Setting up a home studio can be a serious challenge, setting one up on a tight budget can be more of a challenge. Here we have started collecting some helpful info from experienced recording engineers who have successfully setup their own working studios at home.

Making a one time investment like a big funded and financed studio project may not be a reality for the average working musician or producer. Many of us have collected our favorite instruments, outboard gear, microphones, headphones and comfy chair. There is always something great about utilizing equipment we are familiar with. But when you are in need of additional gear, sometimes “New” doesn’t have to be the answer. Finding used gear online can be a great way to build your studio’s arsonal.

There are affordable solutions like Ebay.com for the savvy bidder, check out the Home Recording Studio and Pro Audio Sections for th latest deals.

Amazon has new and used equipment available as well as complete packages in the “Home Studio Recording Packages” sections

Reverb.com is another valuable resource and was setup “by musician, for musicians” for those who were tired of dealing with Ebay and similar online services.

Here are a few ideas for some good standard choices in home recording gear at different budgets levels.

Many of today’s top voice over professionals work from home and produce in their home-based studios.

In this modern age of computer based editing and production, equipment that use to take up large rooms is now available in small but powerful packages. Equipment has become more compact and some out board gear is now software based.

But it’s still important to cover the basics and as we always say “It’s not the instrument, but the artist behind it”.

This infographic provides a great overview of a few important elements, layouts and things to think about when planning a home based Voice Over Studio.

One of the most often asked questions from people getting started in Pro Audio is “What’s the difference between Dynamic and Condenser Microphones?”

I grew up surrounded by talented craftsmen, professional audio engineers, pro working musicians and recording artists. One day at the speaker shop my father demonstrated how a dynamic mic works and he explained it so even I could understand it. He took a small speaker driver, I think it was a little extended range 6″ woofer and he wired a mic cable to it. Then he plugged it into a mic input on a test system we had setup in our prototyping room. Tada!!  Instant Dynamic Microphone… kind of. Not the best sound but it worked and I was amazed. I think that was about the same time he explained the difference between shielded cable and unshielded cable.

Being the geeky kid I was I immediately exploited this new knowledge by gathering up as many small cheap speaker drivers as I could get my hands on. I proceeded to wire up a system of surveillance “microphones” and my listening array so I could monitor important goings on around the property… and wherever I could hide a little speaker wrapped in a baggie.  It worked well enough that I got in trouble as I often did.

In the day we worked with the engineers at Six Flags Over Mid America. Dad helped them wire the Screaming Eagle with small speakers as cheap “Hidden Microphones” so they could monitor the roller coaster at night. Why? Because kids were sneaking in and climbing the supports in the evenings and the use of this Dynamic Speaker Mic Setup helped put an immediate stop to the problem.

So if you are 12 and need to setup cheap microphones to spy on your friends or you need to listen to your Roller Coaster in the evenings, I highly suggest using small cheap speakers as microphones. But if you are looking for something that helps reproduce and record at a higher quality, the graphic below helps explain more about these 2 microphone types.

The questions that usually follow “What’s the difference between a Dynamic Microphone and Condenser Microphone?” usually refers to when to use what and why. A great place to start is to understand the basics as well as some advantages and disadvantages of both.

There are several types of microphones, to give your voice the best quality of microphone that’s going to work out really well for you.

This infograph reviews some basics like durability, frequency, polar pattern and testing.

Voiceovers are the foundation of visual advertising, instructional and promotional videos as well as television and feature films.

Here are some basic tips and tricks for producing your voice over projects.

The difference between studio monitors and headphones might seem kind of obvious.

A good practice is to use a balance of both and in bigger studios there are a mixtures of different types of monitors to do comparisons.