So, I'm building the best possible home studio ... for my budget

[DeRaaf]

So, I'm building the best possible home studio ... for my budget.

First step I made is to buy the following equipment:

* 1 Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD
* 1 Behringer ECM8000 measurement microphone
* 1 set of Presonus Eris 3.5 After much thought and discussion, I decide for the Eris 3.5 in favor of the Eris 4's because I have a very small room (more af an open alcove) to work in. In my experience larger and more powerful speakers cause more problems than they ... euh ... solve.
* 1 Presonus Eris Sub8

Yesterday, I set it all up. Sounded good after some tweaking on the Eris Sub8 and a Little bit of the "EQ" knobs on the Eris 3.5's.

Today I took the time to do some REW measurements. I measured the UMC404HD. That looks just rock solid.

After that I did the Eris 3.5 (with the Eris Sub8 engaged (!!), to save me some time switching out cables). I set the Sub8 so it just flattened and boosted the lower frequencies a bit. I did the left and right channel seperate, the Sub8 is not sitting in the middle of the 3.5's, but a bit to the right and a few centimeters more foreward.

I measured the Sub8, I disabled the low pass filter and tweaked the roll-off frequency (normally the dial sits at 80Hz, I set it a bit higher, if I had to guess around 95Hz a bit to get a more linear response in line with the 3.5's.

I measured everything with 75dB on a iPhone SPL meter. A volume that feels comfortable to me.

I have no room treatment at all (apart from curtains and fully carpeted floor.

It sound good in my "amateur" ears. But do professional eye's see things I can tweak easily?





Next step is a bit of sound treatement, although I really don't hear nasty things happening, even at higher dB levels, apart from some doors rattling.

Is this a workable setup for the purpose of mixing some amateur (mostly acoustic) bands and singer songwriter stuff??

Update: Just took the time to cable manage everything a bit. Took some photo's of my "Studio". All you see is working under Linux, from cheap e-Drum set (but usefull, MIDI with velocity output), Katana 100 mkii, multiple audio interfaces. Almost all is permanently plugged in, and available with a flik of a switch.









Story is that I had a really nice analog Studio in my old house. Unfortunately I had to move house and downgrade quite a bit. My budget is really small, but I still want a useful studio at my disposal. I hope I'm on the "right" path building just that.

[Linuxmusician01]

It looks great! What DAW do you use on Linux?

[DeRaaf]

Thanks!

It's a bit on the balance for now. As said I had an predominantly analog studio before, I had no more need than Audacity to get things recorded on a computer, and even than I rather used other means (good old fashion tape). But that's all sold and old news.

I'm still in the process finding my way regarding DAW's on Linux (I have experience with Pro Tools and Ableton though). For now I'm watching tutorials and testing Ardour and Reaper.

Ardour I like because it has everything that I like in Linux, open source, freedom, etc. Reaper I like because the makers don't seem to be unsympathetic human beings only busy raking in the money. And Reaper seem to have a larger user base than Ardour, so it has a bit more tutorial material (that I really need!).

I'm still in the process choosing my path forward, the choice of DAW is a "hard" one, what to spend my time on learning it. One of the reasons I became a member here.

My first frustration is that I can only get Ardour 5 well working on my system, for some reason Ardour 6 don't want to play nice with Jack. Reaper works, feels solid, low latency, but is not open source, I didn't take the Linux route for nothing ...

[Linuxmusician01]

@DeRaaf You might want to consider QTractor as your DAW. Native Linux, open source as far as I know and its developer (RNBC) is active on this forum. Should play nice with Jack.

If you want to use (Windows) VST's then you'll have to jump through the hoop of Carla-rack too.

Good luck!

[DeRaaf]

"If you want to use (Windows) VST'"

I have the luxury of building my digital studio from the ground up, and I'm old and wise enough to know that there are always alternatives. I even don't know what windows is, I only know the term windows for those mostly square, see through things build into walls given an view on a open free world (well mostly free and open at the moment of writing).

QTractor looks interesting (using a "Traditional multi-track tape recorder control paradigm"). I will have a look.

[Linuxmusician01]

"If you want to use (Windows) VST'"

I have the luxury of building my digital studio from the ground up, and I'm old and wise enough to know that there are always alternatives. I even don't know what windows is, I only know the term windows for those mostly square, see through things build into walls given an view on a open free world (well mostly free and open at the moment of writing).

QTractor looks interesting (using a "Traditional multi-track tape recorder control paradigm"). I will have a look.

Ha ha. I understand. But there are a lot of free 2.4 VST's available for my favorite synths (example of free VST site). Most of 'm are not native Linux VST's. On Linux you can still use 'ye olde 32 bit Win VST's which, if I'm not mistaken, isn't possible on Win anymore.

[DeRaaf]

"isn't possible on Win anymore. "

And that is my problem with Windows and Apple, things just don't work anymore if you used something for long enough, and that update of DOOM comes around. Linux is a little bit more flexible in that regard.

--->

This info may be handy to people looking for "cheap" monitors.

I did some more tweaking to my Presonus System. This time I measured left and right without the Sub. Measurements are done within Room EQ Wizard (REW), 75dB on a iPhone SPL, with a Behringer ECM8000 mic, pointing at celling from my listing position (perfect triangle). Room has zero sound treatment.

Left speaker:


Right speaker:


Sub8:


Totaal:


Some of the peaks in the graphs are probably my desk resonating. That dip from 200Hz to about 1kHz is a little bit of a shame, but maybe it's the measuring microphone not being totally flat.

I think that you don't need the sub8, you can hear what the low end is doing with just the Presonus 3.5 set. The Sub8 sure does fill in the low end very, very nice. Overal system is more than loud enough for a little alcove in a small apartment. Really nice depth and clarity. Think it's a real bang for your €300.

I think I made the right choice for the size of my room, and my budget. I'm a happy puppy for now.

[DeRaaf]

And after the monitor speakers, I took some time "upgrading" my computer (after almost 8 years) this morning.

* I bought some second hand parts of a friend (Ryzen 7 2700x, Radeon Vega 56 graphics card).

* Bought a nice motherboard for really cheap (MSI x470 Gaming Pro). Choice for this board was made because it still has serial and parallel port connections on board, could come in handy with some old audio gear.

* 32GB ram (4 x 8GB to fill all slots, could help with latency). Could stretch my budget for 64GB.

* A new 1000 Watt power supply. If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing, and it should help keeping things cool and quite.

* 3 120mm Artic fans with "fluid Dynamic Bearings" should be nice and quite.

* 1 stick of 128GB very fast m.2 memory to boot from (the fastest Intel I could find), 1 stick of less fast m.2 to act as my home folder (WD Blue). Plus an assortment of HDD's, SSD's from my old system.

* I already had the case, I believe it's of the brand Phoenix. Like the case, fairly easy to build in, and no glass panels which I don't like on computers.

Booting up Pop!OS 20.04 doesn't give me the time to get a coffee no more. That's just a bleeding shame.



Should be a a stable platform at the heart of my studio. Upgrade took €400 of my bankaccount. The Ryzen and Vega card are almost a criminal steal.

[DeRaaf]

Rest of my home "Studio".

Interfaces:

* UMC404HD (new in my set up):



* UMC202HD (used it before for mobile recording)



Both are permantly hooked up.

Amplifiers:

* Underneath the UMC202HD sits my Vibe Amplification Dolphin 20, this amp I could let go when selling of my former studio. Tube amp, reverb tank and tremolo goodness. Has a blown cap at the moment. But yes, it sounds great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxqYIat19pU

Not me playing!

Having the UMC202HD above it should make micing it up easy.

* Boss KATANA 100 mkii



Permantly hooked up via USB. Shame I can't find a solution to use the Boss Tone Studio software under Linux. I use an old MacBook Pro to change settings.

The Boss KATANA is the replacement for my Marshall JCM800 and a Orange Crush CR120 on a full stack of Marshall cabinets. No room in my house for those monsters, also should keep the peace with my neigbours more.

Sounds really good, can be used as a cabinet if I'm in the mood buying some amplifier heads again (Looking at the VOX MV50 series and maybe an Orange Micro Terror)

* Blackstar LT echo

Because every one needs a small, resaonably sounding practice amp. Thing doubles as my bedroom audio setup, fed by an Android phone, and a Snapcast server (https://github.com/badaix/snapcast) running on my Desktop computer (hope i will get that running smooth again with my new computer). All my audio listing gear is hooked up to that Snapcast server, multiroom audio throughout my house.



Microphones:

Only had the C2's for some acoustic guitar recordings and the Grundig for some dirty vintage sounding vocals.

* Behringer C2:



* Grundig (most likely an old taperecorder mic):



Rest are new editions. Not the best, good enough for Rock and Roll in the studio:

* Behringer XM8500:



* Behringer SL75C (want to mic up my Dolphin 20 with this in combination with one C2):



* T.Bone SC400:



* Behringer ECM8000 (measurment mic, but also very nice to use as extra room mic doing acoustic stuff):



Instrument collection:

I'm a big Ibanez lover, don't ask me why.

* Ibanez SA260 & Ibanez AS73 (standard tuning):



* Gio Ibanez SA60 (my favorite to play for some reason, tuned half step down):



* Fender CP60s (Parlor) (standard tuning):

My other acoustic developed a belly, action became a little to high to be comfortabel. I fell in lover with this little Fender Parlor, thing sound great (solid spruce top), plays like a electric guitar even with normal acoustic strings. If you are looking for an cheapish acoustic, try this ... it's a really nice guitar.



* Marina (my first acoustic) (DADGAD tuning):

Needs a neck reset, problems with belly, so this lady doesn't get the attention she deserves. Solid top, sides and back, sounds great.



* Harley Benton lapsteel (open E tuning):

Really nice to have in the collection.



* Harley Benton Short Scale Bass (standard tuning):

I only was able to sell my "old" Hartke bass amp and cabinet together with my old Fender P bass as a bundle. So I bought this Harley Benton shorty to fill in the time that I will find something beter. It's a really neat and playable bass though. I was impressed by the sound and build quality.



* Epiphone Les Paul special VE (vintage edition) (standard C tuning):

Thing plays and sounds really great. Use it for alternate tunings.



* Yamaha Cx40

Been listening to Willie Nelson a lot lately, so I bought a Nylon string. I believe you can't go wrong with a Yamaha, even a cheap one.



* Millenium HD120 E-Drum kit:

Did not really play much with these yet. It al seems to work fine on Linux (tried it hooking it up to Hydrogen with USB MIDI). Looks like a toy, but doesn't feel like a toy. I needed the smallest set I could find to fit in my "studio".

Thing is a replacement for an old '70 Ludwig set. That sell really did hurt my soul a bit. But didn't fit in my new house, storage would only cost a lot of money over time without really being able to use the kit.



Effects:

Don't use effects much, only thing left from my old studio is this Zoom G3Xn. Use it as tuner, looper, rythm box. Also handy as volume pedal for my lapsteel.



Things laying around:

My "studio closet" for stands, cables, guitar bags and the likes:

[Linuxmusician01]

So you're a guitar man. Nice collection! I'm more into synths (and drum computers). Some can be emulated on the computer and I've got some cheap small ones. Now I know why you're not interested in VST's: they're of no to little use to a guitarist.

Are you impressed w/ the Begrringer XM 8500 microphone for voice recording? Some say it is almost as good as the good 'ol Shure SM58. It's dirt cheap at only €16.30!

[DeRaaf]

I believe you can't go wrong with the Behringer XM8500's. Build quality is great, I believe it's possible clubber one to death with one. They sound great, I don't notice anything weird. Can't do a one to one comparison with the SM58 anymore, but I can say I don't miss a SM58.

I am intressted in electronic music. I build my own simple noise machines, also build an SID chip emulator. And the wire rat nest in front is a three voiced digital hurdy gurdy I made. The crank is an old Hard Drive motor.



Hurdy Gurdy needs an enclosure. Didn't find the right solution for that yet. And I keep blowing up a digital potentiometer in the circuit, also needs an solution.

I started my musical "career" as an classical organ player as a child, did that for almost a decade. Had hardcore lesson 12 hours a week, became very frustrated with that, it's almost an trauma. I tend to avoid keys.

On the topic of voice recording. I use a small corridor in my house with my cloths closet on wheels as a background. Sounds great, closet also works really well as a bass trap.







It's nice to document my new studio like this. Was fun.

[tavasti]

I'm still in the process finding my way regarding DAW's on Linux (I have experience with Pro Tools and Ableton though). For now I'm watching tutorials and testing Ardour and Reaper.

If you are mostly recording & mixing real audio, Mixbus is really one to consider. They are running discounts nearly all the time, so don't be fooled by list price. Demo version is functional except low-level hiss every now and then, but you can start your work with it, and when getting good discount, get the license.

[DeRaaf]

I'm still in the process finding my way regarding DAW's on Linux (I have experience with Pro Tools and Ableton though). For now I'm watching tutorials and testing Ardour and Reaper.

If you are mostly recording & mixing real audio, Mixbus is really one to consider. They are running discounts nearly all the time, so don't be fooled by list price. Demo version is functional except low-level hiss every now and then, but you can start your work with it, and when getting good discount, get the license.

Thanks for your suggestion. Looks Mixbus was a DAW that I considered (yet?)

Also gave me the insight that I really need to sit down a bit and write up some points that I really want and searching for in my DAW choice. Think that will make it a little easier.

Now I'm looking to all the possibilities of a DAW, but I need to look for the things I need and want.

Maybe even need to make the leap what is necessary in the future. How things are done in the music scene has changed, maybe permanently, with this whole Corona thing. I needed to give up a nicely working Studio, became a burden and almost ruined me, because nobody was recording there, was a money sink. I also saw a lot of musicians going the home studio route, video became a far bigger thing. What could be the role for me as an (mostly) audio technician in that new world. Could be a interesting discussion.

Just saying that because Mixbus seem to lean on recreating an old fashion way of working (that I'm familiar with), but is that "enough" to stay relevant as audio technician, I don't want to loose my tiny little foothold I have in the wonderful world of music.

[lilith]

Hi,

the scaling of the dB axis of your REW measurements are much too wide. You should zoom much more as with your scaling everything will look good. Also the waterfall diagram is important to look at. And maybe use a finer smoothing factor. 1/6 is quite flat. 1/24 should be better.

Considering the subwoofer: I would place it (test wise) in the middle between the two side walls with the woofer facing the front wall (!).

[DeRaaf]

Your are right but I did look at the waterfall and spectrogram (always fun to play with REW), zoomed in on dB and frequency. But I have to except I don't have the budget nor space to get a perfect situation (and even if I had both, perfection is hard to achieve in audio). It all looks like a system I can train my ears to. No really weird stuff going on

This is a €300 speaker set-up that sounds really good in this room, I can hear what is going on. Don't really hear standing waves, only my desk resonating at a certain frequency (think the spike at around 130Hz. Only thing is the dip between 200Hz and 1kHz, I can live with that for now, I know it's there, maybe I can improve it a bit with some sound treatment.

I'm realistic, I don't have the "perfect" speakers, I certainly don't have the "perfect" space (in no shape or form symmetrical). taking that into account, it's a workable situation for me.

I also did a practical test, I watched some "Inside The Song" (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 54LGZNirq1) video's from "Produce Like A Pro". I'm totally frustrated by the lavalier mics (hate those things) used on the dialogs, and I can exactly hear why I hate those mics. When they play music fragments it sounds like I can trust what I hear. Especially https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng4f_fj9Lfc is a fun one to watch and listen too.

Although the graph shows a "large" dip between 200Hz and 1kHz, the part important to how prominent sounds are present, I don't hear that things are missing.

Best test is gonna be some recordings in the room itself. After that I can look at a bit of sound treatment here and there, I don't want my room to be dead as a Dodo recording (mostly acoustic) things.