New to home recording

[tianyi]

Hey guys, I'm relatively new in terms of the home recording scene. My equipment is a mere camera, an acoustic guitar and an amp. Oh, and I do not have a mac, only a pc... so I don't have garageband.

I'm looking to get equipment that I can use to record my vocals as well as my guitar, but I honestly have no idea what do I need, perhaps looking into the near future as well. I do know that I'll need a mic... other than that I'm pretty much unsure. I'm hoping to get these for a reasonable price. So I hope you guys will help me out! Cuz I'm really lost on these.

Thanks!

 

[Starr]

Hi there. Im new to this too. Based on my research, u need a recording software (garage band for starters), audio interface, and mic.

Im still searching on where and what to get, best bang for buck.

 

[soft]

You will need
1) Audio interface http://www.sweetwater.com/c695--USB_Audio_Interfaces
2) Microphone http://www.sweetwater.com/c105--Condenser_Microphones
3) Headphone http://www.sweetwater.com/c412--Headphones

* usually the interface will come with some free software for recording.

 

[Aural-Aid]

Hi tianyi,

Getting all the equipments for home recording might seem intimidating at first, but after you have everything setup, you'll be happy you that you have your own home recording studio. Not many people have one.

After your setup, if you find that the recording of your vocals are not crisp, or may be filled with echo. Perhaps your bass guitar might sound muddy. In that case, you might look into investing in some acoustic treatment. They say with a room properly treated, it's like having an upgrade to your studio monitors and preamp at the same time!

I leave the search for the type of acoustic treatment up to you, as I don't want to give a biased review for obvious reasons . However, like yourself, I was once in the predicament of searching for proper acoustic treatment and found that I couldn't afford most of the acoustic panels/foam because they were imported, and we locals have to pay indirectly for the hefty shipping fees (Primacoustic MaxTrap at $495 and Auralex at $130 per piece). I have therefore set out to solve this and created Aural-Aid, which is the first acoustic panel and bass trap manufacturer in Singapore, where we collaborate with National University of Singapore (NUS) for testing.

Well, good luck in your endeavour and all the best in building your first home recording studio!

 

[blueprintstudios]

tianyi : if your budget is low, your best bet is to buy 2nd hand audio interfaces off Buy/Sell section and medium/large diaphragm condenser mic. I've done decent recordings with Zoom Handy Recorders like H2n or even the Q2HD (with Video) is alright. but has no audio interface function.

Pls refer to my DIY Recording FAQ

 

[adair89]

I set up a budget home studio since 3 years ago. I don't intend to go pro anytime soon so my set is pretty much the same except the DAW software changes.

Audio Interface - UX1 Line 6, bought it at buy/sell forum. ables you to connect your mic, guitar to the computer for recording (price range now $50-150)

Recording Software - Windows : Mixcraft (easiest DAW to use) - Mac : Logic Pro 9 (Cheapest for mac)

Mic - Condenser mic from MXL is quite good, having that clarity for a decent price.

Speaker - many would say get a monitor speaker, unless you have proper acoustics then yes go blast it. but i stick to creative 2.1 speaker.

Total i spent -
Audio Interface :$50
Speaker: $50
Mixcraft: $100
acoustics: $80
$280 for a decent set up for me to record casually.

www.soundcloud.com/woahsuay