Getting Started
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So you want a digital recording studio?
It's impressive how good a recording studio you can put together using an ordinary computer and just a few extra items. More than ever before, you can make nearly professional level recordings on a very tight budget.
On this page I'm going to take the minimalist approach: starting with the simplest and least expensive setup. I feel it's best to start simple, learn to get the most out of what you have, and then expand. It's better to get started right away, than to sit idle waiting for the budget to catch up or to figure out what $1000 soundcard is best for you.
Windows or Mac?
Either Windows or Macintosh platform can make a great DAW. If you hear folks telling you it has to be a Mac, don't believe it -- they're years out of date or else terribly prejudiced. I suggest you pick whichever platform you're most comfortable with in general.
When I discuss computer hardware or software on the rest of this page, I'll only discuss Windows platforms. For Macintosh, see Getting Started for Macs. However, many topics below don't have anything to do with which platform you use, and it'll be obvious.
What hardware do I need?
You don't really need much in the way of hardware.
Computer
Almost any computer that's still worth using will do, if it can run Win98, Win2K, or WinXP without falling over itself. In 2003, I recorded most of the tracks for my CD using a 750 MHz Pentium III laptop and its built-in soundcard, using n-Track software.
In general, you don't need a fast CPU to do audio work. You only need CPU horsepower to run effects plugins and soft-synths, and there are workarounds if your CPU can't quite handle it. You should be able to just use whatever you happen to have, and if you're buying a new one, just get what makes sense.
However, you might want to pay some attention to the motherboard (MOBO). Things are far better these days than they were just a couple years ago, but you'll have less problems if you spend a bit extra and get a motherboard from a high quality manufacturer like ASUS, and stick with an Intel chipset (because that's what soundcard manufacturers will test against them most).
You'll hear folks talk about how critical a fast hard drive is, or having two drives (one for system, one for audio), but that's garbage unless you plan on recording a LOT of tracks at once, at high sample rates. These things are important for pros recording 24 tracks of 24bit, 96kHz tracks, but they're just not important for the typical home studio. The files do take up a lot of space, though, so you'll want at least an 80GB drive.
On the other hand, it is very handy to have a swappable second drive bay for a number of reasons. It makes it easy to do backups and such, or to use a different hard-drive for each new major project. I'm talking about drive bays that allow you to swap the hard drive without opening the computer cabinet, although the system does need to be powered down. Hard drives are very affordable these days, and with a swap bay you can just replace an old one with a new one every year or so.
One thing you do want to watch for if you're getting a new system is to get a quiet one, or one where the fan speed is controlled based on the computer temperature. This will end up being a lot more important than CPU power!
You can also use a laptop system. One advantage of laptops is that they're usually a lot quieter than desktop models, and of course portability is nice. Many soundcards are available, but you can use only USB or Firewire cards, and not PCI cards. More on that next.
Sound Card
Most likely, your system already has a built-in soundcard, with a stereo line input, a headphones output, and a microphone input. This is a great way to get started: use it! While the quality of these built-ins is far lower than that of quality soundcards, it's still quite a lot better in many ways than what we paid big bucks for back in the 70's and 80's.
However, avoid the mic input. The mic preamps in built-in a soundcard is designed for voice notes and internet chat, and it's really not up to snuff for music. Furthermore, it's made for a different kind of mike than mikes made for pro audio. Of course, if it's all you have, use it! Just don't expect much -- noise level and distortion will be high.
But the line inputs are fine for 16-bit, 44.1kHz recording. CDs are 16-bit, 44.1kHz format, so it's clearly not too bad!
If you're serious, you will probably want to end up getting a 24-bit soundcard that's intended for audio recording. For more on this, see 16-bit vs 24-bit Recording.
A good low-cost soundcard option is a Creative SoundBlaster or Audigy card. In addition to being inexpensive (under $100), they have built-in MIDI synthesizers that are useful for a number of purposes, even if you're not a keyboard player.
If you're a keyboard player or MIDI drummer, you'll probably want a soundcard with built-in MIDI connectors, for use with your external keyboard and/or synthesizer modules. Alternatively, there are standalone USB-based MIDI interfaces like the Midiman MidiSports, and some keyboards now have USB ports. So, it's useful, but not necessary.
If you get a soundcard with a digital input (e.g., ADAT, S/PDIF), later you can add another soundcard with a digital output and synchronize the two, and use the channels from both cards at the same time. Therefore, it's not necessary to start out with all the channels you think you'll need in the long run.
Many soundcards have built-in mike preamps, and this is a very handy option. More on this below.
For more info on soundcard selection, see Choosing a soundcard.
Microphones
A very wise person once said that if you can't make a good recording with a stick-mike and a soundblaster, chances are you can't make a good recording with anything. And I aggree. But good mikes certainly help.
In order to pick the correct mikes, you need to figure out what you'll be using them for. If you already have stage mikes, you can definitely use them for recording. Most of us like having a good number of different mikes, so we can try a number of them and use the one that sounds just right for the purpose. But here's a short intro to help you get started.
dynamic mikes like Shure SM57 (US$90) and SM58 (US$100) are old favorites on stage and in the studio. You can't go wrong having one of these babies. SM57 is for instruments and SM58 is for vocals as it has a ball-head pop screen, but either can be used for the other's purpose. I used an SM57 to record almost all acoustic guitar and vocals on my CD.
small-diaphram condensor (SDC) mikes are best as instrument mikes, especially for acoustic instruments. These will usually have more highs than the dynamic mikes, for more clarity and brilliance.
large-diaphram condensor (LDC) mikes can be vocal mikes or general purpose mikes. The ones intended for vocals generally have a boost in a "sweet spot" in the frequency, and those for instrument & general purpose are usually fairly flat. Excellent and affordable examples include Rode NT1-A ($200) and Studio Projects B1 ($100) for flat mikes, and Studio Projects C1 ($200) for a colored mike.
Note that the condensor mikes require "Phantom Power" to be provided by the mixer or mike preamp. Most do, but some don't.
All these mikes are "Low Impedance" (Low-Z) mikes, and need to be used with a 3-conductor "XLR" cable. Don't try to use a cable that's XLR at one end and 1/4" at the other. Mikes that come with cables like this are usually high-Z mikes, and need to be used with a high-Z mike preamp. They're generally not used for music recording, and I won't discuss them further here.
Mic Pre-amp or Mixer
As mentioned above, the mike preamps in built-in soundcards aren't suitable for recording music. For starters, I recommend a small mixer like a Behringer UB802, which has two preamps, and it's handy to have a mixer anyway, so you can leave frequently used gear plugged in. Don't try to save $10 and get the UB502, because that unit doesn't have phantom power, which you'll need if you ever decide to get a condenser mike.
The ideal little mixer for a small home studio, IMHO, is the Soundcraft Compact ($100), which has a couple features I haven't seen in any other mixer that would be very helpful in the home computer-based studio.
Other inexpensive options include the AudioBuddy, which has two preamps for $75, or better yet, the Studio Projects VTB-1, one preamp for $100.
Serious engineers generally want to have a number of mike preamps, just like having a number of mikes, to find the best fit for a given job. Also, in a project where you have a lot of miked tracks, it helps to have a number of different preamps so that the peculiarities of a given preamp don't mount up. So, even if you get serious enough to get pro-quality mike preamps (in the $500 and up range), you'll still have occasion to use your first, inexpensive ones.
Of course, you'll need a mike stand or two as well.
Monitors
need to put something here for near-field monitors!
If you don't have near-field monitors, using other ways to monitor your project can be tricky. I use two subwoofer computer systems and also run everything through a regular JVC stereo receiver and stereo speaker setup. THIS CAN BE A PROBLEM!!!! If you monitor your work this way you can be easily deceived into thinking your project sounds just right. When you burn it to CD and play it on different systems you may find the highs are sizzling, the bass woofing, or the mix is just not right. So, when monitoring using a system like mine, I would suggest your receiver settings be flat. That is, all EQ (bass, mid, treble) be set to a flat setting. For example, if you are listening to a project and it sounds great and you have the bass boosted on your monitoring system, you will not have that same bass when you burn your project to CD. That bass is only a product of your monitoring system and is not actually in your project. You can learn your system and how it will translate to a final burned CD. But most, however, would recommend monitors built specifically for this purpose such as near-field monitors. I can only wish I had some. At this point someone else will need to expand a little on near-field monitors...how and why they are preferred.
Recording Acousitic Guitar
If you're planning to use your guitar's built-in pickup, give this another thought. I listen to a lot of amateur music, and nothing screams "amateur" like the sound of most built-in pickups, especially piezoelectric pickups. There are a number of pickups (none of them cheap) that sound quite good on stage, but most are dual-element pickups, usually with a contact element and a mini internal microphone. But even these don't usually sound as good as sticking an SM57 mike in front of the guitar.
On the other hand, sometimes it's the sound you want. Also, you can record using both mike and pickup and blend to suit.
These built-in pickups take a battery and have line level outputs. They can be connected directly to a line input on a soundcard or mixer.
Recording Electric Guitar
There a number of different ways to record electric guitar.
Generally the best way, purely from a sound quality standpoint, is miking the guitar amp -- especially if you really like the sound of your amp. However, this can be demanding -- you have to try a number of different amp & mike locations & arrangments, and room treatment is critical since you're generally playing rather loud and reflections in the room will be significant in the recording.
Another approach that's very handy is to use a hardware amp/cab modeler like a Line 6 POD or Johnson J-Station. In this case you can connect the line outputs of the device to the line inputs on your soundcard -- or better yet, use the S/PDIF (digital) connection for the best fidelity.
A third approach is to record directly into your DAW and apply amp/cab modelling software, like Native Instruments Guitar Rig (which unfortunately is not cheap!) However, to do this, you need a "DI" (direct input) device, because the guitar's output is not suitable for a low-Z mike input or a line input. An alternative is to try any stomp-box or FX unit, because these have outputs that can feed line inputs.
What software do I need?
Digital Audio Workstation
Format Conversion
CD burning software
What about the room?
Cheers, Learjeff
