It can be very expensive to set up a proper home recording studio. Good quality gear tends to have a pretty big price tag.

But you do not need to have an expensive gear to make great music.

Actually, in order to produce a song, it is enough to have a laptop and music production software.

But in case you are ready to upgrade and have essential home recording studio equipment – keep reading.

In this article, I will cover the cheapest recording studio equipment for a home studio that still offers great quality and is used by a lot of musicians.

Cheap Studio Equipment For A Home Studio – Essentials

If you are interested in getting a whole bundle of cheap recording studio equipment, you can check this article.

Digital Audio Workstation.

Today we live in a digital world, so pretty much everything can be accomplished with a computer. The same thing applies to music production.

So, let’s review one of the cheapest DAWs that still provides great quality.

FL Studio Fruity Edition. 99$

It is the cheapest version of FL Studio offered products. However, it does not provide an ability to record instruments, but as long as you are working with virtual instruments, you are good to go.

Otherwise, if you come up to a point where you have to record an instrument, you can upgrade to FL Studio Producer Edition.

Money tip: you can save an extra 100$ by using free software Audacity. You can record instruments using Audacity and then export audio file and import it to FL Studio.

What does FL Studio Fruity Edition include?

Actually, it covers almost all the necessary tools that essential music production requires:

  • Mixer. It has 125 tracks. And every single track contains 10 slots for FXs. So it is capable of handling big scale projects.
  • MIDI Support. Connect any midi device to FL Studio. This will enable you to play with your virtual synths with your keyboard. Furthermore, you can import/export MIDI files to or from the piano roll.
  • Automation. This is a must when producing music. It will allow you to map out (to draw) the effects modulation along the track.
  • Piano Roll. This is included in most DAWs. With this tool, you draw all the chords and melodies.
  • Plug-ins & VSTs. Limiter, delay, reverb, compression, stereo enhancer, distortion, equalizer, chorus, phaser, flanger, multi-band compressor, and much more. This is more than you need for basic mixing.
  • Included content. Copyright-free high-quality sound samples that consist of vocals, drums, kicks, hi-hats, cymbals, percussion, snares, loops, SFX, and much more.

To see all the offered stack in-depth, make sure to check out the official documentation.

Requirements:

Make sure your PC or laptop matches it:

  • WINDOWS: 7, 8, 10 or later
  • macOS: 10.11 or later
  • 4GB free disk space
  • 4GB of RAM or higher recommended

So, if you are very low on a budget, this choice might be a great option. Having digital audio workstations and laptops actually enables you to make hit records right away without having expensive synthesizers and fancy speakers on your desk.

For those who already have DAW and looking forward to expanding their studio equipment with cheaper hear, let’s move on further.

Microphone

For people who are not using only virtual instruments, a microphone is a must-have tool, especially for singers(..duh). In this case, let’s review the cheapest alternatives on good quality mics.

Even though it looks like another china company low-quality product, it has superb reviews on amazon, that speaks for itself. Furthermore, it includes a mic stand and pop filter, which makes an excellent value for such a low price.

Great not only for vocals but also for recording guitar, piano, drums, percussion instruments.

If you have decided to buy a microphone, the following equipment will be essential as well.

Audio Interface

In order to connect music instruments or a mic to a computer, an audio interface will be a must. Furthermore, it will allow you to connect studio monitors if you are planning to buy them as well.

Before buying, make sure to think about how many instruments are you planning to record? The number of instruments recorded simultaneously will be relative to what number of inputs you will need for an audio interface. So it would be smart to make a decision according to that.

It is a well-known external sound card that has a great reputation in the music industry and offers a good recording quality.

This is one of the cheapest audio interfaces on the market. All Behringer products are based on low budget pricing. The quality is reasonable. It is compatible with all of the popular DAWs (Cubase, Ableton, Avid Pro, etc.)

What is the difference between the last two audio interfaces?

One of the main differences is the capabilities of sample resolution. In the digital world, pretty much everything is made up of bytes, the same rule applies to sound.

The more bytes sound is able to resonate, the better it sounds.

The capacity that is called sample resolution.

A CD quality record has sampling rates of 44kHz. This is what BEHRINGER Audio Interface is capable of, whereas Focusrite Scarlett Solo (3rd Gen) USB Audio Interface has a higher quality resolution up to 192 kHz. 

Acoustic Foam

If you are planning to have a lot of live recording in your studio, make sure to set up your environment. Treatment of a room reverb is essential in order to have a high-quality record. And it is not very costly.

This pack should be enough for most of the home studios.

Studio Monitors

In order to have a great sound in your studio and be able to mix and master your tracks, it is essential to have solid studio monitors in your room. Most of them are high ticket items, however, we’ve covered a very cheap alternative:

According to a majority of studio monitors in the market, this price is very low (50$ per unit). So make sure to grab it if you don’t have one in your home studio!

Studio Headphones

Having a pair of studio headphones is also a great tool to have in your studio.

When choosing headphones online, it is hard to test it since you can’t listen to them and have to rely on people’s feedback online.

Personally, I trust brand names more than people’s reviews. AKG is one of the leading companies in the audio industry, so their products won’t disappoint. 

Is It Possible To Achieve Great Results With A Cheap Home Studio Equipment?

This is emphasized by most of the big artists, that you don’t need to have expensive gear in order to produce great music. And there are many examples among today’s superstars that started with crappy studio equipment and still achieved their success. In the end, it is all about creativity and ideas that you are able to express.

Conclusion

We’ve covered the major part of home studio equipment that is more affordable than most of the gear in the market.

These products are still industry level quality and are capable of providing solid sound for your music production.

As long as you keep grinding your craft, this equipment will allow you to start or enhance your music career to the next level, and as the days go by, you will be capable of tasting more advanced and expensive toys out there.

That’s all for now.

Thank you for your time, and have great recording sessions, and good luck!