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Home Studio
Do It Yourself
RECORDING
You have both hardware and software-based recording options available to you. Nowadays, the main question you need to ask yourself is whether you want to do the recording on a PC/computer or a hardware device.
I personally went the PC route because I was comfortable with computers and wanted the editing flexibility and power offered and it's great for mixing, but I gotta admit it makes the process of recording more complicated and sometimes ruins the mood. (How "rock-n-roll" is mousing around and clicking on screens while you're jamming?) Hardware options will generally be more limited but they'll likely fit the bill in terms of ease-of-use. In addition, the poower available in the hardware units is more impressive today than when I was building my studio many years ago.
Hardware Workstations
Do you want to just buy some mics, plug everything in and hit record with minimal fuss? And then be able to mix it all in one box? A hardware workstation may be for you. The simplicity is certainly appealing, and many have the ability to export tracks directly to PC via USB port if you have that need.
Most hardware workstations contain many of their own mic preamps you can use, so consider that in your budget. General concensus is that for your crucial tracks you may still want a high quality external mic preamp.
Here are some units to consider (you'll probably want at least 16 tracks):
You have both hardware and software-based recording options available to you. Nowadays, the main question you need to ask yourself is whether you want to do the recording on a PC/computer or a hardware device.
I personally went the PC route because I was comfortable with computers and wanted the editing flexibility and power offered and it's great for mixing, but I gotta admit it makes the process of recording more complicated and sometimes ruins the mood. (How "rock-n-roll" is mousing around and clicking on screens while you're jamming?) Hardware options will generally be more limited but they'll likely fit the bill in terms of ease-of-use. In addition, the poower available in the hardware units is more impressive today than when I was building my studio many years ago.
Hardware Workstations
Do you want to just buy some mics, plug everything in and hit record with minimal fuss? And then be able to mix it all in one box? A hardware workstation may be for you. The simplicity is certainly appealing, and many have the ability to export tracks directly to PC via USB port if you have that need.
Most hardware workstations contain many of their own mic preamps you can use, so consider that in your budget. General concensus is that for your crucial tracks you may still want a high quality external mic preamp.
Here are some units to consider (you'll probably want at least 16 tracks):
| tracks | inputs | xlr mic pres | record at once | |
| Yamaha AW2400 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 16 |
| Roland VS2400 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 16 |
| Yamaha AW1600 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Tascam 2488 | 24 | 8 | 4 | 8 |
| Zoom HD16 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Computer Recording
I personally have a computer recording setup (EMU Paris DAW), but it was discontinued long ago and things have changed alot. I'm not going to pretend to know alot about the computer recording software available today, but below I list software that is popular and following that some popular computer recording interfaces.
I personally have a computer recording setup (EMU Paris DAW), but it was discontinued long ago and things have changed alot. I'm not going to pretend to know alot about the computer recording software available today, but below I list software that is popular and following that some popular computer recording interfaces.
| Full"er" versions | Lite Versions | |
| Ableton Live | Live | |
| Cakewalk SONAR | Studio or Producer |
Home Studio XL |
| Steinberg Cubase | Cubase | Cubase Studio |
| Apple Logic | Logic Studio | Logic Express |
Computer Audio Interfaces
Some of the popular audio interfaces used to get audio into computers are listed below to give you an idea of what folks are purchasing.
Some of the popular audio interfaces used to get audio into computers are listed below to give you an idea of what folks are purchasing.
| M Audio 1010 PCI | M Audio Project Mix I/O Firewire |
| MOTU 24IO PCI | MOTU 8PRE Firewire |
| MOTU 2408 PCI | Tascam US1641 USB |
| Presonus Firestudio | M Audio Fast Track USB |
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