The $5,000 Home Studio Pt. 1
Earlier this year, we published a post on how you can get everything you need for a recording studio for under $1,000. We wanted to revisit that idea again, but for studios with a bit more of a budget to work with.
As technology has advanced audio production, it’s impressive what you can do with $5,000. Whereas in the past as professional studio was at least in the tens of thousands of dollars (if not hundreds of thousands), today you can have professional grade equipment for much less.
If you have only $5,000 to spend, here’s how you can build a killer recording studio, assuming you already have a computer that’s decent enough to run a modern day DAW (64-bit, at least 4GB of RAM, high quality processor…). If you don’t have a computer, look into picking up a Mac mini.
Glyph Studio mini Professional Portable Hard Drive 1TB - $200
You’re going to need a good external hard drive to record your music to. Glyph has been making high-quality hard disc drives for audio and video professionals for years and is a trusted brand. At 7,200 RPM and Firewire/USB 3.0 connectors, this drive is fast enough to handle all of your needs.
UA Apollo Quad - $2,500
For your recording interface, the Universal Audio Apollo Quad is the perfect piece of gear. It has excellent A/D conversion and impressively transparent preamps. With 16 inputs, you’ll have more than enough recording options. The real magic, though, is the UAD-2 power that allows plugins from Universal Audio to be processed through the interface, saving your computer precious memory and power. For best results, be sure to get the thunderbolt card.
Cubase 7 - $410
While Pro Tools is by far the DAW of choice for most pro studios, that doesn’t mean it’s the best. Many producers in recent years have used Logic Pro, Ableton and even Fruity Loops to cut hit records. While each DAW offers its own range of features, all of them will allow you to record and edit high quality digital audio. Cubase offers a good balance of audio mixing tools with an intuitive MIDI programming interface. And at $410 it’s hard to justify paying nearly $300 more for Pro Tools.
With your DAW, interface and hard drive covered you’ll still need a few more things to get your $5000 studio up and running. In our next post, we’ll cover the rest with monitors, mics, your MIDI controller and room treatments.
Sage Audio Membership Letter
If you’re looking for budget audio services, this is not what we offer.
There are countless cut-rate studios, AI services, and generic audio memberships desperately offering “wiz-bang audio-magic services” — we do not offer these services.
We are not AI mastering. We are not SaaS (Software as a Service).
We are a long-standing niche audio engineering company staffed with seasoned professionals and have been providing audio engineering services for over two decades.
We listen to each client’s specific needs and then execute them with professional acumen.
We’re acutely focused on creating personalized results for each client’s specific needs, which can only be achieved with customized audio engineering services via personal working relationships.
If you’re not familiar with our company, review our studio and public history on Google here.
If you want to hear the quality of our work, review our portfolio here.
If you want to read certified reviews from customers who use our services, go here.
In short, we’re a small niche audio engineering company that has stood the test of time, consistently providing personalized audio engineering services every day for over two decades.
If you’ve made it to this point in this letter and are looking for customized audio engineering services with personalized customer service specific to your needs, then you’ve come to the right place — so let’s get started.
We offer four distinct service options so you can customize your membership to match your specific needs.
After reading through each service option, if you have questions, email us directly at [email protected], and we'll personally answer them.Mastering$150 / 3 months
- 10 Mastering Credits / 3 months. (Unused mastering credits accrue in your account every 3 months as long as your membership remains active and is not canceled)
- Your dedicated mastering engineer will create personalized masters specific to your needs.
- Unlimited Revisions — we’re not happy until you’re 100% happy with every master.
1-on-1 Mixing Feedback$150 / 3 months
- 20 Mixing Feedback Credits / 3 months (Unused mixing feedback credits accrue in your account every 3 months as long as your membership remains active and is not canceled)
- Receive Personalized 1-on-1 mixing feedback directly from us tailored to your specific mixing goals.
Education$150 / 3 months
- Mixing Course (23-video course, including 8 genre-specific walkthrough sessions)
- Mastering Course (19-video course, including 8 genre-specific walkthrough sessions)
Community
- All service options include exclusive access to the thriving Sage Audio Community.
All-in-One Membership$300 / 3 months (Discount notice)
- The ‘All-in-One’ membership option includes all services listed above.
- Discount Notice: Currently, you can join the ‘All-in-One’ membership for the discounted price of $150 / 3 months. Reserve your discounted ‘All-in-One’ membership here.
VIP Service$1,500 / year (Email us to apply: [email protected])
- Bump yourself, your studio, or production management team to the front of the line and get all your service needs attended to first.
- Receive a VIP badge next to your name in community posts and comments.
14-Day Money-Back Guarantee
- If you don’t get value from your membership, send us an email to [email protected] letting us know why it didn’t work for you before 14 days have passed, and we’ll refund your money.
