If you want to set up an affordable home studio on a limited budget , here you will find the equipment you need.
Setting up your own home studio in your home can take a big budget. But, if you make a good choice, it can be cheaper than you think. I previously listed $300/€250, but this new listing is $50 off and I think it offers much more value.
Equipment to set up an affordable home studio
We could choose hundreds of equipment for the home studio (and we all want this), but the idea of this post is to make it affordable. Affordable does not mean bad. In fact, there are a lot of good quality equipment at a good price. And among them, to put together a complete home studio, we have the following:
- Audio interface ($69): M-Audio M-Track DUO
- Studio monitors ($97): Presonus Eris E3.5
- Condenser microphone ($99): Audio Technica AT2020
- MIDI keyboard ($80): AKAI Professional APC Keys 25
- DAW and VST Plugins ($0): A large amount of free software comes with the equipment.
Total = $345 / €300So, for less than $350/€300 we have a good and affordable home studio. Prices may vary in dollars and euros, but you can check the actual prices in this list I made on Thomann.
The new M-Track DUO interface from M-Audio
The M-Track Duo is the new M-Audio interface that offers great performance for a small price ($69 approx). In a home studio, the ideal is to have at least two inputs for recording instruments/microphones. Therefore, this interface does just that. It has Crystal preamp with Phantom Power and can record in 16-bit/48kHz resolution. Features:
- 2 XLR/line inputs with Crystal preamps.
- Headphone and studio monitor output.
- USB 2.0 connection.
- Phantom Power for condenser microphones.
In addition, it also includes Pro Tools First, MPC Beats and some plugins. So, it will save us some money on software.
The faithful Presonus Eris E3.5 as studio monitors
Studio monitors are a key factor if we want to produce with good final quality. When I think about affordable studio monitors, the best option that comes to mind is the Eris series from Presonus. It is the closest to a flat and faithful response on a limited budget. They comply with what is necessary to produce efficiently. They are not $500 monitors that offer us a brutal mix, but believe me they are very good, I tried the 4.5-inch version (it is a little more expensive) and they offer a very clear response.
Condenser microphone: The great Audio Technica AT2020
The large diaphragm condenser microphone is suitable for everything in a home studio. The ideal would be to have another dynamic microphone, small diaphragm condenser microphones, etc. But, to start… a large diaphragm one will cover most uses. They are great for recording guitars, pianos, wind instruments and practically anything. This is because they excel in being able to capture a wide range of frequencies and capture a very full tone. The Audio Technica AT2020 is a well-known old reliable among affordable condenser mics. This microphone features:
- High sound pressure level (144dB)
- Cardioid polar pattern
- Ø16mm diaphragm
As an alternative you can also consider the AKG P120 which has a very similar performance and the same thing comes from Thomann.
AKAI Professional APC Keys 25, a versatile midi keyboard
The MIDI keyboard is super useful for controlling different aspects of the DAW and VST plugins. In the modern home studio, they have become essential. The AKAI Professional APC Keys 25 is a keyboard with 25 keys but also includes pads and knobs Of configuration. It integrates perfectly with many DAWs. A 25-key keyboard allows us to test chords, notes or melodies as we produce. Of course, you can even record simple melodies and chords. In addition, the AKAI APC Keys comes with a grid of 8 x 5 pads to integrate with DAWs like Ableton Live. And of course, it also comes with an interesting software package that we will see in the following points.
DAW: Free
DAWs are the center of the music production workstation. With them we can do absolutely everything. With the equipment I mentioned previously, different DAWs come. In the M Track Duo interface comes the MPC Beats and the Pro Tools First. I do not recommend that you use Pro Tools First, because you cannot put VST plugins (and not even external AAX ones). That is to say, it is a very good DAW, but the plugins allow us to do too many things. In the APC Keys 25 from Akai comes Ableton Live Lite, which is an excellent DAW for production. The Lite version is limited to 8 simultaneous tracks, but it will be fine to get started. In addition, there are also many other free DAWs that offer great value. In this list of free DAWS you can find many of them. So, to start you will have a great selection of software. Over time, you will surely go for a paid DAW that offers something complete, but in its own time.
VST Plugins
Well… when we talk about plugins, there are too many free ones! In this blog and magazine we talk a lot about free plugins. You can read this post about 20 free instrument plugins, also this other one about 15 free plugins… and you will find some how many more on the blog.But, the point is that also with the equipment that I just mentioned also come very good quality plugins.With the APC Keys 25 it comes: Hybrid 3 by AIR Music Tech, SONiVOX Twist Spectral Morphing Synthesizer and Toolroom Records Artist Launch Packs (sample pack). With the Eris 3.5 monitors comes the Studio Magic package. It is a fairly extensive package that includes different plugins. The most notable are Arturia Analog Lab Intro, iZotope Neutron Elements, Output Movement, UVI Model D and UJAM Virtual Bassist ROWDY. But many more are coming.
Setting up an affordable home studio is not that far away
Setting up an affordable home studio is easier than it seems. That is, it requires spending some budget, but it can be achieved without going that far. Therefore, make your checklist and start producing with everything!