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Constructing a Home Recording Studio on a Small Budget?
Pinball Wizard asks:
"I would like to put together a home music studio. When it comes to keyboards, effects, and other electronic goodies, the choices seem pretty straightforward. But when it comes to guitar and recording other analog instruments and voices, the world of home recording seems bewildering. What are the best ways of recording analog sounds onto hard disk? I'm a lot more interested in a clever technical solution that costs less than $1,000 than I am taking out a loan and buying ProTools for $10,000 or more. What are the different pieces of equipment (microphones, preamps, etc) that are needed to do this well?"
Repeat after me:
Pro is pro, and consumer is consumer.
Ignore specs, numbers, "just as good as...", "same as [insert expensive gear] but costs only..."
Pro gear always exceeds it's specs, under all or nearly all conditions. It probably has good, stable power supplies that typically cost more to make than the "just as good as.. " product does all together. Build quality and component selection is done to impress a knowledgable and discerning crowd, not to look like a good deal at Best Buy.
It is usually rugged where it needs to be; but it could be quite fragile if that makes better sound, because it is assumed Pro users know how to treat it.
Some pro gear is made to go into a rack and sit there for it's lifetime, and some gear is made so drunks can load it into a too-small van at 4 AM and it still works the next night 300 miles away. (No attempt to portray roadies/musicians as drunks; I'm sure sober furniture movers and any respectable airline could also serve to test ruggedness). Good road gear and good studio gear are usually not the same, so don't assume you want what a live band uses. Some very famous microphones are popular because Punk Rockers can't break them even though they don't sound all that great, and some sound fantastic but will spontaneosly explode if you look at them funny. But, you need good microphones, and it's an unwritten law that you can't have too many.
There is nothing wrong with Analog; but Digital is the way of the future. Because of this, you may fit your budget and get better sound by picking up used Analog gear.
You will hear a lot if opinions about what to use and whether Analog is junk or Digital is 'da bomb but for the most part Digital is done poorly (it's consumer gear) and the good stuff is very pricy. Get the good stuff if you can afford it (about $500 or so for your sound card, and you're just beginning).
Don't pay too much attention to S/N for your recording media (assuming you are using good stuff, not a cassette deck) because anything better than 60+ db (without noise reduction) is fine, provided you don't play with it much (overdubs, bouncing tracks, etc).
16-bit digital boasts 30+ db better, but the reality is everybody will be playing your music back with gear that doesn't give you more than about 40 db of dyamic range and typically a LOT less, sometimes less than 3db. Very good playback systems sound excellent with material that has a -60 db noise floor, and 90% of your music will be played back on boombox level gear, at best.
Don't buy NEW digital gear that doesn't support 24-bit/96Khz at a minimum. If you can go 24/96+, then you're on your way to overcome the majority of problems Digital had over Analog so there's no need to worry about which format to use. 16-bit Digital wins some, loses some when it comes to sound quality over Pro Analog.
Get some good speakers and some cheap speakers, and mix/master/produce so it sounds good on both. Use Pro speakers or one of the few consumer models pro's use.
I strongly recommend finding/talking to/hanging out with people who have already done this and do it seriously. They made a lot of mistakes and so will you, but you will make far fewer than if you try to do this on your own.
If you're broke, Stereo is the only way to go. You can't afford 5 of everything.