This year, you took the dive and finally set up your home studio, whether you really wanted to or not. You invested in a good interface and a good mic; but, after a few months, you’ve started realizing there are other key ingredients you don’t have. You’re starting to recognize your gear’s limitations. Your mic sounds good but not great. Your vocal recordings sound good but too roomy because your room is too live. You could use better-sounding headphones and more of them for when other musicians come to record. And your monitor speakers? Well, you really need better speakers that are more accurate so you can trust what you’re sending out.
Anybody who’s ever owned a studio can relate, so welcome to the club. That’s just part and parcel of owning a studio — continuous upgrades and improvements. And there’s no time like the present. Getting the right gear impacts every recording you make. And, with the right tools, you can continue to elevate your game until you’re turning out products that sound as professional as anyone. So, here are some suggestions for some next-level gear that will help you step it up and crank out better recordings or podcasts.
Invest in a Better Mic
Nothing has a greater impact on the sound of your voice or your instrument than the microphone you choose. That’s why it’s critical to get a great mic. If you feel your sound is missing something, then a better mic would be the best place to start.
Acquire Better Studio Monitors
“The eyes are the windows to the soul.” In that same way, your studio monitors are the windows to your sound. If you can’t hear what you’re doing or trust what you’re hearing, then you’re constantly guessing what things really sound like. It’s like looking through a distorted or dirty lens. You need speakers you can trust, so make those a priority. These are great monitors at very affordable prices.
Upgrade to Better Headphones
There are good headphones for listening to music, and there are headphones that work well for recording. They aren’t always the same headphones. Having headphones you can wear for hours and hours without suffering listening or wearing fatigue is critical in the studio. And you need to make sure they don’t bleed into the mic. These are great upgrades when you rely on your headphones. And they’re affordable enough to buy new ‘phones for you and your studio guests.
Accomplish Better Acoustics
Say you have a great mic, a great interface, and great headphones, but your voice still sounds roomy and odd — nothing like a professional recording. The most likely culprit is your room acoustics. It doesn’t matter how good your signal chain is if your room sounds bad. That can be fixed with this extremely affordable acoustic treatment kit. An acoustic solution in a box, it will help your room sound drastically better without breaking the bank.
Supplement with a Sub
If you can’t tell exactly what’s going on in the bottom octaves of your mix, then chances are you need more low-end extension in your monitoring. Adding a subwoofer may be just what the doctor ordered. Even slightly augmenting your monitors with a sub that takes the lowest frequencies out of your mains will likely yield a more accurate monitoring situation.
Find a Full-Featured DAW
There’s a chance that you adopted the software that came with your interface, which frequently is a “Lite” or limited-feature version of the full software. If you’re not making the most of the software you have, then maybe you should consider upgrading to the full version. And, if you’re not pleased with the software you’re using, there are some great options, and you should find one you love. Many have limited-time trial versions you can audition. Some of our favorites are Pro Tools, the industry standard; PreSonus Studio One 5 and Sphere, an up-and-coming standard; and Ableton Live 10, a standard when it comes to recording, programming, and looping for music production and live shows.
Procure More Powerful Plug-ins
When you start recording, you start noticing things that you likely never heard before. The microphone doesn’t lie. Things like fan noise, air-conditioner hum, ambient sounds from outside, and vocals that don’t sound as sweet as you think they should. You need a more powerful tool kit, and iZotope’s Ozone is just what the audio doctor ordered. This incredibly powerful plug-in can fix whatever ails you.
Bring in a Better Studio Desk
If you are working from a table or a folding card table, you’ll be shocked at how much more efficient it is to have all your gear within reach and set up just like you need it. Get a purpose-built studio desk and watch your productivity soar.
Conquer Cleaner Power
Clean power for your studio gear is one of the last things people think about when shopping for gear. Have you ever had grounding issues or noises that you can’t track down? There’s a decent chance that it’s coming in on your power lines. Do yourself a favor and clean up the one thing that all your gear relies on. You won’t believe how much easier your life can be when power headaches are banished from your studio. And, if you’ve ever lost data from a power outage or even just a brownout, then a battery backup is your best protection. If you use a computer in your studio, then you absolutely should have it running on a battery backup system.
Secure Nicer Speaker Stands
Good speaker stands aren’t a luxury. They really do influence the sound of your monitors. So, get some solid speaker stands that will allow you to position your speakers for the best sound instead of just setting them wherever they’ll fit. Your mixes will thank you.
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Collect More Mic Cables
As your equipment inventory grows, there’s more and more to interconnect. But reaching into your gig bag to grab one more road-worn mic cable is not the best solution. Grab a 10-pack of these Excellines mic cables, and you’ll have brand-new, static-free cables you can depend on.
Obtain Better Mic Stands
Cheap mic stands are affordable. And they’re a good way to hold up a mic when you’re starting out. But the more you use them, the more you recognize their limitations. Ask any veteran engineer, and they’ll tell you that a good mic stand is a tool you can use your whole career. Buy a good one and buy it once. And K&M and Triad-Orbit stands are among the very best — built to last.
Purchase a Nice Pop Filter
There’s a reason that pros use really good pop filters. It’s a huge timesaver when you don’t have to deal with plosives in post production. Get yourself a nice pop filter and put your energy into making music, not fixing problems.
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Conclusion
Welcome to the wonderful world of studio ownership, where the list of things you need seems like a perpetual shopping list. But the important thing is that it all serves to make your recordings sound better. The second best thing? We’ve got everything you need to equip your studio here at Sweetwater Sound. Give your Sales Engineer a call at (800) 222-4700, and they can not only advise you but also hook you up with whatever you need to make your studio the best it can be.
