a.) Getting a PC or Mac with the multi-track recording software. This is your digital audio workstation or DAW software. Example of this includes Protools, Reaper, Cubase, etc.

b.) Getting the necessary recording gears
c.) Interfacing your recording gears with DAW.
d.) Treating your room acoustics for balance mix.

Understanding how a Digital Recording System Works

Unlike analog which is a common recording technology in the 70’s and 80’s; home recording studio today is commonly using a digital recording system to cut cost and simplify the process. The heart of the system is your personal computer.

Since you’re a beginner; you are clueless as to how these things works and how your computer interacts with the recording gears. Begin with examining the diagram below as well as the direction of the arrows:

It all starts with the musical instruments to be recorded (vocals, guitars, drums, bass, etc.). It is feed into an audio interface which has a pre-amp on it. A pre-amp is an electronic device to boost the weak instrument signals to line level signals.

In most musical instruments, you might be using additional recording gears which would be placed in between the audio interface preamp input and your musical instrument. Example of these gears could be any of the following:

a.) Guitar effects pedal (if you are recording guitars).
b.) Hardware EQ, compressor, delay, etc. (for guitars, bass, other instruments)
c.) Direct Box (for conditioning impedances in the line, commonly used with guitars and bass)
d.) Microphone (for recording vocals).
e.) Guitar amplifier cabinet – if you are recording the sound of the guitar using a microphone.

Once the signal from these musical instruments reaches the audio interface, there is a gain adjustment that you can use to strengthen the incoming signal. Bear in mind that the signal output from these instruments (vocals, guitars, microphones, etc) are rather weak signals. They are called instrument or microphone level signals.

The preamp in the audio interface would be used to boost these weak instrument/microphone signals to professional line level signal to be used in the recording. If you are confused with these technical terms, you can read the difference between Line, Instrument and Microphone Levels.

An audio interface also has an analog to digital converter that converts analog audio signal (which is the output of the pre-amp) to digital signals that can be understood and processed by a computer. Once the signal is now in digital form, it will go to the computer for storage and further processing. The digital data will travel in either in a Firewire cable or USB cable. This depends on the audio interface type.

The digital signals recorded are handled these software:

a.) Software mixer of audio interface – used in signal routing and signal management within and outside the computer. This works exactly like a hardware mixer you see in most recording studios only that this is digital/software in form.

Professional audio interface used for recording includes a software mixer on them. For example, below is the software mixer of Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 audio interface:

b.) Multi-track recording software – this is your actual DAW software that will do the actual management of recording and playback of recorded digital audio signals inside and outside your computer. The digital data are then saved in the computer hard drive.

During mixing or playback mode (the recorded digital signals are played by your DAW software), the digital audio data in the hard drive is then read by the software then it passes to the Firewire or USB cable to the audio interface.

Once in audio interface, the digital audio is then converted back to analog form using its D/A converter (digital to analog). The analog audio is then outputted to your nearfield or reference monitors (speakers). You can then listen to your recorded tracks.

Completing your PC Home studio

Once you have the budget, all you need is to have a computer that you can use for recording. And then connect the recording gears to your PC or Mac.

For details you can read the tutorial on how to easily convert your pc into a recording studio.

Below is an example of a complete home studio:

You need to do a lot of planning before you can actually construct your home recording studio. The planning should include the following:

a.) Complete computer hardware specs.
b.) Operating system and DAW software to be used.
c.) Room layout and acoustic treatment plan
d.) Recording gears plan (what type of audio interface you will be using, microphones, etc.)
e.) Your budget

Do not do this in a hurry, if you have questions in this matter. Feel free to ask me by commenting below. Thanks.

PC technicians do not know this and this where a lot of mistakes in building a DAW computer could happen. I received an inquiry from a friend that wanted to create a home recording studio at home. Basically he showed to me some specs of the computer that he is planning to assemble. The overall cost is around 28,600 pesos. Let see how the specs below can be further improved; or whether it is using proper specs appropriate for home recording.

Hard disk drive: 2.0TB Western Digital 2,000GB- 5,200 pesos
Audio Interface/Soundcard: Creative SB X-F1 Xtreme audio PCIE; Price: 4,100
Video Card: Asus EN210 Silent 1GB, Price: 1,500
DVD drive: Asus -24x 24b3st SATA- DVD Rom; Price: 920
Motherboard: Asus M4a78LT-M; Price: 2,600
Processor: AMD FX4100 (3.6G) – Processor, Price: 5,650
RAM: Rip Jaws 8 GB 1333 – RAM 8GB with heat sink; Price: 2,250
Power Supply: Price: 880
Monitor: 20 INCHES LG, SAMSUNG; Price: 5,500
Total= 28,600

Comment #1: 64-bit DAW PC is recommended

Windows desktop computer can either be 64-bit or 32-bit. Looking at the specs above, the processor and motherboard can support 64-bit. First, 64-bit PC is slightly more expensive than 32-bit system. Probably because it requires more RAM. For completely new beginners without a desktop system, 64-bit system is recommended because the trend of 64-bit system would most likely to become a standard in many years to come. More and more software and hardware would be released and written with 64-bit compatibility. Also 64-bit system can run 32-bit system software, so there should not be a serious problem about compatibility.

Most digital audio workstation also have 64-bit version (such as Reaper for Windows 64-bit). So you need to use that instead of the 32-bit version. If you are already using a DAW software with your older system, you need to re-check its compatibility with 64-bit. This will ensure that your recording software would still work with your new 64-bit system. 64-bit system is better at handling larger memory so it basically works more efficient and faster when handling data.

There can be some reason why in some instances, you would like to still use 32-bit Windows. For example; I am still using a 32-bit system because I still want to use my Windows XP license that I purchase from year 2004. This would save me money buying new Windows 64-bit versions. Windows XP 32-bit is still a powerful system if used properly even with 4GB RAM maximum. And a lot of compatible drivers are available as well as digital audio workstation software.

Comment #2: Operating system compatibility is important

The RAM is 8GB and processor supports 64-bit; however the operating system information is not provided. Operating system should fit the hardware for maximum compatibility. As a requirement, make sure that the operating system that you are using will be 64-bit for best results. Examples are Windows XP 64-bit or Windows 7 64-bit editions. 32-bit version of Windows would still work but the RAM that would detect would only be around 4GB maximum. So you are wasting half of the installed physical RAM size.

If you are planning to utilize the full 8GB memory then you need to start something like Windows 7 Home Basic (64-bit system) or Windows XP 64-bit version.

Comment #3: Replace Gaming Soundcard with Pro Audio Interface

Creative SB X-F1 Xtreme audio PCIE is a gaming soundcard and this is NOT a professional audio interface for serious music production use. I would recommend avoiding using PCI based solutions and use an external audio interface such as Firewire or USB designed for music production.

If you are on the tight budget, you can browse the cheapest 24-bit/96KHz USB audio interface for Windows 7. And its recommended you know some buying guides on audio interface.

Unluckily, you cannot find this easily in the some countries. There might be fewer music/recording stores and mostly they can be VERY expensive. They are also offering fewer brands so you cannot have a lot of choices when shopping. You can try shopping eBay to get the best deals with the lowest custom tax cost possible.

I bought an audio interface (Saffire Pro40) in eBay; it was delivered via USPS Express mail. When it arrived in Philippines, I only paid 40 pesos for the custom taxes and the value of the item is around $499 with shipment cost at $106.35. Some items delivered via courier (FedEx, DHL, etc) can have very high custom taxes (due to the custom laws in Philippines) that exceeds the original value of the item.

This is one of my favorite eBay stores when shopping recording equipments:

http://stores.ebay.com/unique-squared-inc

Comment #4: Need two hard drives, one for recording and one for operating system

In the above specs, there is only one hard drive (2TB). Although this is a very large hard drive; the long term issues of having a damaged hard drive or corrupt OS can be a serious problem affecting the audio recording on the hard drive.

I recommend having two hard drives. One hard drive for Windows OS (system files), recording software, plug-in, etc; and then one hard drive for recording audio.

The advantage is that if the system drive crashed or failed; the hard drive meant for storing audio files would be unharmed. It is also a lot easier to backup using this method.

Comment #5: Motherboard compatibility with processor is important

Motherboard compatibility with processor is important. This will assure that your digital audio workstation system would be running in optimal conditions.

The easiest way you can check for motherboard compatibility is by going to the product page of the motherboard manufacturer. For example, this is the Asus M4a78LT-M product page in ASUS website:

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A78LTM/

Looking further you will notice that AMD FX4100 is not a compatible processor. Although checking roughly at the same speeds as FX4100, you can have:

Athlon II X4 640; which is a 64-bit ready processor and compatible with your motherboard.

Comment #5: Upgrade if you have an older computer to cut cost

I have a previous computer that I built in 2004; I can still re-use the flat monitors, DVD writers, UPS etc. When I decided to re-build another 32-bit system this year; I only spent around 17500 pesos but using some decent processors/specs.

Hard disk drive: 1TB Seagate barracuda –used for saving audio files =3500 pesos, 500 GB Sea gate Barracuda- used for OS and software=1500 pesos

Processor: Intel Core i3 2100 3.1GHz 3MB =5100 pesos
Motherboard: Asus P8P67LE= 5300 pesos

RAM: Kingston 4GB DDR 1333 = 1100 pesos

Computer case with quiet cooling fan= 1000 pesos

Make sure you invest in UPS for hardware circuitry protection. For example an APC UPS worth 1500 pesos is worth for protection from power surge and brown-outs. This would make your components to last very long.

Comment #6: Test your build for very low noise

Sometimes when you are building a system for DAW use; noise from the computer itself should be considered. Take note that the following would contribute to ambient noise inside your home recording studio room:

a.) Computer chassis fans
b.) Hard drive spinning
c.) Video card fans, and other component fans.

It is important to test your build in quite environment and check how much noise that came out from the computer itself. You should use components that would provide as lowest noise as possible. You can research this in Google, etc.

Then if you are using a 24-bit audio interface (which is a standard in professional music productions), it will convert these analog data into 24-bit data (binary data in the series of 1 and 0) streams which are communicated via your Firewire or USB cable (depending on whether you are using a Firewire or USB audio interface).

The actual resolution of your audio when saved into your hard disk drive is actually using 24-bits. However when processed by your DAW, it can either process the 24-bit audio data as:

a.) 32-bit float
b.) 64-bit float

Even though your DAW processes audio at any of these floating point systems, the source audio is still 24-bit and nothing is changed. The reason why they are processing it as a floating point is for convenience in the computation and representation of very large /very small numbers and efficiency. This makes it possible to retain resolution while doing complex computation thus benefiting audio quality during the mix. After all, your DAW would perform a lot of arithmetic calculations during the mixing process that includes:

a.) Implementation of plug-in effect settings.
b.) Setting levels.
c.) Digital summing of the mix (mix down or rendering the project)

The format of 64-bit float is similar to 32-bit float except that it accepts a wider range of bits. This is the 32-bit float format:

Errors occurring during Digital Calculations in the Audio Mix

When you are mixing using a 32-bit float DAW, you would be applying effects or any digital manipulations to the audio. One downside of doing these digital calculations is not they cannot exactly represent all resulting numbers in the computation.

If you are confused why they cannot represent all resulting numbers, let’s start with decimal number system in which you are very familiar. Let say you are performing arithmetic calculations like dividing a number; if you divide 1 to 4 that is equal to 0.25. So it’s represented exactly. Another example is that if you divide 4 to 5, this is equal to 0.8. Again the result is an exact representation of the number.

However, if you divide 1/3 the result is 0.33333…. repeating infinitely. Thus you would need to round off say the first 3 digits of the result which is 0.333. This rounding off results it is not an exact representation of the actual results and this would introduce some errors.

The same if you divide 1/9 or 1/27 and there are many numbers. Going back to floating point arithmetic in binary, same concept applies. It cannot represent numbers such as 0.1 because of the same explanation/limitations as in decimal system. Converting the decimal 0.1 to binary will result to:

0.00011001100110011001100110011001…

The dots in the end signifying that the number is repeating infinitely; thus when this number occurs in your DAW calculation it is approximated or rounded off.

Why 64-bit float DAW is an advantage compared to using 32-bit float system?

Based on the analogy presented on the previous section, it is simply because “processing” and “calculation” of binary numbers in 64-bit float format results to less rounding error which would translate to much “realistic” audio that is closer to its analog sound.
For example, let’s go back to the decimal number system since most of you are not familiar with binary arithmetic; supposing the DAW would add 1/3 + 1/3; in decimal number system computation (supposing you are using 3-digit resolution):

0.333 + 0.333 = 0.666

But if you are using a high resolution in the computation, the results would be “closer” to the exact number, for example:

0.333333333333333333333333333 + 0.333333333333333333333333333 = 0.66666666666666666666666666

If your DAW is still using 32-bit float, then it cannot represent all numbers in its calculation as accurate as using 64-bit float computation. Using 64-bits minimizes these rounding errors to a minimum in such a way it would not be obvious to the ear or the resolution of your audio interface converters.

Why this is very important?

1.) If you are processing audio internally during the mix, it is crucial your DAW would perform a very accurate calculation because an inaccurate arithmetic can have an effect on the audio quality.

2.) Aside from many advantages in digital music production; summing in digital (as compared to rendering a mix in analog) has always been considered inferior to professional mixing engineers because of this limitation. Summing digital audio in 64-bit float increases the accuracy of the mix that would stand out which would now be comparable to the mix done using analog.

So if you asked? With all the advantages of 64-bit DAW, what are the disadvantages?

1.) Since your CPU and computer will now be dealing with long series of bits during the calculation; it demands more CPU and memory power than using 32-bit float.

2.) Even using 64-bits, remember that it still cannot exactly represent certain numbers in the results. There would still be rounding errors but at a minimum compared when using 32-bit float DAW.

Finally, Reaper DAW is using 64-bit in its internal engine and these are one of the reasons (aside from low licensing cost) I use this DAW in my projects.

On the opposition, lots of folks practically the recording industry professionals (engineers, mixers and mastering engineers) prefer to use 44.1 KHz as the sample rate during digital audio recording and not 48 KHz. And there are a lot of recording software and DAW that defaults to 44.1 KHz as the sampling rate that includes Reaper.

So the main question is: Which is better 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz when recording audio in digital?

48 KHz is too much when recording audio?

The Nyquist theory states that to accurately reproduce analog audio in digital it should be sampled at least twice the maximum audible frequency. This is where confusion starts to sets in and debates in recording forums are too common. In schools, you learned that human ear can only perceived 20Hz to 22,000 Hz. Human adults have lower treble hearing response and lies around 15,000 to 16,000 Hz. Doubtful with this, I do a hearing test from 20Hz to 20,000 Hz and was surprised I could not anymore hear frequencies above 16,000 Hz.

If the maximum audio frequency is 22,000 Hz by theory, the sampling rate required is:

Sampling rate = 2 x Maximum Audio Frequency = 2 x 22,000 Hz ~ 44.1 KHz

This is where 44.1 KHz came and why it is commonly used as the sampling rate for digital audio applications such as in recording and in digital audio playback.

If the sampling rate is 48KHz, reverse calculation reveals that the maximum audio frequency that can be sampled is:

Maximum Audio Frequency = Sampling Rate/2 = 48KHz/2 = 24 KHz

If Human Adults or even any humans cannot hear above 22,000Hz why other engineers or recording gears still stick to 24 KHz as the audio sample rate?

At first, you would realize that 48 KHz sampling rate is too much for recording digital audio because you are recording frequencies that could not be heard anyway. But for perfect reproduction, it takes more than to simply hear these frequencies.

“Feel” the rumble in the lows and “feel” the airy sound in the highs

One reason that recording at 48KHz would made sense is the analogy of rumble in the low frequencies. Humans cannot actually hear or listen frequencies below 20Hz but we can feel it. The same thing that when an earthquake occurs; the low frequency waves (which are around 10Hz) cannot be heard but can only be felt. You can only feel that it’s there but you cannot listen to it.

Same thing with very high frequencies which can be found around 20 KHz above; yes it is a fact you cannot listen to these frequencies anymore but you can feel their presence.

But here is the catch, supposing you recorded audio at 48 KHz so it has audio frequency content up to 24 KHz theoretically. So if you play a high resolution audio in a high accurate loudspeakers (with capability to reproduce above 20 KHz to provide that extra crisp and airness) then you get what you want – a high-fidelity and true to life recordings.

But the reality is not this; CD and MP3 players have sample rates of only 44.1 KHz so they can only reproduce up to 22 KHz theoretically. The extra crisp and brilliance captured with 48 KHz recordings are filtered and not reproduced because of the consumer CD/MP3 player sample rate limitations.

Then why you should still record at 48 KHz?

It’s the original recorded content that matters. If you record at 48 KHz, the original audio captures a wide range of audio content up to 24 KHz. Even though this is NOT yet in CD format or MP3 format, the original recorded content captures the source very accurately up to 24 KHz which has some important applications not only in CD audio and MP3.

Audio used in Video and DVD projects are reproduced at a higher sampling rate than CD audio making it possible to playback higher than 20,000Hz really well. Although this is often a subject of debate, but I notice a “BIG” difference between music produced for DVD and those that are produced for CD or MP3. If I watch a DVD movie with a great sound system or even watch movie in a digital theatre, the sound reproduced mimics’ reality. It contains those entire rumble and lows as well as the airy highs that you cannot listen but rather felt.

If you want your song or music to sound even better when included in a movie/DVD projects then it is one of the big reasons why you should be recording at a higher sampling rate. For example, if you record at 44.1 KHz then up sampled to 48 KHz for use in DVD, etc. then the audio quality is still same because the original recording is done at 44.1 KHz. Remember that you cannot further add “more realism” to your recordings if you didn’t capture it well in the first place.

So who wins: recording at 44.1 KHz or recording at 48 KHz? Recording at 48 KHz allows your music to be used in a variety of applications that includes film/movies, DVD projects, CD audio and MP3 without worrying about loss in quality or no improvement in sound quality.

Most PCI sound cards when used for professional music production have some serious limitations which are as follows:

a.) The recorded signal is often weak and noisy because there is no quality microphone pre-amp in any PCI sound cards.

b.) Most sound cards available during that time accept at most two channel recording (stereo) at the same time. If you are tracking a band which requires more than two channels, it is impossible to do that with a PCI sound card alone.

c.) The impedance mismatch between the sound card line input and musical instruments output are severe, and you will notice a weak and noisy signal as a result.

Without a mixer, the most primitive connections of musical instrument to your computer PCI soundcard are as follows:

Musical Instrument — PCI Soundcard – Computer (DAW)

In terms of signal path and recording, you can only record one instrument at a time because of input and sound card limitations:

Home Studio Mixer is the immediate answer before

Plague with so many recording quality issues, the problems are solved by using a home studio mixer. The required mixer may not need to be very big or expensive. Even a small Behringer Xenyx 502 would work. Thus it is connected as follows:

Musical Instrument — Home Studio Mixer – PCI Soundcard – Computer (DAW)

Now the musical instruments (guitars, microphones, etc) are connected first to a small mixer before connecting to the PCI soundcard inputs. The mixer has a built in preamp that boost the microphone levels to line level outputs. With this setup, it finally solves the recording signal quality issues associated with the original PCI soundcard recording before.

Also you can record an entire band using this setup provided your mixer supports a high number of inputs. One drawback is that the audio mixing hardware (particularly the small ones) only provides one stereo output which is already a summation of all inputs. So you cannot do a multitrack recording using this method because you already have a “mixed” or “summed” output. In terms of signal path, you can track several inputs at once to the mixer but only provides one stereo output to your PCI soundcard:

Nevertheless if your mixer has all the required hardware and features, you can “mix out of the box” using the signal path above (apply EQ, compression and all effects in analog domain, outside your computer) and then record the final mix to your PCI soundcard as a digital mix down.

Since most home studio engineers prefer to “mix inside the box” for cost and flexibility reasons, this does not become a popular method among home studio engineers. Read this post for details regarding mixing in the box vs. mixing out of the box advantages and disadvantages.

External USB and Firewire Audio Interface Solves All the Issues

All shortcomings with the previous method are now happily solved if you use an external USB or Firewire audio interface. Instead of using a PCI Sound card which is internal and subject to a lot of limitations; you will be using external based audio interface hardware and connected to your computer either via USB or Firewire.
What are the main advantages?

1.) You really do not need a mixer or a mixing console in your home studio. It is because all mixing are done inside the box (mixing inside the box method) and an audio interface already includes a decent preamp on them.

2.) The signal path is capable of doing multi-track studio recordings, see below:

As you have observed, if you are tracking several musical instruments at once, then all of them are recorded simultaneously to each channels in your DAW.

Once they have their own channels or tracks in your DAW software, you can now mix those instruments individually and apply desired effects.

Back to the main question: Do you need a mixer in your home recording studio? The answer is no, you simply need an external USB or Firewire audio interface.