# Home Studio Info Swap Thread



## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Hi! After years working on a zoom 16 track recorder with only tube amps, cabs and microphones, I finally used the pandemic downtime to get myself setup with a quiet home recording setup.

Currently I am running synergy pre-amp, an Engl 530 and my tube heads into torpedo studioand using Torpedo Remote for IR/Cab sim and starting to get the hang of it.

Recording is in Studio 5 and I find it simple to use.

For Drums I’m running ez drummer 3 and mostly using presets but have found the John Harcus DIY Punkrock drums midi to be excellent. I also got a metal pack deal from Ugritone for like $25 bucks with like 500 beats and fills and they are good but not as great as the Harcus.

Just wanted to start a discussion see if anyone out there using similar whether it be two-notes, Axe, Line 6, Kemper, Plug-ins or whatever and share tips, leads on good IR’s, cab sims, plugins, setup tips, gear reviews etc.

Would be cool to see your setups as well!

Anybody found some good cab sim or IR stuff they’d like to recommend?


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

I'm usually after pretty clean guitar tones; I play surf/instro/jazz. I record my guitars at home with a Roland Gt-1 as the interface. If I'm playing live, I mic up my Boss Katana.

Reaper for the DAW, with Addictive Drums 2, and Addictive Keys.

Most of my audio recording work is for videos, and is usually individually tracked big band/concert band/solo projects.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Merlin said:


> I'm usually after pretty clean guitar tones; I play surf/instro/jazz. I record my guitars at home with a Roland Gt-1 as the interface. If I'm playing live, I mic up my Boss Katana.
> 
> Reaper for the DAW, with Addictive Drums 2, and Addictive Keys.
> 
> Most of my audio recording work is for videos, and is usually individually tracked big band/concert band/solo projects.


That sounds slick. I’ve never used reaper but have read it’s pretty user friendly. Sounds like you got what your after daled in.

Thats awesome.


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

tdotrob said:


> That sounds slick. I’ve never used reaper but have read it’s pretty user friendly. Sounds like you got what your after daled in.
> 
> Thats awesome.


It's been a process. There's nothing like diving into a project with some surprises to help upgrade my skills.


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## Rickenbacker198 (Jan 10, 2017)

I started recording at home with Cubase about 8 years ago. 

To my brain , Cubase works the most logically of any DAW. That’s the only reason I chose it.
I was still really slow editing at first , now I can get things done at a reasonable pace. Punch in / out, hand tune vocals, comp takes edit phrases etc.
It takes time to learn, there’s a reason why good engineers are paid well. 

I use real amps along with a kemper. The kemper is great for overdubs, amazing tool. I have a reactive load but still like to do the main tracks with amps moving air and mics. 
Usually SM7 , SM57 + something else to give a different flavour.

The best thing I spent money on , hands down, was treating my room.
I couldn’t hear the low end right it, was a mushy pillow and always felt like I was fighting to get good balances between instruments. I usually upload mixes to the cloud then listen in my truck on the way to/from work. 
It would be so frustrating. , I couldn’t understand how it sounded so different.
These issues and the ability to hear details below 200 hz were completely solved after building wall panels. 

For general recording/ production knowledge
a good place to start is the YouTube channel 
Produce like a pro

I’ll try to post some room pics this week.

Tip is just keep on doing it, A LOT.
Getting good results in the studio never ever happens overnight. It can take years of experience.

Also don’t fall into the fix it in the mix trap. If you’re not absolutely stoked with the way the guitar sounds in the room - then do something about it at the time of tracking. Same applies to every instrument.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Rickenbacker198 said:


> I started recording at home with Cubase about 8 years ago.
> 
> To my brain , Cubase works the most logically of any DAW. That’s the only reason I chose it.
> I was still really slow editing at first , now I can get things done at a reasonable pace. Punch in / out, hand tune vocals, comp takes edit phrases etc.
> ...


Awesome! I appreciate this post. This is my next step, treating my room.
I built panels for my old room and they worked well. I need to get it done here as well.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Before you start "treating" your room find out what the problems are. Do the arithmetic. It's easy. And just as vital for monitoring as well as playing and recording.

Find the room resonances. Built the bass traps to stop the problems at their lowest fundamentals. 

Wall panels to reduce reverb time to .5 sec or less. That's easy and non-technical. Good move. But place them closer to the ceiling. Not where they look good. The ceiling corners are the most critical area. Stagger the panels on opposing walls.

You don't need a rug. Even tho every rock star on youtube has one. 

Diffusion will be provided by all the stuff in the bottom half of the room, so keep any diffusors in the top half where they are needed. Diffusion is the trickiest, but I can place an X/Y pair of mic's anywhere in the studio and the room sounds the same. Totally worth it if you can bring in multiple musicians. 

Here is an example of the simple calculations for room resonances (1130'/sec is the speed of sound):



KapnKrunch said:


> OK. So I got off my butt and crunched the numbers myself. It wasn't too hard.
> 
> Dimension times two (to opposite surface and back again), then divided into the speed of sound, equals the resonant frequency. Do this for floor-to-ceiling, side-to-side, and front-to-back.
> 
> ...


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Rickenbacker198 said:


> Also don’t fall into the fix it in the mix trap. If you’re not absolutely stoked with the way the guitar sounds in the room - then do something about it at the time of tracking. Same applies to every instrument


Best advice so far. The Songwriting Forum is full of talk about virtual knob-twiddling. And then it still sounds like shit.

"The best EQ is no EQ". 

And who really understands compression -- it's a rabbit hole. Leave it to the experts or learn from old-timers who talk plainly from experience.

I am still at the one guitar and one voice phase, but hope to get to multi-tracking later this winter. An X/Y pair of condensors into a reel-to-reel tape machine. Then sent via computer to a real mastering studio for a quick tune-up. 

Usually the mastering brings up the level, reduces a slight mid-range drone from the acoustic and opens up the stereo field somewhat. I have this done because I get it for free. Lol. Makes a difference though. 

The only thing dumber than DIY "fix-in-the-mix" is DIY "fix-in-mastering". If you can't even track properly how are you gonna learn mixing, never mind what these guys call "mastering". 

And from talking to pro's, I might also suggest that teamwork is the best. Learn how to track your songs, have a different guy do the mix (with different ears and different gear). And a third party for mastering if you get to that level. 

I am just a beginner, but I know guys who went to school for this stuff and get paid for doing it, so that's the basis of my comments (and the basis of my own experiments). 

Lastly, avoid all forums, except this one. 🤣😂😅


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## ampaholic (Sep 19, 2006)

How small can a person go with a dedicated recording room? I'm working in a basement family room with guitars hanging on the wall, big TV in the corner and exercise equipment in the middle of the room. DAW and small amount of gear crammed into a corner. Problem is I don't have a lot of extra space to build another room - but I'd like to!


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

ampaholic said:


> How small can a person go with a dedicated recording room? I'm working in a basement family room with guitars hanging on the wall, big TV in the corner and exercise equipment in the middle of the room. DAW and small amount of gear crammed into a corner. Problem is I don't have a lot of extra space to build another room - but I'd like to!


I don't have a dedicated recording room, but there are a few spaces where I live that I can put to use. I also have use of a rehearsal space nearby, which works well for recording the music I play. I often track audio in my bedroom, and video in the family room, as I have a greenscreen mounted on my wall.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

KapnKrunch said:


> Before you start "treating" your room find out what the problems are. Do the arithmetic. It's easy. And just as vital for monitoring as well as playing and recording.
> 
> Find the room resonances. Built the bass traps to stop the problems at their lowest fundamentals.
> 
> ...


Thanks. I’m looking at my room now and definitely gonna be listening to your advice to figure out the treatment.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

KapnKrunch said:


> Best advice so far. The Songwriting Forum is full of talk about virtual knob-twiddling. And then it still sounds like shit.
> 
> "The best EQ is no EQ".
> 
> ...


The first album I ever recorded for my band sounded so shitty after we mixed it. We spent a lot of time getting the recording down and sounding pretty good. We crapped all over the mix. Me and my brother spent so much time mixing and listening. Everytime we thought it was perfect in our mixing room at the time, we’d listen a couple days later again and be confused how it sounds so different now and bad. We were going on tour and didn’t have time to remix and remaster so we pressed our final mixes and went on tour. We got positive feedback but knew it sounded like garbage.

a year later my friend remixed it for fun and made it sound great. He reported that we did a good job recording everything but mixing I think was just way over our heads and after recording everything I think we were burnt out on the songs and just didn’t know enough.

for future stuff I am definitely sending away to a friend for mixing and mastering, I have a few that do great work.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Here's a story... from a mastering forum which is frequented by heavy-hitters in the industry (pro's, authors, etc.) 

One guy was having touble with a frequency in his studio, and was dumb enough to ask forum members for solutions. These "solutions" ranged technical pretension ("sounds like an axial problem") to buying various stuff priced all the way up to a $30,000 room-correction software/hardware package. 

The mastering studio that I use solved the same problem by installing a specifically-designed *PLYWOOD* *BOX* into the wall behind the speakers. 

We should all take the time to learn the basics of acoustics before opening either our wallets or our mouths. 

Free download still available but getting harder to find: 



http://tka4.org/downloads/audiosoft/BOOKS/1.%20sound/The%20Master%20Handbook%20Of%20Acoustics,%204th%20edition%20(F.%20Alton%20Everest,%20McGraw-Hill%202001).pdf


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

ampaholic said:


> How small can a person go with a dedicated recording room? I'm working in a basement family room with guitars hanging on the wall, big TV in the corner and exercise equipment in the middle of the room. DAW and small amount of gear crammed into a corner. Problem is I don't have a lot of extra space to build another room - but I'd like to!


A small room lacks the ambience of a larger space. Drums in particular sound good recorded in those spaces, Page was famous for finding great sounding rooms for drums, guitars, etc. 

Except for the size limitations (drums need some room to set up and mic), all those large room characteristics can be recreated electronically with good reverb and delay processors. In fact, many many significant albums have been recorded with drums in a big studio and then everything else tracked in small rooms, even the artist's backroom, and then 'spaced out', ambience added, in post-production. With good drum loops, small rooms are hardly any limitation at all anymore.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

High/Deaf said:


> A small room lacks the ambience of a larger space


Diffusion can help *remove* the factors that give a room it's "small" ambience, but as you say, then you need to *add* the ambience of a large space artificially (if you can't record in the actual environment you want). 

What's with these multi-thousand dollar Bricasti units? What do they do? Way, way over my head! I understand springs. 😄


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

KapnKrunch said:


> Diffusion can help *remove* the factors that give a room it's "small" ambience, but as you say, then you need to *add* the ambience of a large space artificially (if you can't record in the actual environment you want).
> 
> What's with these multi-thousand dollar Bricasti units? What do they do? Way, way over my head! I understand springs. 😄


Funny if you opened one up and they had Boss RV6 guts inside.





__





Bricasti Design


Bricasti Design, the world's premier manufacturer of hand crafted, great sounding, easy to use, digital reverbs.




www.bricasti.com


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

have you seen this one?

Acoustical Treatment Experiment

It's surprising how much difference mike placement makes in recorded sound.


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## Rickenbacker198 (Jan 10, 2017)

Finally got to it , Some messy pics of my basement room- 
Ceiling filled with safe sound , covering it is still on the list. Corner traps and panels built by me with fabric help from my lovely wife.
For me, the treatment of the walls/ corners was an unbelievable difference... suddenly I could hear detail below 200 hz. Less surprises when I play back on other systems now.
I’m not an expert but from the research I’ve done my stance that every small to medium room has issues, nodes , comb filtering etc,, and a general treatment with broadband absorption + bass trapping will help reduce those issues. (not eliminate)
Ceiling is 8” treated
Walls 4” with an air gap
Corners ~ 12”
Behind desk is 8”


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Lincoln said:


> have you seen this one?
> 
> Acoustical Treatment Experiment


Interesting, eh? Big differences!

What does this say to me? No substitute for experience.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

@Ricktoberfest I like your method of hanging the panels rather than permanently attaching.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

If you check the figures that I posted earlier you can see two possible node problems.

Floor to ceiling: 210hz
Side to side: 215hz
End to end: 216hz

Side to side: 301hz
End to end: 297hz

So I built two traps to go behind the speakers. Bass is roughly omnidirectional so the best place to trap bass is right where it is made.

One trap is for 215hz and the other for 300hz.

[Gotta say the calculation for hole size, hole spacing, hole depth through surface material and depth of panel was kinda gruelling. Basically, the depth was pre-determined (2x4's), hole size was pre-determined (1/4"), material thickness (1/4"), so all I had to determine was the hole spacing to trap the freq's.]

A half-inch of Roxul inside broadens the Q (freq. range).


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

KapnKrunch said:


> Diffusion can help *remove* the factors that give a room it's "small" ambience, but as you say, then you need to *add* the ambience of a large space artificially (if you can't record in the actual environment you want).
> 
> What's with these multi-thousand dollar Bricasti units? What do they do? Way, way over my head! I understand springs. 😄


If you haven't already, check the LEDE (Live End Dead End) concept of studio design. It was making lots of noise (pun intended) in mid to late 80s. 

I heard about it at a Syn-Aud-Con course I took waaaaaay back then. Interesting idea that expands on the use of diffusion and absorption so that you can hear more accurately the large, ambient recording space in your much smaller control room.


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## cbg1 (Mar 27, 2012)

KapnKrunch said:


> @Ricktoberfest I like your method of hanging the panels rather than permanently attaching.


interesting approach to guitar hangers as well


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

High/Deaf said:


> If you haven't already, check the LEDE (Live End Dead End) concept of studio design. It was making lots of noise (pun intended) in mid to late 80s.


Yup. It is interesting. I wanted to do it (so cool) but realized that I was building a rehearsal space not a control room and went a different route. As I have already boasted, you can be anywhere in my garage and the sound is the same for everyone. But for a control room with a fixed orientation I think LEDE the way to go. Or even a personal listening room or home theatre.


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## Rickenbacker198 (Jan 10, 2017)

cbg1 said:


> interesting approach to guitar hangers as well


Thanks guys,
I wanted all my guitars accessible, if its in the case I’ll just grab another one that’s out. Might as well decorate the room while we’re at it too.
I hung gas pipe on the wall off the studs , built the brackets myself and got the hooks to attach the panels from the hardware section at Home Depot.
My reason for doing it this was was flexibility. I can move them around, shove them tight together in a corner for vocals or take some of them down if a basement room sound is desired.

Finished the panels last winter, it was a lot of time.
With 3 young kids , a more than full time job, church commitments etc... it took a while, more than 3 years from idea to completion of the panels.
It is a pleasure to listen in this room now and I’d do it all over without hesitation.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Lincoln said:


> have you seen this one?
> 
> Acoustical Treatment Experiment
> 
> It's surprising how much difference mike placement makes in recorded sound.


Thanks for sharing that!


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Rickenbacker198 said:


> Finally got to it , Some messy pics of my basement room-
> Ceiling filled with safe sound , covering it is still on the list. Corner traps and panels built by me with fabric help from my lovely wife.
> For me, the treatment of the walls/ corners was an unbelievable difference... suddenly I could hear detail below 200 hz. Less surprises when I play back on other systems now.
> I’m not an expert but from the research I’ve done my stance that every small to medium room has issues, nodes , comb filtering etc,, and a general treatment with broadband absorption + bass trapping will help reduce those issues. (not eliminate)
> ...


super cool room!


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## Midnight Rider (Apr 2, 2015)

Built my home studio around 2000-01. Read a few books on the subject prior to the start of construction. Dave Moulton's 'Total Recording' was helpful along with Paul Whites studio building book series and Rod Gervais 'Home Recording Studio:Build It Like The Pros'.

The build turned out satisfactory and was quite a learning experience. The studio now takes up space on 3 levels of our 5 level home. Have been trying to persuade my lovely wife to give me the the green light to build a vocal booth on the 4th level between the 3rd level live room and the 5th level control room,... but she'll have none of it at this particular juncture,... ❌,... but I'm working on various approaches, lol.

I recently added some new gear not shown in the photos which are quite a few years old. The additions are a matched pair of Avalon VT-737sp mic Pres, iZ Technology Radar 24 recorder and an Allen & Heath GS-R24M recording console.

Here are a couple video links to the studio build if interested:


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## Midnight Rider (Apr 2, 2015)

More pics of the joint.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Oh wow that is one killer space. Thanks for links I’m gonna check em out.


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