Home Studio Setup

A home studio can be as small as a laptop and a pair of headphones. This lesson explains what each piece of gear does, what to buy first, and how to set up your room so you can trust what you hear.

What You Actually Need

Many hit songs have been started on a laptop with headphones. Gear helps, but it doesn't write songs. Buy in this order and only upgrade when something is truly holding you back.

1. A computer with a DAW (music software).
2. Headphones you can trust.
3. An audio interface, once you want to record or use monitors.
4. A MIDI keyboard, once clicking notes in with a mouse feels slow.
5. Studio monitors and some room treatment.
6. A microphone, if you record vocals or instruments.

The Computer

Your computer runs the DAW and every plugin. Music software leans hardest on three parts:

Mac and Windows both work well. Some DAWs only run on one platform (Logic Pro and GarageBand are Mac-only), so check your DAW choice first. See DAW Basics.

Headphones vs Studio Monitors

You need a way to hear your music accurately. There are two options, and most producers end up using both.

Headphones

Headphones are cheap, portable and ignore your room. That makes them the best first purchase for most beginners.

• Closed-back headphones seal around your ears. They block outside noise and don't leak sound into a microphone, so use them for recording.
• Open-back headphones have a grille on the back. They sound more natural and spacious, and they're more comfortable for long mixing sessions, but they leak sound both ways.

Choose "studio" or "monitoring" headphones with a flat, honest sound. Well-known examples include the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x and Sony MDR-7506 (closed), and the Sennheiser HD 600 / HD 650 and Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (open). Consumer headphones often boost the bass, which tricks you into mixing with too little bass.

Studio monitors

Studio monitors are speakers designed for accuracy rather than flattering sound. Most are active: the amplifier is built in, so you just plug them into your audio interface. Common woofer sizes are 5", 6.5" and 8". Bigger woofers reach lower bass, but in a small room a 5" monitor is often the better fit.

Monitors show you things headphones can't, like how the stereo image and bass feel in a real space. But they're only as good as the room they're in.

Test your low end

Can your headphones or speakers play deep bass? Play the test tone below. It starts at 50 Hz, which is the area where kick drums and bass guitars carry their weight.

Laptop speakers and small earbuds often struggle below about 100 Hz. Many good headphones can play down to 40 Hz and below. If yours can't, you'll mix bass by guesswork, which is a good reason to upgrade. Learn more about frequencies in What is Sound?

Audio Interface

An audio interface is a small box that connects to your computer by USB or Thunderbolt. It does three jobs:

• Converts microphone and instrument signals into digital audio (and back again for playback).
• Provides preamps that boost quiet mic signals, plus phantom power (+48 V) for condenser mics.
• Gives you clean headphone and monitor outputs with lower latency (delay) than your computer's built-in sound.

A 2-in / 2-out interface is enough for most home studios: one mic and one guitar at once. Popular starting points include the Focusrite Scarlett Solo or 2i2, the Audient iD4 and the PreSonus AudioBox. You'll learn why latency matters in Digital Audio.

MIDI Keyboard

A MIDI keyboard (or MIDI controller) doesn't make any sound by itself. It sends note messages to your DAW, which plays them on a virtual instrument. It makes writing melodies and chords much faster than clicking with a mouse.

• 25 keys: fits on any desk; fine for melodies and basslines.
• 49 keys: room for two hands; a good all-round size.
• 61 or 88 keys: for pianists who play with both hands.

Look for velocity-sensitive keys (hitting harder plays louder). Extra pads and knobs are handy for drums and tweaking synths. Read more in MIDI.

Microphone and Cables

Microphone

If you record vocals, a large-diaphragm condenser mic is the usual choice: detailed and clear, but it needs phantom power and picks up room noise. A dynamic mic such as the Shure SM57 or SM58 is tougher, needs no phantom power and picks up less of your room, which helps in untreated spaces. See Microphones.

Also get a mic stand, a pop filter (a mesh screen that stops the bursts of air from "p" and "b" sounds) and closed-back headphones for recording.

Cables

Balanced cables (XLR and TRS) cancel out noise picked up along the cable, so use them between your interface and monitors whenever possible.

Room Placement

Where you put your monitors and your chair matters as much as which monitors you buy.

The equilateral triangle

Place your two monitors and your head at the three corners of an equilateral triangle: all three sides the same length. For most desks that's about 1 to 1.5 m (3 to 5 feet) per side.

Placement checklist

• Tweeter height: the small high-frequency driver should be level with your ears. Use stands or foam pads.
• Angle: point each monitor at your head (about 30° inward).
• Away from walls: keep monitors at least 20–30 cm (8–12 inches) from the wall behind them. Close to a wall, bass builds up and sounds boomy. Many monitors have a rear-port or "boundary" switch to correct for this.
• Symmetry: set up along the middle of the room, facing the longer dimension if you can, so both speakers have the same surroundings.
• Not in a corner: corners pile up bass more than anywhere else.

Basic Acoustic Treatment

Hard, flat walls bounce sound back at you. Those reflections blur detail and make some bass notes boom while others vanish. Acoustic treatment controls these reflections. It's different from soundproofing, which stops sound leaving the room and requires heavy construction.

Where to start

1. First reflection points: sit in your mixing chair and have a friend slide a mirror along the side wall. Wherever you can see a monitor in the mirror, put an absorption panel. Do the same on the ceiling above your desk.
2. Behind your head: a panel on the wall behind you reduces echoes from the back.
3. Bass traps: thick panels (10 cm / 4 inches or more) in the room corners soak up low frequencies.

Panels made from mineral wool or fiberglass work far better than thin foam, which only absorbs high frequencies. Soft furniture helps too: a rug, a sofa, curtains and full bookshelves all reduce reflections.

Budget Tiers

Here's how setups typically grow. No prices, since they change constantly: "starter" means the budget end of each category.