable reproduction that can be used with high end microphones. Maybe the best place to start? Allows you to spend more money on great microphones.
Doug Young, a great guitarist right here on AGF makes beautiful videos on YouTube using a Zoom recorder sometimes.

*** Also noted by others is acoustic treatment of your recording room. So very important for most rooms. If you are a handy do it yourself kind of person..you can do this for a low cost. Guides to acoustic treatment can be searched for on the Record side.

**** Microphones...are what I personally value as the most important part of the recording chain. Others would disagree.

You can purchase a pair of Gefell's M300 or Neuman KM184's for around the $1700 mark. These are small diaphram microphones that give great detail. A Pair of Used AT4050 large diagram microphones can be had for around $800. These are reasonable microphones but are more sensitive to microphone placement. They are pickier for placement. As where the Gefell or Neumann Small diaphragms.
In my opinion For the ultimate reproduction nothing beats a set of Schoeps mics...but those are $3300 a pair now. That is what I choose.

I think there is some good advice here..

Personally I would buy a used IMac and buy a copy of Reaper to use a DAW. Interface - again I would look at a used Audient ID14 and then spend the rest on the best mics I could afford (leaving a few hundred for some home made acoustic panels)

Good luck - it’s a lot of fun.

[JHey!]

Originally Posted by KevWind

It seems overwhelming at first no doubt But will become more clear as time goes on particularly if you get your own thoughts and requirements even more organized detailed.

A Mac Pro is a great choice BUT will arguably use up 1/2 your budget.

That said try get even more specific . Your wording is vague you are are,,, or are not,,,, going record vocals ?
Also before shopping for an "interface" try to narrow down how many mics you may want to record simultaneously ? If you are recording even solo guitar only, IMO you will want at least two mics and inputs to be able to record in stereo.
When recording multiple musicians there is one basic choice to make #1 one mic for each musician, OR #2 one or two room mics for everybody

Obviously the #1st involves much more inputs and mics and much more money.

Hi, KevWind

MacBooks are not cheap, for sure. As you noted, it could eat up half my budget. And keep in mind I’m happy to come in well under the high end of it. I’m wondering if I might find an affordable used one. Edit: I’ve found a couple used ones local for about $1200 Canadian (they are both 2015, i7, one with 16gb ram and the other with 8gb). That’s right around $900 USD.

I’m not much of a singer, but it’s something I’ve been working on and would like to record my voice, even if I never end up sharing it. I also anticipate recording friends who do sing.

As for an interface, I think a smaller one should suffice for now. I don’t see myself recording several people at once on separate mics anytime soon.