The Home Studio
Most people build a home studio in exactly the wrong order. Interface first, then monitors, then a better interface, then bigger monitors, and only after three years do they get to the room, which was the problem all along.
- room first
- 3 myths
- the order matters
Where you run into this
- Recording
- Mixing
- Production
- Podcasting
In short
If you are starting from nothing on a limited budget, the order in which money makes a difference is: a computer you already own plus a DAW, one decent pair of headphones, a single microphone, an interface, treatment for the room, and only then monitors. Almost everyone does it backwards.
Realising the room is an instrument in the signal chain is the moment home recording starts making sense.
How it works
An interface does four things and they do not matter equally: conversion between analogue and digital, preamplification, monitoring, and clocking. Conversion quality at the budget end has been good for years, which is why upgrading an interface rarely produces the improvement people expect.
Where you run into this
- A mix that falls apart on every other system
- Bass that sounds huge in one spot in the room and disappears one step away
- A new interface that changed nothing audible
In practice
Three myths worth retiring: expensive converters will not fix an untreated room, more expensive monitors in a bad room make the problem clearer rather than better, and a microphone is not what stands between you and a professional-sounding recording.