Home Recording – The Essentials: Part 2

Home recording – the Essentials? – Part 2

Did you miss Part 1? Click here:
Home recording – the Essentials? – Part 1

Digital Studio-in-a-box:

• all in one system that has everything to get you started.
• you need to add:
  • sound source
  • input device (microphone, instrument or sound module)
  • monitors
• Examples: Have a look at the
  • Akai DPS24 – professional 24-track
  • Korg D1200mkII – easy to use 12-track
  • Tascam DP-01FX – 8-track, with good sized controls

Computer Based Systems

• similar to the studio-in-a-box, except it runs on the processing speed of your computer for recording, mixing and editing.
• again, you need to add:
• • sound source
  • input device (microphone, instrument or sound module)
  • monitors
• Examples: If you are a Mac user, click the links for more information:
  • Apple Logic Pro
  • Digidesign ProTools
  • Apple GarageBand
• For PC users, click the links for more information:
  • Cakewalk Sonar
  • Digidesign Pro Tools
  • Sony Acid

Stand alone Systems:

• all your gear is separate
• perfect if you already have some gear and want to upgrade it to provide a more comprehensive recording environment

Of course, all of these systems can be combined.

For example if you invest in a studio-in-a-box you can add the processing speed of a music computer to it, or if you are already using a computer based system you can add on stand alone gear like a sound module.

So what’s the main difference between these three systems?

Price to buy and maintain:

• Stand Alone systems are easier to upgrade
• Studio-in-a-box setup
  • becomes obsolete faster
  • limits your choice of individual gear to add later

If you’re wondering how to go about selecting the right gear for your home studio, make sure you get our free 7-part course “Choosing Great Gear” (top left of this page)

Coming in Part 3 tomorrow: Essential Requirements

Following this 3-part introduction, next in this series we’ll be covering the topics below.

We can change the order of publication, if you tell us which is your priority.

We’ll publish the topics with most votes first.

(We’ll outline several scenarios, from $100 to $9000)

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