What Gear to Buy to Produce and Record at Home | Low Budget, Good Quality

You already know that today, even on a limited budget, you can make music at a high level. With the right gear and some creativity you can produce beats and record good vocals without spending a fortune.

In this guide I give you a shopping list to start setting up your home studio. Oh, and I assume you already have a reasonably recent laptop or desktop computer.

DAW - DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION

You need a program to produce and record: a DAW. There are many, some free, some by subscription or with a perpetual licence. It is up to you to explore and find the one that fits you. Most DAWs are equivalent in what they can do, but some lean towards production and others towards mixing. Here are some of the most popular ones, all with in-depth tutorials on YouTube. List updated in September 2026.

1. Pro Tools

2. Logic Pro

3. Ableton Live

4. FL Studio

5. Fender Studio Pro (called Studio One until 2025)

6. Cubase

7. Reaper

Audio interface / Sound card

As a general rule, know what you want to do with your music before spending money, and put the budget where it matters for that. For example, if you want to record a voice or a single instrument, say an electric guitar, you only need one input on the interface. Spending the budget on a 4-input interface would be a waste. One or two inputs are enough: they also let you record a stereo source, like an analog synth, or have a talkback mic when you record someone else.

Some good entry level buys (the links go to the manufacturers' sites; compare prices yourself, they change every month):

1. Focusrite Scarlett Solo 4th Gen (one mic input: if you only record vocals, it is enough)

2. Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th Gen (two inputs, includes Ableton Live Lite and a plugin bundle to get started)

3. Audient iD14 MKII

Monitors or Headphones

If you can afford them, a pair of studio monitors makes producing a lot more pleasant and less tiring. But if you do not have a room you can treat acoustically, at least in part, a good pair of monitoring headphones is the better choice: you get a more faithful listen, especially in the low end, and you make better decisions while producing. In any case, if you want to record vocals or acoustic instruments, you cannot do without good headphones. Below, some entry level near field studio monitors and some good closed back monitoring headphones, closed so that the sound coming out of the headphones does not leak into the microphone while recording.

MONITORS

1. PreSonus Eris 4.5BT 2nd Gen

2. PreSonus Eris 5BT 2nd Gen

3. Mackie CR4-X

4. KRK ROKIT 5 Generation Five

HEADPHONES

1. Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO 80 Ohm

2. Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO 80 Ohm (open back: airier for producing and mixing, but not for recording, because the sound leaks out into the microphone)

3. Sony MDR-7506

4. Audio-Technica ATH-M50x

5. AKG K271 MKII

With Beyerdynamic headphones it is worth installing Headphone Lab, Beyerdynamic's free plugin (VST3, AU and AAX, 64 bit Mac and Windows, no subscription). You put it as the last plugin on your DAW's master, for monitoring only, and it does two things. The first is calibration: you pick your model (DT 770 PRO, DT 990 PRO, DT 880 PRO, the PRO X series...) and the plugin corrects that headphone's response towards a "studio" listening profile, measured on a reference unit; for the newer models (DT 700 PRO X, DT 900 PRO X, DT 1770 and DT 1990 PRO MKII) you can enter your serial number and the correction uses the factory measurements of your own pair. The second is monitor simulation: on headphones each ear only hears its own channel and the stereo image is unnaturally wide; the plugin recreates listening on a pair of speakers (with crossfeed, that is a bit of left in the right ear and vice versa, as happens in a room), lets you choose the speaker angle (40°, 60° or 80°), add a virtual room and enter the spacing of your ears for a more precise image. Result: a mix made on headphones that holds up on speakers, in the car or on the phone. Remember to bypass it before exporting.

MICROPHONE

To record vocals well you need a large diaphragm condenser microphone. Condensers are the most sensitive mics, they need a quiet room, and they cost more than dynamic mics. If you are after a modern pop sound, with bright, airy vocals that stay precise even when you whisper, you need a condenser. If your projects call for a powerful, loud voice, a dynamic mic can also work. Below, some condenser microphones that are ideal for hip hop, pop and EDM vocals.

1. Rode NT1 5th Generation (the older NT1-A is still around, but the 5th Gen adds a USB output at the same price)

2. Audio-Technica AT2020

3. AKG P220

MIDI Controller

You can produce with your fingers on the pads, on the keyboard or with the mouse, but for a more natural approach a MIDI controller lets you play the notes and build the rhythm of your beats by feel.
Some cheap and versatile options:

1. Akai MPK Mini MK3

2. Arturia MiniLab 3

3. Novation Launchkey Mini 25 MK4

CABLES

Obviously you need cables: from the microphone to the interface, from the interface to the speakers. XLR (Cannon) for the microphone and TRS (balanced jack) for the speakers. You do not need the expensive cable, you need the right one:

• A 3 m male-female XLR cable for the microphone (Cordial, Klotz, Sommer or similar: Neutrik connectors last longer).

• A pair of 1.5-3 m balanced 6.3 mm TRS jack cables for the speakers.

ACCESSORIES

Some accessories come in the microphone box, others you buy separately:

MICROPHONE STAND

• A boom stand with a tripod base, to record standing up.

• Or a desk stand with an arm, if you record sitting at the desk.

SHOCK MOUNT AND POP FILTER

• A shock mount (the elastic cradle): the NT1 and the P220 come with one, for the AT2020 you buy it separately.

• A mesh pop filter, any brand: cheap, and it removes the plosives of P and B.

Acoustic Treatment

It would take a book to cover everything about acoustic treatment. If your room is empty it will be very reverberant; if it is well furnished, with a bed, a wardrobe, an armchair, rugs, shelves, the reverb will already be shorter.

So, first of all, fill the room with what you have at home. Porous surfaces, like a mattress, absorb frequencies, while hard surfaces, like walls, reflect them. In short: absorption is good, reflection is fine too but only if diffused and not aimed at the listening position (your ears).

I will put together a guide on treating your room on a budget, and on where to place the microphone to get the best out of your space.

VST (Virtual Instruments)

This chapter could go on for a long time too. There are thousands of brands making digital instruments and sample packs of every kind. Almost every DAW already ships with good sound packs and synths to start producing with.

We will dig into this in a separate article.

Grow Step by Step

Remember that your studio can grow with you. Over time you will be able to invest in more advanced gear.

In short, making music at home on a small budget is possible thanks to the quality entry level gear available today. Choose what fits your needs, keep learning, and let your creativity speak through the music you make. Have fun!