The classic picture of a recording studio control room involves an engineer sitting at an expansive recording console with a slew of faders and even more knobs and buttons, all designed to help record and mix a great sounding track.
In today’s digital studios and particularly in home studios you’re more likely to find an engineer sitting in front of a computer with nothing more than a mouse and a computer keyboard. And this raises the question: Do you need a recording console for your home studio?
There’s no direct answer to the question, however, because while you can make a great sounding album without a console, some prefer the physical control consoles give them when it comes to recording and mixing. To decide what would work best for you, it’s important to understand exactly what today’s consoles are, and what they can do.
What is a Recording Console?
We should start by specifying that we’re only referring to digital recording here, as analog recording to tape is a completely different beast.
In its simplest terms, a console will be your audio interface where you connect your incoming audio sources. As such, it will contain built-in preamps, though you can also route that audio through external preamps before it comes into the console. Secondly, the console has those aforementioned faders and knobs that allow you to control your DAW on the physical hardware itself.
Why You Need a Console
Many large studios will have large consoles that offer physical control over many different tracks. Depending on the console, this can include volume faders, pan controls, EQ and compression controls, playback, automation and much more. Many models also include level meters that allow for easy monitoring of levels during recording and mixing.
When working with a large amount of tracks, as many large studios will, having this ability can serve to simplify things in the studio -- particularly during the editing process.
Why You Don’t Need a Console
Simply put, they are not required in digital recording; everything you would control on a console can be controlled directly on the computer.
Additionally, consoles tend to be very expensive. Even small eight input-consoles can cost thousands of dollars, and the large boards used in big studios can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Additionally, compatibility can be an issue depending on the particular DAW you use. For example, not all consoles will correctly control all aspects of all recording software.
Still, the ease of use of the physical hardware easily overcomes these obstacles for some engineers.
Using a Control Surface
Another option is to use a control surface, which is physical hardware that serves to control commands in the DAW, but does not act as an audio interface. Therefore, you would still need a separate audio interface to input your audio into the DAW.
These can be something of a happy medium for those that want physical control, but don’t want a full console. However, they have the same compatibility problems and often can be relatively expensive considering you also have to buy an interface.
So again, the question of whether you need a recording console comes down to what works best for the way you work and your budget.
So, Why A Membership?
Let’s face it — trying to create professional mixes without the correct knowledge, tools, services, and network is like playing a concert with a broken instrument to an audience of no one.
That’s where the Sage Audio membership comes in — the membership gives you everything you need to create professional mixes consistently.
The membership is the secret to your success — it’s the difference between the 1,929,999,999 of poor-sounding mixes and the .00000002% of mixes that make people say 'WOW!"
There are 7 unique value-points included in your Sage Audio membership.
Let’s go over each one so you can decide if the membership is right for you.
1. Sage Audio University
- SAU Flagship Mixing Course: 23-video in-depth mixing course that reveals the little-known secrets of mixing and matches the needs of the new music industry.
- SAU Flagship Mastering Course: 19-video in-depth modern mastering course that dives into every nuance of making professional-sounding masters.
- SAU Pre-Mastering Course: Concise pre-mastering course that details the latest industry standards for preparing your mixes for mastering.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from budding mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout each course.
- Each SAU course includes Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website and social channels.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
2. Private 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio private 1-on-1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us for advanced mixing feedback, in-depth discussions, and customized guidance that's tailored to your specific needs.
- Unlimited private access to us for advanced mixing feedback, where we provide detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Unlimited private access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve every aspect of your mixes and masters.
- Customized guidance that’s tailored specifically to your needs.
- Fast communication so you can improve your skills quickly.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited professional mixing feedback directly from us so you can consistently improve your skills and create professional mixes.
- Mixing feedback is invaluable, and the Sage Audio membership gives you continual direct access to us for real-world feedback so you can improve every aspect of each of your mixes while you're in the process of mixing.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
4. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
5. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with additional real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
6. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 71 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
7. 800+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into categories so you can easily take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your skills at your own pace.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
