Sound Advice: Optimal Home Studio Equipment for The Creative Musician

Pro audio and computer manufacturers, vendors and reviewers have created a rather strange consensus that most new gear is superior, cooler and must-haves compared to the previous generation. A simple software update with a new skin and a few new features often gets 4 1/2 stars. The value of being "up-to-date" is remarkable. What if a radio had to be purchased every three years? The programs on the air remain the same regardless.

Albums in 2005 were created with a big budget in famous studios, using an Apple PowerMac G4. Today, that same G4 tower can be purchased with maxed out memory and multiple hard drives for a tenth of the original price. Craig's List and eBay are inundated with listings of powerful computers nearly thrown into the garbage bin, because they lost their coolness next to things like the iPad. The dramatic devaluation of older powerhorses is perpetuated by savvy advertising, visual presentations and an unprecedented level of brand hype about lifestyle consciousness, which all work our minds. However, the 24-bit Sound Designer II audio file created on an Apple G4 is exactly of the same quality as the one produced on the latest Mac Pro.

Apple has created a wonderful work platform for the home recording musician. The acquisition of the German eMagic in 2002, the subsequent discontinuance of Logic for the frail and confusing Windows operating system, and not the least the launch of GarageBand put the creative work before programming expertise. Apple deserves praise for all of this.

Let's review what a home studio is supposed to accomplish. Recording your precious ideas reliably and making simple mixes for demo purposes, is a fairly common answer. It's not important to own a massive collection of mesmerizing bells and whistles, but to serve your creative ideas with quality audio equipment for possible later professional processing.

Compatibility between software programs is no problem today, so let's leave the Avid-Steinberg-Motu debate about the best DAW. They all do fine. However, GarageBand 2, released in 2005 as a part of iLife '05 and fully compatible with the PowerMac G4, is the most effective solution for all basic recording needs.

The IEEE 1394/Firewire 400 standard was recently declared obsolete, but every G4 PowerMac continues to have two of these powerful and reliable ports. For a multifaceted quality audio interface, Presonus FP10 (aka. Firepod) presents an optimal and very affordable solution with eight microphone, instrument and line inputs of remarkable quality.

Near-field monitors (i.e. speakers) of good quality are important, but for creative work and basic mixing needs a decent pair for $ 199 will do fine. It's worth visiting pro audio stores for a critical listen at famous brands. New brands often present the highest quality for the money. When it comes to microphones, beware of tube-looking things for $ 69, and instead invest about $ 200 on a Røde NT-1A or NT-1000. When considering a display, it would be a big mistake to invest on a top-dollar Apple Cinema display for the mere design. Music is an audible art after all. No matter how much you love Apple, just get a 19" PC flat-screen monitor for $ 150-200, as your visual presentation will always be in the album covers, not the gear that records your music.

As a summary, gear which used to do the work will continue to deliver. Just use roughly the same generation software and hardware. The optimal solutions for the minimum money are currently gear released between 2004 and 2007. The sound quality of the studio equipment needs to take precedence, since your final product will always be an audio file. What really matters is what your music sounds like. Therefore, make all your purchasing decisions based on your needs only, and proudly ignore what others tell you.

Sound Advice is a series of articles about sound, ranging from simple listening advice to serious whistle-blowing.