A buddy of mine recently asked what he should get for his home studio if he only had $50 to spend. As I was coming up with options for him, I thought this would make a great article!
Everyone is trying to make smart choices with his/her money. Here are ten ways to improve your studio without breaking the bank:
1. Planet Waves Pro-Winder – $10
This is one of the niftiest little gadgets. If you are a guitarist, or if you have guitarists coming into your studio, this will make string-changing a breeze. It’s got a built-in peg-winder, wire cutter, AND bridgepin puller. Finally your session won’t come to a screeching halt after breaking a string, while you spend thirty minutes looking everywhere for your wire cutters.
2. M-Audio SP-2 Sustain Pedal – $25
You can easily spend a lot of money on a sustain pedal. I chose this one because:
- It’s only $25.
- It feels like a sustain pedal should (as opposed to those little square sustain pedals). Don’t underestimate how a good-feeling sustain pedal can help you (or your keyboardist) perform better.
- It has a polarity switch. Different keyboards are wired with different polarities on the sustain jack, meaning certain sustain pedals will work backwards if they’re the wrong polarity. This little switch solves all that.
3. On-Stage Stands Rack Stand – $26
Equipment Racks are another way to spend money quickly. Sure, nice wooden racks are pretty to look at, but if you really just need a place to rack up your gear on the cheap, this little rack is stellar.
4. Samson BL3 Ultra-Light Boom Stand – $30
Mic stands can be expensive. I had a chance to use one of these recently, and it was great. It’s got nice big knobs for adjusting the boom and angle, and it’s nice and light. You may not want to put a heavy condenser on this guy, but it’s a great option if you need an extra boom stand or two.
5. Furman SS-6B Power Block – $30
So you’ve read my article on the importance of using a power conditioner, but you can’t quite afford one? The SS-6B is a great little option. It has surge protection and some noise filtration for $30. I actually use one of these to power my gear when I play a show.
6. Planet Waves Headstock Tuner – $30
I saw one of these for the first time the other day. It works really well. There are plenty of headstock tuners out there, but this one is very small and light. Also, the display changes color once you’re in tune. Red: out of tune. Green: in tune! Nobody likes to hunt down a tuner in the middle of a recording session. Just slap one of these on the headstock and get back to recording.
7. Auralex MoPADs – $40
If you haven’t already, read my review of the MoPADs. This could easily be the best $40 you’ll ever spend on your studio.
8. Auralex Aural-Xpanders – $50
Keeping with the Auralex theme, this little kit can be very useful. If you’re recording out of a spare bedroom or apartment, you have the distinct pleasure of dealing with all sorts of extra noise. You’ve got noisy neighbors upstairs jumping around, and you’ve probably got a fair share of computer and air conditioner noise. These little foam goodies can help give your microphones a bit more isolation. In addition, the “platfeet” go underneath your mic stand feet, minimizing how much those stomping neighbors make it into your recordings.
9. Whirlwind IMP 2 Direct Box – $50
Whether you’re recording acoustic or electric guitar, or even bass, you need a direct box, or DI. There are some nice $200 direct boxes out there, but the Whirlwind IMP2 is just a nice, simple DI that will work well for years to come.
10. Audio-Technica ATH-M20 Headphones – $50
When you start bringing artists into your studio, you quickly realize your need for extra headphones. While I do love my Sennheiser HD280Pro headphones, it may not be feasible to buy multiple sets. At $50, the ATH-M20 from Audio-Technica are a nice alternative for that extra pair you may need. (And if you only have one headphone jack on your audio interface or mixer, just grab a headphone splitter cable.)
What are some of the indispensable items in your studio? I’d love to hear some other ideas. Leave a comment!
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Example: You're recording electric guitar, and you're using a guitar amp.
What if he plays it really well, but the next day you don't like the guitar
tone? If you use a DI, you can split the signal, record the direct/dry
signal onto its own track and still run the signal to the amp and mic/record
that. If you should decide you like a different tone, you can take that dry
signal and apply an amp modeling plug-in or run it back out of your
interface and “re-amp” it through another guitar amp.
What is the purpose of having a DI box in your home studio? Example?
+1 on MoPads as well.
Another great thing to add to list (and this may sound odd…) are metal windscreens for your mics.
If you have mics you care about I highly recommend you pick up a metal windscreen. They don’t hurt the quality of the sound but their major benefit is protecting the diaphragm of your mics. Moisture is a huge cause of mic failure and these work wonders.
Great list. Keep em coming
Metal windscreens are great. A bit expensive, but great.
As far as pop filters, I just went metal from nylon, and the difference is night and day. Nylon is probably better protection from moisture, but it seems to cut out a bit of high-end clarity and presence. But yeah, if you want a cheap but useful metal pop filter, this one was only $15, and I’m pretty happy with it:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Nady-Metal-Pop-Filter?sku=426600
+1 on MoPads
I’m definitely tempted by the MoPads. Quick question: do they stick (permanently) to the base of the monitors? I’m using M-Audio AV40s, but at some point in the future I’d like to upgrade…
Nope, the monitors simply rest on top of the Mopads.
ps – the headstock tuner and power conditioner are now in my shopping cart:)
Thanks for the tips. My studio is still too basic for a lot of these though.
I was just thinking about that rack stand.
It might make a good article if you wrote about what is the best rackmount gear to have for a studio. Obviously that gets kinda pricey, so it’d have to start out with very basic stuff, like and interface and power conditioner.
that might just be the GAS talking though
I recently bought a pair of Berenger studio monitor speakers for around £50.
The MoPads work! Must get!
ALRIGHT, already! You’ve talked me into the MoPads. When I buy my monitors at the end of the month, those are coming with them