In this guide we will discuss preparations necessary to build your first home studio.
Building a basic home studio can be easy and relatively inexpensive for beginning users. I am also a home studio owner and it is important to understand home studios can be build part by part from the ground up. Many new home studio builders become frustrated because they try to do everything at once and run out of funds before the home studio is completed. In todays market you no longer have to buy expensive multi-track recorders, outboard gear, and cables. Today your most important piece of equipment is your digital multi-tracker also known as a PC or a Mac. With the right computer and software, your sound can rival any professional recording studio. 
Lets begin with your most important piece of equipment, your computer. Your PC or Mac will be the brain of your operation. It is important that you make sure your computer has the necessary processing power and memory capabilities to handle the stress of Digital Audio Recording. When choosing between a Mac and a PC it is purely a level of user preference. A Mac will generally have less bugs and is much less vulnerable to virus attacks but is not upgradeable. A PC of the same relative power as a Mac is much less expensive and upgradeable. With PC’s there is also a constant virus threat but still less expensive in the long run. To sum it up Mac/Less Conflicts - PC/Less Money. Keep in mind that an equally powerful PC has the same sound quality as a MAC then make your choice.
Once you have decided if you are going to go Mac or PC its time to think about the specs of the computer. If you are using an extremely cheap PC with a small hard drive then before you start its time to think about an upgrade. Some would recommend a PC hard drive size of a minimum of 120 GB, If you don’t want to run to the nearest computer shop too often I recommend a hard drive size of 250-500 GB. Another alternative to upgrading is purchasing an external fire-wire hard drive. This will allow you to save your projects and take them to another studio without moving your entire home studio. It also adds extra protection from computer crashes and data loss.
Now that we have the hard drive out of the way its time to think about RAM or memory space. I suggest buying as much RAM as possible because some heavy duty DAW’s require massive amounts of RAM. I suggest 1GB of RAM but most 32BIT systems can handle up to 4GB. If you are using a 64BIT system your PC can handle a massive TB of RAM which is virtually limitless.
Now that our computer specs are up to par we need to take a look at software and production tools. Your software choices will vary depending on whether you chose a Mac or a PC. Some types of production software only work on one system although there are a lot of choices that work on both. Some of the more popular Digital Audio Workstations include Cakewalk Sonar Studio which only works on a PC, and Logic Pro which is no longer ported to PC and only available on a Mac. Popular universal DAW’s include Pro Tools and Cubase. These are some of the best sequencers on the market but there are other less expensive sequencers of which you might find some success. 
You have your DAW and are ready to rock, but first you need the equipment to run it. First rule of thumb. Your PC’s built in sound card will not do. It can work but generally does not produce the highest quality sound output you want. Upgrading your sound card is a must. There are multiple sound cards of varying types and price ranges. Having a quality sound card is a must. If you want the best possible sound then you can not do without it. Digital Audio Recording also requires a MIDI Interface which in some cases can also double as an external sound card.
We have our sound card and our MIDI Interface now we need a good studio microphone. Microphones vary in price and quality much like everything else. You can find a microphone from $10 up to a few thousand. When it comes to home studio building most people are working on a strict budget so you will usually want to try to find a good quality microphone in or around the $100-$200 price mark. For beginners I recommend the Sure SM8S Vocal Microphone because of its versatility and its slender price. Other microphone options when building your home recording studio
Studio Projects C1 Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
Shure SM81LC Cardioid Condenser Microphone
ElectroVoice RE20 Classic Cardioid Dynamic Microphone
Audio Technica AT822 Special Purpose Condenser Microphone
Rode NT4 Stereo Condenser Microphone
Sennheiser MD421II Dynamic Cardioid Microphone
Studio Projects B1 Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
AKG C3000B Single Cardioid Large Diaphragm Mic
Rode NT2A Variable Pattern Studio Condenser Microphone
Shure KSM32
KSM44/SL Other microphone options (for drums) include the:
AKG D112 Large Diaphragm Microphone
AKG Deluxe Drum Mic Package
Studio Projects C4 Condenser Microphone
Neumann KM184 Cardioid Small Diaphram Microphone
Audix DR456 Drum Microphone Combo Pack (4xi5, 1xD6, 4xDVice)
On a small or no budget. One good microphone can work wonders. When it comes to microphones choose wisely.
Now that you have everything you need to record you need to be able to hear the magic. Choosing the right studio monitors can be a bit tricky. There are two types of monitors to think about. Active monitors are powered and do not require an outside amplifier while passive monitors do. When it comes to home studio building I suggest active monitors because it requires one less piece of outside equipment you have to buy.However, if you have the extra change laying around then passive monitors could be the way to go for you. In any case you need to have near field monitors. Near field monitors are monitors that you keep close to your field of sound perception which is usually about five feet or less. The speaker should have a flat sound but you will have to use your ear when editing to produce the sound you are looking for. In the end result you should try to produce a sound that is good even in the worst players. You can find decent studio monitors for somewhere around $300. 
Now you have a fully functional studio but if you need production work or you fiddle around with making beats then you need a MIDI Controller or a Workstation. MIDI Controllers are far less expensive then workstations for one reason. MIDI Controllers produce no real sound. For no budget producers MIDI Controllers are the way to go. If you have a heftier budget to throw around then I recommend the Roland Fantom G7 Workstation. Its quality is almost unmatched and produces superior sound to most workstations on the market. However it does come at a price. The base price for this unit is around $2500. Congratulations. You can now begin to musically put your influence on the ears of the world. Young musicians of today make the music for tomorrow. Continue to grow and evolve you talent. I hope every reader found this helpful and good luck on your musical journey. 
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