Home Studio Build

[NoEcho]

I've been collecting parts for a home studio for years. Haven't built it. Mostly I've been purchasing stuff for the outside - microphones, electric guitars, amps, stands, cables, keyboards, a beatbox. But not for the inside.

My PC is a gaming box, 24 G Ram, multiple SSD drives, a big old standard drive for archiving and games, I have a 5.1 speaker setup coming off the motherboard's stock sockets. I7 cpu. Windows 7/64.

From what I've read in this forum there's much more out there. For instance DACs. Until a couple days ago I hadn't heard anything about DACs since discussing some recording studio mechanics in 1991 or so. And that's just one thing. There's all kinds of stuff out there, there's a whole subset of lingo that is not normal PC hardware and it's not studio stuff its some kind of hybrid. It's some niche.

You all know this niche. What parts should I get to be able to create demo quality (not pro quality) music with my PC? Say upper limit of 1,200 for all components.

 

[Zepher]

All you really need is a decent pair of monitors and some editing software.
I've built and upgraded my friends' main PC for him over the year and this is a sample of what he does on that machine,
https://myspace.com/fellintoherworld/music/songs

The machine at the time was just a Core2Duo 4GB Ram and WinXP with Pro Tools and the Digi01 box, eventually upgraded to a Q9550, 8GB Ram, and Windows 7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMmd0WaQFGE
I can't remember if the above Doritos commercial was made with the Q9550 or the i7 4770K

I know these 2 Doritos commercials below were done with the 4770K I built him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJwtWIRuKEQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y6b4sruJ-M

So you don't need super fancy stuff to get great results.
Right now he has an Asus Sabertooth Z77 4770K with 16GB of Ram, SSD for OS and apps, SSD to work on, and hard drives for storage.
A pair of M-Audio BX5 monitors
and a Pro Tools external USB I/O box
and a Dell 34" curved ultrawide.

 

[Zuul]

yeah nowadays it's a breeze to record music. I use an i5 3570k with 8GB ram and a platter drive and a pair of Fostex 8" monitors

I use Cubase 5 and just program ezdrummer (drumkit from hell) and record guitars and bass with a clean signal in thru a M-Audio fast track, then use Guitar Rig on top of those tracks.
Sounds pretty good after mixing it all imo allthough I prefer the sound of my modded Marshall amp. But can't have that racket in an appartment building...neighbors gonna go nuts if I crank it up so the mic can pick it up

edit : I used to just put a mic between the couch cushions and put my 4x12" face down on it. Worked pretty good but inconveniant.

 

[HammerSandwich]

You all know this niche. What parts should I get to be able to create demo quality (not pro quality) music with my PC? Say upper limit of 1,200 for all components.

So you need hardware to:
1) Get mic & instrument feeds into your PC,
2) Get mixed signals out of the PC, &
3) Monitor the sound
?

How many mics & DI instruments do you need to record simultaneously?

Basically, you need:
1) An audio interface, which is essentially a really flexible sound card. This will be your ADC & DAC. Look at Focusrite, Presonus, Motu & budget $300-500.
2) Headphones. You already have headphones, right? Which? If you need a better set, figure $50-300.
3) Speakers. JBL LSR305s are the default recommendation. You might find a $99/speaker holiday sale but could spend up to $149 per here.
3a) You might want a subwoofer, too, depending on the music & environmental noise. A Dayton or BIC at $125-225 would be okay.
4) Cables. You probably have a bunch already. But budgeting an extra $50-100 here makes sense.
5) Acoustic panels, etc. Again, it's hard to make specific recommendations without knowing more details. That said, you probably want a few panels you can easily move around. Mineral wool, not foam. GIK Acoustics is a good place to look.

 

[NoEcho]

Thanks for all your insights. I've begun using them.

 

[sweets3450]

a good gaming computer is more than adequate for a home studio minus the graphics card. you don't need 6 powerful cores with HT unless you're a composer for a living and time becomes money. Find out how many instruments you will need to plug in and find a DAC interface that will satisfy your needs. You'll always want to upgrade in the future so keep your budget low.