How Much Does a Recording Studio Cost?
It's true. Recording music is much cheaper than it used to be. Over the last decade, the hardware cost of a home music recording studio has dramatically decreased. Artists can now set up their very own home recording studio for less than a couple of hundred dollars. This article will discuss and highlight all the costs of a home recording studio.
Short Answer:
A budget home music studio will range from $250 - $1000.
A mid-range home music recording studio will range from $1000 - $5000.
A high-end home music recording studio will range from $5000 - $30,000+. It's hard to estimate the cost of a professional home recording studio due to the vast amount of equipment that there is to offer.
The cost of a home recording studio will vary depending on what you're planning to record. If you are producing all the audio sounds from the inbuilt instruments on the digital audio workstation, then all you would need is a computer capable of running music creation software.
How Much Does A Budget Home Music Studio Cost?
Short answer: The cost of a budget home music studio will range from $250 - $1000. Below is a break down of the components:
A low end budget home music recording studio or a bedroom home music recording studio will vary in price depending on what you are recording. Here is a breakdown of the key components in a low budget home recording studio.
$250 – Computer
Even a budget home music studio needs a computer. The main purpose of a computer is to run the software needed to write, record and mix music.
Obviously, the price of the computer will vary depending on the specification. We would recommend a computer with at least a due core processor, 2gb ram and a large capacity hard drive.
$0 - Digital Audio Workstation, also known as a DAW
A digital audio workstation is the type of software that is needed to create music. There are many free software packages that you can use if you are a beginner. Tracktion 4 and Audacity are free music creation software that helps you get started to produce music. Although these software packages are free, there are many paid software packages that you can buy. We would recommend in the long run that you buy a decent software package, but for the short period of your bedroom home recording studio, a free daw package will just do fine to get you familiar with the basic tools of recording music.
$150 - Microphone
If you are planning to record music, you will need a microphone. The popular microphones for recording music are Dynamic, Condenser and Ribbon Microphones. Each one has a different purpose, to find out more information on which microphone you should buy, check out our fabulous free resource page here. This page explains all the different types of microphones and when you should use each one. (Soon to be updated).
If you’re a vocalist then you’re going to need a studio microphone to record your vocals.
$25 - Microphone Stand
A microphone stand will be needed to hold your microphone up and to stop vibrations and to position the microphone so that you can get the highest quality recording. Usually, you shouldn't cheap out on a microphone stand, but since this is a bedroom recording studio a decent cheap microphone should be fine.
$40 - Audio Interface
Unless you are using a USB microphone such as the Rode NT-USB, to connect your microphone to a computer, you will need an audio interface to process the analog signals to digital signals so that your computer can handle it. An audio interface is a piece of hardware that your microphone will be plugged in to, some come integrated with an onboard preamplifier.
$20 - Cables
You will need XLR cables in order to connect your microphone and audio interface to your computer. Most of the times these may come with your microphone or audio interface, but if they don’t you will need to purchase some.
$40 - Headphones
Headphones are an essential piece of an equipment for a recording studio as it allows the vocalist to hear their voice while recording, they are also very useful if you don’t have a pair of speakers or monitors and need to mix your music. Although we wouldn’t recommend using headphones for mixing music since.
$60 – Monitors
Although this isn’t a must for a bedroom music home recording studio, speaker monitors will help you clearly hear your recordings so that you are able to efficiently mix your music.
Studio monitors are what music producers use to hear an accurate representation of the sound signal.
Instruments:
If you're planning to record an instrument, this will need to be added to the cost. Most Digital Audio Workstations will have integrated instrument sounds that you can use to build a track, but if you're planning to record an instrument in your bedroom recording studio then you will need to add that as an addition to the costs.
How Much Does A Mid Range Home Recording Studio Cost?
Short answer: The cost of a mid-range home recording music studio will cost around $1000 - $5000. Below is an estimated cost of the key components in a budget home music studio:
A mid-range home recording studio will have everything a low and mid-end home recording studio will have and more. It’s hard to estimate the pricing of home recording studio since different recording studios may be used for different purposes. Here have a broken down the costs of popular accessories that would be found in a high-end home recording studio.
$500 - Multiple High-Quality Microphones
A high-end home recording studio would be expected to have multiple high-end microphones so that they can record different scenario. For example, a condenser microphone might be used for hip-hop vocals whereas a dynamic microphone might be used for recording instruments or singer vocals. The price of microphones is hard to estimate, some microphones can cost thousands of dollars.
$280 - Audio Interface
Audio interfaces are used for processing microphone analogy signals to digital signals so that your computer can process it. A high-end home recording studio may have multiple high-end audio interfaces.
$270 – Mixer
A music studio needs to process different audio signals, that is why we mixers. Although this piece of hardware isn’t necessary anymore in a home recording studio since we now have computers and sound cards that are capable of doing this, a mixer is still a great piece of equipment to have in a recording studio. Therefore a high-end home recording studio will likely have this equipment.
$300 - Microphone Stands
There are many different types of microphone stands, and they all have their uses. To find out more about stands for microphones check out our page on why you shouldn’t buy an inexpensive microphone stand here. Since there are different uses for microphone stands a high-end recording studio will likely have multiple stands so that it can fit their recording needs.
$800 - High-Performance Computer
Although it isn’t required to have a high-performance computer since music can be processed on a lower performance computer, it’s best to have a computer that can process all the different inputs promptly and without slowing down or crashing. Therefore a high-end performance computer with a minimum of 4gb to 8gb of ram is necessary for a high-end home recording studio.
$199 - $600 Software Packages (DAWS)
Professional digital audio workstations can be costly and do vary in price. For example, Logic Pro X costs $199 whereas Presonus Studio One 3 Professional costs over $300. This estimated cost will vary depending on the DAW you are using for your home studio.
$200 – Monitors
A high-end music studio will without a doubt have a pair of good quality monitor speakers. These are important for music playback and mixing your recordings. Monitors do vary in price quite dramatically depending on the quality and brand of the speakers.
How Much Does A High-End Home Recording Studio?
Short answer: The cost of a high-end home recording music studio will cost around $5000 - $30,000.
High-End Home Music Studio can cost thousands end even millions, this is why it is hard to predict the final cost of a professional home recording studio. The reason for this is due to their large amount of equipment, microphones, and instruments that are on offer.
They will have a large vast of equipment that is compatible with producing very high-quality recordings.
A professional home recording studio would be expected to have a large vast of equipment.
They should also be compatible with producing very high-quality recordings.
A high-end home music studio would have popular instruments, including drums, guitars, bass, keyboards and more. Although at the end of the day it depends on what that music studio is for. Different Home Recording Studios will have different purposes and objectives.
Recording vocals could be the music studios main objective. Therefore there is no need for the extra instruments.
Although a professional home recording studio will have the majority of equipment for producing high-quality recordings, the equipment is only as good as the sound engineer and artists using it. So even though it's capable of high-quality recordings, don't expect amazing sounds if you don't know how to use it.
A Professional Home Recording Studio may even have numerous computers with a variety of operating systems. For more information about the best operating system for your home music recording studio, check out our free resource page here.
