This article will help you with the entire list of recording studio equipment that you will need in your work. It is extremely important to know what the right equipment you need for your recording studio is so that your investment is not wasted and the choice does not lead to the wrong decision.
Early in my career as a recording engineer and music producer, I made some bad decisions when buying equipment for my studio. The one bad decision was buying a Yamaha digital mixer in the very first stage when I first started out. It took more than 150,000 rubles, which was a huge amount for me in those days.
However, I was quite able to record music of the same quality with my Motu 898 MKII audio interface, as it had all the inputs and outputs available with an excellent AD/DA converter and preamps. Due to lack of information I bought a Yamaha digital mixer at a stage when I didn’t really need it.
So you should always know: what kind of equipment is right for your recording studio and at what stage.
There are four types of recording studios. I’ve listed all the necessary recording studio equipment lists according to these types, so you can get a general idea, whether you’re going to start a new recording studio or upgrade your existing recording studio equipment.
Before we dig into the list, let’s understand these 4 types of recording studios…
Types of Recording Studios:
- Amateur recording studio.
- Home recording studio
- Semi-professional recording studio
- Professional recording studio
- Amateur recording studio
This is a very simple type of studio that you can set up on a table next to your bed. In this type of studio, you just need basic equipment to record vocals, create beats, and produce music. All you need is a laptop, an audio interface, and a decent microphone to record and play back sound right at your bedside.
Home recording studio
Home recording studios need an extra room solely for recording and producing music. This could be your abandoned garage or a small living room. Such a studio requires some acoustic treatment along with some additional recording equipment with the necessary audio interfaces, microphone and computer. Also, the design of such a studio includes furniture for comfortable operation.
Semi-professional recording studio
Home studios usually don’t have the ability to record multiple musicians at the same time. This is where semi-professional recording studios come in. These types of studios can be set up in your home with more than one room or in a commercial location. Semi-professional studios have the equipment needed to record multiple musicians at the same time.
Professional recording studio
These are professional studios located in a commercial location and equipped with the tools necessary to achieve professional results, like in Hollywood projects. This type of studio requires a large financial investment, because it takes a lot of money for acoustic processing and hardware.
Now let’s go deeper into the list of equipment that will be needed to set up each type of recording studio.
Basic equipment for an amateur recording studio
Your first recording experience. When the music worm bites you, the amateur recording studio begins.
Many of us come into music as amateurs. Some of us make it our profession, but most of us see it as a hobby and just need a little platform to record our own creations. In the past, however, the concept of an amateur studio did not exist. Because in those days, recording sound required huge mixers and effects panels and there was no way to have one of those at a regular desk.
Today, technology has completely changed. Audio recording is becoming a common profession in the digital realm. It’s now very easy to set up a tiny studio on your desk by your bedside. You just need a small list of sound recording equipment to create a quality amateur studio.
Equipment for an amateur recording studio
- Computer
- Digital sound workstation (DAW)
- Audio interface
- Microphones
- Headphones
- Studio monitors
- Cables
- Microphone stands
- Pop Filter
Equipment for home recording studio
Next, we will describe the second type of recording studio. Many of us are happy with our amateur studios and continue to do it as a hobby. Few of us want to change that. And at this point, we need to know some of the other recording studio equipment we need to turn our amateur studio into a home studio.
Basic equipment for a home recording studio
An amateur recording studio is perfect just for a hobby. But if you really want to record serious music, you need to turn your amateur studio into a home studio. Recording and producing professional music from your amateur studio is impossible.
You need at least a separate room with acoustic treatment where you can organize the following equipment to run your home recording studio.
So, let me show you a list of the equipment you need for your home studio:
- Desktop workstation
- Effects plugins
- VST instruments
- Studio chairs
- Bass traps
- Acoustic Panels
- Diffusers
- Reflective filters
- Insulating panels for monitor
- Studio monitor stands
The basics of a semi-professional recording studio
So, since we already know that we need more inputs and space to record more instruments at the same time, which is not possible in home studios. In this situation, you need more space in your room and more inputs to your audio interface.
Suppose you want to record an entire drum kit in your home studio, and you only have a 4-channel audio interface, how would you then be able to connect the 8 microphones used to record the drums? Or think about the space needed to record your entire drum set.
At some point you will need things that turn your home studio into a semi-professional recording studio.
Most of these are listed below:
- A rack.
- Air conditioner
- Mic preamp
- Headphone amplifier
- Monitor control system
- MIDI controller
- Electronic drum
- Control panel
- Analog emulation plugins (UAD Powered Plugins)
- Snake cable
- Uninterruptible power supply
- Direct Box