GEAR
Computer - Audio interface - Preamplifier - Studio monitors - Headset - Guitar and bass - MIDI controller - Microphone
COMPUTER
It doesn't matter whether you choose a desktop computer or a laptop computer but pay attention to the following points:- Processor: you need a fast multicore processor. Pick the most powerful processor you can afford. Choose the brand Intel over AMD if possible.
- Memory (RAM): nowadays, 4 GB is a strict minimum, but 8 GB can be useful in some cases. More than that is only useful if you have specific needs, especially when using very large sound banks. Caution: 32-bits operating systems (like Windows or MacOS) cannot take advantage of more than 4 Go of RAM. If you need more, you will have to get a 64-bit operating system, which have now become a standard choice.
- Hard disk / SSD: all computers have a hard disk, or even an SSD for the most recent ones. Ideally, you may want to have 2 hard disks: one for the programs (operating systems and other programs) and one for data storage (all the audio files you will be recording). This will allow for faster access times. Nowadays, 500 GB hard disks is the minimum, but do no hesitate to pick 1 or 2 TB disks (1 TB = 1000 GB). These things tend to fill very rapidly.
Note: late 2011, big floods in Thailand have damaged hard disk factories and caused a shortage and a price increase. The situation should come back to normal during the year 2012, but so far, prices have doubled, even tripled.
A few words about SSDs: these are the probable successors to the hard disks. They are not disks but are made with very fast Flash memory (like USB keys). Pros : much faster than hard disks, smaller, completely silent, and low energy consuming. Cons: life expectancy is shorter than hard disks, available space is much lower that that of hard disks, price per GB is much higher. Price example (taking in consideration the recent price increase due to the floods): 1 TB hard disk - about 150 euros/dollars. For this price, you will find 120 GB SSDs... 8 times less!
SSDs are good as main storage device (the one that will hold the operating system and the programs), but not necessarily of the data because of their price. It is thus reasonable to settle for a good old hard disk drive at the moment, but progress is swift and there is little doubt that SSDs will soon (a few months? 2 or 3 years?) become more attractive than hard disks.
- Screen: two factors should be taken into consideration, size and resolution. As for size, take the biggest screen you can afford. With a laptop computer, 15 inches is not very convenient, 17 inches or more is better, but prices go up very rapidly with a bigger screen. With a desktop computer, 22 inches is the minimum, but why not26, 27, or even 30 inches! Once again, money will be the limiting factor.
Résolution, which is the number of pixels displayed, is important because music software will often open several windows at the same time. Graphic interfaces take a lot of space and with a low-resolution scree, your workspace will soon be overcrowded, which is pretty painful.
With a laptop computer, aim for a minimum resolution of 1440x900, but 1680x1050 is more comfortable, and 1920x1080 even better. The resolution often depends on the size of the screen. With a desktop computer, go for an 1920x1080 resolution, which the standard 16/9 Full HD resolution, the same you will find on HD TVs, unfortunately.
Why is it unfortunate? Because you can still find a few 16/10 screens with an HD resolution of 1920x1200 (instead of 1080 in height) and these 120 extra pixels are very convenient on a computer screen. When using a DAW, or a video editing software, you can display more tracks, when using a word processor or a spreadsheet software, or even when reading websites, the layout is often vertical. The 16/9 format is well-suited for watching films, but this is far from being the only thing you do with a computer. So if you find a good 16/10 screen, don't hesitate!
Do not neglect the quality of your screen, read reviews on the Internet and make sure you pick the right screen because your eyes are going to be watching it for a long time and if its quality is bad, say hello to headaches!!
The ideal would be to have 2 screens, if possible identical in size and resolution. This doubles your working space and believe me, it's very convenient. You can live without it, but once you've tried, it's pretty difficult to do without again. I have 2 26-inch 16/10 screens of 1920x1200 pixels and it's great.
- Graphics card: let's make it simple... to make music, a powerful and expensive graphics card is useless! The cheapest and most basic cards will be enough. A powerful graphics card is only necessary if you play computer games so if you don't, save the money to buy music gear.
AUDIO INTERFACE
No, integrated or multimedia sound cards are not suited to make music! Not if you want a decent result or if you want to use real-time effects. To make music, you have to make a step forward and get an audio interface. They are separate devices, connected to the computer through a USB or a Firewire cable. Check before you buy! All computers come with USB connectors but Firewire connectors are not that common, especially with laptop computers.Audio interfaces have several IN connectors (plugs in which you can connect microphones or instruments such as a guitar), usually between 2 and 8 connectors and several OUT connectors as well. Almost all of them have MIDI connectors, a headset connector and digital connectors (I have never used these myself, but you may be interested in having some...).
Compared with a simple sound card, audio interfaces differ thanks to the higher quality of their components which deliver a more faithful sound quality, their analog/digital converters are better (they make the analog sound you record into digital data that your music software can use), they include preamplifiers of various quality depending on the brand and the price range... They also allow you to simultaneously record one instrument for each IN connection. For instance, you may record a band with 2 guitar players, 1 bass player, 1 singer and one drum set, and in your DAW, you will get 1 track per musician. This is impossible to achieve with basic sound cards.
An other advantage from audio interfaces is to allow you to play or record without any latency. Latency is the time between your playing an instrument (like a guitar or a keyboard) and when you hear the sound in your speakers or your headset. With a basic sound card, there can be half a second and this makes any good recording nearly impossible to achieve. There is a solution though, if you cannot afford buying an audio interface: use Asio4all, a small program that will strongly reduce the latency of basic sound cards. Official website: click here.
Audio interfaces on the other hand will allow you to set the latency so that it becomes inaudible (down to only a few milliseconds). But this has a cost: the shorter the latency, the more the processor will be busy. If your processor is not powerful enough, setting the latency to a low level will generate irritating noises (craking and crackling sounds, sound breaks). So there might be some compromises to do. But anyway, audio interfaces are a must to make music in a home studio.
As always, pick the best quality you can afford, evaluate your needs so you choose the right device, get information from other users (on music websites such as Audiofanzine)... Choose carefully.
Recommended brands:
RME Audio
MOTU
Alesis
Edirol
Focusrite
M-Audio
PreSonus
PREAMPLIFIER
A preamplifier (preamp), or control amp in some parts of the world, is an electronic amplifier which precedes another amplifier to prepare an electronic signal for further amplification or processing. The preamplifier circuitry may or may not be housed as a separate component. A low-quality preamp will result in a low-quality audio signal.We will use it to record the microphone, the guitar and the bass. This is required unless the preamp integrated within your audio interface are high-quality. Beware, high-quality preamps, whether they be solid-state or tube ones, can be very expensive (over 1000 euros/dollars). Frankly, investing that much money for a home studio seems unreasonable. But it's your money and the decision is yours...
If you're looking for a very transparent (it doesn't color the sound) and efficient preamp that is really inexpensive (less than 100 euros/dollars), here is one:
M-Audio Audio Buddy
STUDIO MONITORS
Studio monitors, also called reference monitors, are loudspeakers specifically designed to produce relatively flat (linear) phase and frequency responses. In other words, there will be no emphasis or de-emphasis of particular frequencies so that the loudspeaker gives an accurate reproduction of the tonal qualities of the source audio. Never mix with a walkman headset or cheap multimedia speakers, or even hifi speakers... None of these are neutral.There are two types of studio monitors: active and passive. Passive monitors are like hifi speakers, you need to connect them to an amplifier in order to deliver sound. On the other hand, active monitors have a built-in amplifer within the speaker, so you do not need a separate amplifier. You simply connect them to your audio interface to get some sound. They are more expensive (and heavier) than passive monitors, but also sound better. For a home studio purpose, you do not need very powerful monitors. About 40-60 watt should be enough for an average room.
Recommended brands:
Event Electronics
Adam
Focal
Genelec
Mackie
Prodipe
Tannoy
Yamaha
HEADSET
A good headset will allow you to listen to your music without bothering anyone. You can even use them for some mixing if you don't have a choice. But mixing with a headset is not recommended, so if you plan to do so anyway, make sure you get a very good headset and of course, this has a cost. The headset will also be used when recording voices, so you can listen to the music without turning the monitors on (or else, the microphone will record the music from the speakers along with your voice), and will also be used to listen to your song with a sound that is different from your monitors.
Beyer Dynamic DT990
This headset has it all: it is comfortable to wear, light, it is not too tight, its cable does not curl and is long enough to move around. But first and foremost, it sounds extremely well. The sound is very balanced and rather neutral, allowing you to mix correctly, which is rare with headsets. Lows, mediums and trebles are very well defined. In a word... great! It costs around 150 euros/dollars and, in this price range, there are few competitors. I have been using it since 2006 and am totally satisfied.
Beyer Dynamic DT 880 Pro
The DT880 Pro model is the upper range from Beyer Dynamics. It costs around 250 euros/dollars and can help to mix without monitors. It won't replace good monitors, but if you don't have the money to get decent monitors, it's better to get this kind of headset rather than mix on an inappropriate pair of cheap monitors.
GUITAR AND BASS
That depends on your taste and the money you have. After all, the good guitar is the guitar that gives you satisfaction, no matter what brand or how much it costs. The sound comes mainly from the player. A good guitar player will make a cheap guitar sound much better than a bad player with a 3000 euro/dollar guitar.I cannot recommend any brand or model, but I can give you a non-exhaustive list of famous brands: Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, Epiphone, PRS, Gretsch, Cort, Takamine, Martin, Seagull, ESP, Washburn...
It is strongly advised to try a guitar before buying it, even for just checking that it fits you. When trying an electric guitar, do not hesitate to play without plugging it in an amplifier. If it just sounds right that way, if the strings sound well with their natural sound, chances are the guitar will also sound very well once plugged.
The more a guitar is expensive, the more time you should take to choose it. It would be a shame to spend a large amount of money and realize soon afterwards that you don't really like it. What you feel is important: if you like your guitar, you will play with it.
MIDI CONTROLLER
A MIDI controller is a keyboard that you plug into your computer (USB connection) or into the audio interface (MIDI connection). It is not a stand-alone equipment and it does not include any sounds. Actually, it controls the virtual instruments you have in your computer, or various functions of your DAW. There are different kinds of MIDI controllers (some are like piano keyboards, which I use myself, others have only knobs and sliding buttons), and the piano-like ones usually have between 25 and 61 keys (2 to 5 octaves), depending on what you need and the available room you have.
MICROPHONE
To record vocals or an acoustic guitar. In order to keep a low budget (around 100 euros/dollars) and even though it's not perfect, here are two models from Shure:
Shure SM58
This is really a stage voice microphone. It is reliable, sturdy, and not sensitive to feedback. For recording purposes, it is not the best one, but it's affordable and gives correct results.
Shure SM57
This microphone is very versatile. It is mainly designed to record snare drums or guitar amplifiers because it can take loud sound impulses. For vocals, like the SM58, it's not the best but gives correct results.
