Planning and building a home recording studio is a great feeling and a very important first step. But everyone, especially beginners, needs some guidance to properly choose the equipment for their studio.

Fortunately, there are many good resources that can give you a guide. Also, there are hundreds of great pieces of equipment on the market. This gives you flexibility but sometimes it might be overwhelming.

For more in-depth information, you can read my guide about how to build a home recording studio.

That’s why I created this recording studio building guide. I carefully picked the best gear and made three studio builds for different budgets.

How I Created Home Recording Studio Build Guide

First, let me explain how and why I created this studio build guide. It’s important to know what the process of building recording studios is. Once you understand the process, it becomes more clear.

I divided gear by priority. You will need many different types of equipment when building the studio. But some gear is more important than others. So, to build studios on different budgets, you need to prioritize gear and spend more money on more important gear.

And that’s how I approached it. Firstly, I chose the important gear such as an audio interface and studio monitors, and picked the best ones in that category. Then I chose gear with medium priority and so on. This way I was able to build three different home studios that are equipped with the best gear in that budget.

This recording studio builds include the following equipment:

  • Audio Interface
  • Studio Monitors
  • Headphones
  • Microphone
  • MIDI Keyboards
  • DAW

I didn’t include musical instruments, amps, computers, and other gear. You should have a guitar and a bass. Also, if you don’t own a good amplifier, you can use guitar or bass amp plugins.

Now let’s dive in and find out how to build great-sounding recording studios on three budgets.

Home Recording Studio Under $1500

Build a $1500 Recording Studio

The first recording studio build, which is the most advanced, can be built for under $1500. It’s a complete and professional recording studio with high-quality gear.

For the audio interface, I chose Scarlett 18i8 by Focusrite for different reasons. It has multiple inputs and you can record multiple instruments simultaneously. Has really good sound quality and built-in phantom power, which allows you to use condenser microphones.

The next important gear for the recording studio is studio monitors. I chose Adam Audio T5V which is a 5″ studio monitor with amazing and accurate sound. Additionally, this build includes AKG K371 headphones. It’s great for recording, mixing, or monitoring.

The budget allows for the inclusion of two microphones. And the reason why I included two microphones is that you will be able to blend two mics and create diverse sounds. I chose classic Shure SM57 and Audio-Technica AT2035 for the condenser mic.

USB MIDI keyboard is very important for every studio. You can record any virtual instrument and use it as a control station. Also, the more keys you have, it’s better. For that purpose, this build includes Alesis V49. It has 49 keys, drum pads, and a couple of control options.

And finally, for the digital audio workstation, I chose Reaper. It’s my favorite DAW. It has amazing features, comes with plugins, and is very affordable. The best option for any home recording studio. Also, you can download Reaper themes for free and customize the interface the way you want.

Home recording studio under $1500 gear list:

Gear CategoryGear NameGear Price
Audio InterfaceFocusrite Scarlett 18i8$420
Studio MonitorsAdam Audio T5V$440
HeadphonesAKG K371$175
MicrophoneShure SM57$99
Microphone #2Audio-Technica AT2035$149
MIDI KeyboardAlesis V49$149
DAWReaper$60
$1492

Home Recording Studio Under $1000

Build a $1000 Recording Studio

A recording studio under $1000 is an affordable one and it consists of high-quality gear. You will be able to create professional mixes at your home. It’s almost the same as a $1500 studio with a little more affordable gear.

This build uses Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 as the main recording device. It has phantom power and two mic/instrument inputs. In total, it has 8 inputs and 6 outputs. And comes with different plugins such as Addictive Drums 2, Relab LX480, and more.

Studio monitors and headphones are a little affordable but have great sound quality. KRK Classic 5 is a great studio monitor for home recording studios. There are great studio headphones I could include but I chose Audio-Technica M40x. It’s affordable and has a very flat frequency response which is perfect for mixing.

With this build, you get only one microphone and for that reason, I went with Shure SM57. It’s classic and can be used with amps, vocals, and even acoustic guitars. This gave me the ability to include a 61-key MIDI keyboard – Nektar SE61.

This build also comes with Reaper. Because it’s so affordable, everyone can buy it. So, you will have a professional, feature-packed DAW in your studio.

Home recording studio under $1000 gear list:

Gear CategoryGear NameGear Price
Audio InterfaceFocusrite Scarlett 8i6$300
Studio MonitorsKRK Classic 5$300
HeadphonesAudio-Technica M40x$99
MicrophoneShure SM57$99
MIDI KeyboardNektar SE61$100
DAWReaper$60
$958

Home Recording Studio Under $500

Build a $500 Recording Studio

This is the most affordable and cheap home recording studio you can build. Choosing cheap studio equipment that would work was a little difficult but I tried to pick the best gear for this budget.

Focusrite Solo audio interface is the best option for this budget. Has a separate input for the mic and instrument, phantom power, and monitoring control. It’s paired with Presonus Eris 3.5 studio monitors which are better than having only headphones.

The affordability of Focusrite and Presonus gave me the ability to include decent headphones. And it’s AKG K92. Comfortable headphones with good sound quality and a wide frequency range.

I thought a lot about microphones. There are great recording mics I could choose and my pick is Audio-Technica ATM410. It’s affordable, has great recording capabilities, and works with vocals and instruments.

And this gave me to include a USB MIDI keyboard in this budget. M-Audio Keystation Mini 32 is a small but good keyboard for home recording. It doesn’t have many keys or features but it’s perfect for this budget.

When it came to DAW, first, I thought about free digital audio workstations. But affordable gear allowed me to include Reaper again. That means that although it’s a very budgeted recording studio, you will have a professional DAW.

And one of the best things about Reaper is that it comes with plugins. So, you don’t need to buy expensive mixing plugins. You can use Reaper plugins and use other free plugins too.

Home recording studio under $500 gear list:

Gear CategoryGear NameGear Price
Audio InterfaceFocusrite Scarlett Solo$120
Studio MonitorsPreSonus Eris 3.5$100
HeadphonesAKG K92$69
MicrophoneAudio-Technica ATM410$79
MIDI KeyboardM-Audio Mini 32$60
DAWReaper$60
$488

Conclusion

These recording studio builds are for everyone who wants to build a recording studio in their room. And it’s flexible because you can build the studio depending on your budget. You can build the exact copy or switch some gear depending on your budget.

If you can’t afford even a $500 studio, then you have a couple of options. Use free DAW, exclude MIDI keyboard, or microphone, and use amp simulations. But you need to have a good audio interface, studio monitors, and headphones to record and mix high-quality songs.

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