ok so im looking to open up a recording studio in my house, and im just wondering what you perfer to start out with. i was looking at 16 track recorders but then what else??? i know there are ports for instruments and stuff but i want a decent quality. i was in a band and we recorderd on a Hard Drive, whats the extent to getting something like that set up? just curious, im just wanting to start small recording and them moving to possibly a label or something. so if you know something please share. thanks

That is a very vague question. First thing you need to figure out is what do you want your capabilites to be? There are so many options out there for equipment, no one can tell you where to start. Make a list of everything you have and everything you will need. Mics, cables, monitors, amps, mixer, hard disk.... whatever. It's up to you to decide if you want one of those portable studios, a dedicated hard disk recorder, a pc setup...

This is a big project. A lot goes into a home studio. And not just gear. You got to think of room acoustics, outside noise, power....

I was in a similar situation, I was ready to upgrade my home studio and there are so many different ways one can go... Anyway I did my homework, read a bunch of stuff and came out with the following gears. So far I'm very happy keeping in mind I didn't have millions at my disposal. Anyway here it goes.

In my ideal setup, it didn't take me long to realise I like the flexibility of computer recording, adding to that a very nice 19" LCD monitor which after hours of recording/mixing/mastering, I come to appreciate, it sure beats those mini screeens on most dedicated recording mixers. Also for the use of VST/DX plugins it's perfect. And also, a computer is always upgradable for memory and storage.

CPU= AMD Athlon 64 bits (went for that one cause of what's coming for the future)

756 mhz Ram (Want to get more soon)

20 Gig C:
200 Gig D: mainly for storage etc.
90 Gig E: For recording

2 DVD Burners

Epson Stylus Photo R200 ( I'm mentionning this because it can print directly on printable CDs which is awesome for short runs)

EDIROL MA-10D Near field monitors

Tascam US-2400 Control Surface that I use with Sonar 4 producer ed. (This gave me some headache at 1st but it's working fine now... Keep in mind if you use this US-2400 to use the USB wire provided).

Hercules 16/12 FW. I got this one cause it was cheap compare to the competition it was a gamble but I'm quite satisfied with it and I love that firewire I wish the 2400 was too. The other day I had to do a quick recording of Amazing Grace in American Native language (for a funeral) The singer is well known all over eastern Canada and had recorded at many studios, including CBC in Halifax, he is right now performing with the "Drums" production that maybe some of you saw on TV. Anyway, my point is that he made the statement that his voice never sounded that warm and rich before. So that's a good point for the Hercules I guess.

Well that's about it, there's more stuff like softwares and a PA system but I think you get the idea.

Nice setup Michel, my buddy and I just dropped some money into the start of new studio that we hope to make much bigger in the future, but for a start it's alright. Here's the gear (both recording and acoustic gear)
PC:
AMD X2 4200+
4 gig DDR2 Dual Channel Ram
4 200 gig HD's
2 DVD burners
19" Widescreen Acer LCD Flat Panel
PCI Delta 1010 card (came with rackmount, see below)

Audio Interface:
M-Audio Delta 1010 Rackmount system
Nady 8 channel sound board (used strictly as a mic pre-amp)

Software:
OS: Windows XP Pro
Recording: ProTools M-Powered
Mixing/Plugins: Native Power Pack <- Soon to come

Headphone Amp:
PreSonus HP-4 Discrete 4 channel

Cabling:
AV 8 channel fan box snake
6' Monster Studio Gold XLR
Hosa 6' 1/4" snake
Hosa Insert to Output adaptors

Monitors:
M-Audio Studiophile DX-4 monitors

Mics:
Amp Mic: Shure SM-57
Vox: BLUE Baby Bottle
Vox: Sennheiser e609
Drums: CAD Pro Mic set

Acoustic Gobos:
2 - 4' x 4' partitions hinged together to make a 4' x 8' partition (x2)
1 - 4' x 7' partition on either side of a 6' x 7' partition with a 2' x 4' window in the middle
All are covered with Auralex DST-244 2' x 4' panels for sound absorbtion.

After the misc. expenses of desks, chairs, etc.... the total price came to.....
TOTAL: $3500.00

So for $3500.00 we basically put together what appears to be a decent beginning to a studio. If you have any questions about anything (design, setup, etc...) PM me and I'd be glad to show you what we did. Again, it comes down to budget, time you want to invest, and what your even looking for in a project or professional setup. Eventually we hope to design our own studio (full building) and possibly even start a label, who knows. But we figured that we should get a good start in learning equipment and software on our own before going too huge. Sorry for the length on the post, again, let me know if you have any questions and keep in mind that I'm still new to this whole studio thing so don't take my word for it. Listen to the expertise in the forum and you should be able to find what suits you.
_________________
Bob Seifert, SEIT
LiveSine Productions
Drummer of 3up3down