The questions come up in producer communities every week: monitors or headphones first, do I need acoustic treatment, and which gear actually matters? The honest answer is that a small, well-chosen setup in an ordinary bedroom will take you a long way. Buy in this order.
Stage 1: Make music with what you have
- A computer and a free DAW: GarageBand on a Mac, or BandLab in a browser. See six DAWs compared.
- Any wired headphones you own.
- Optional: a small MIDI keyboard if you play or want to.
Stay here until you know you will keep going. Many people spend money before they have finished a single track.
Stage 2: Record your voice or guitar
- An audio interface with two inputs. See our four beginner picks.
- Closed-back studio headphones, so the click doesn't leak into your microphone. See our headphone picks.
- A microphone, stand and XLR cable. In an untreated room, a dynamic microphone picks up less of the room than a condenser.
Stage 3: Mix with confidence
- A pair of small studio monitors, around 5-inch woofers for a typical bedroom, on stands or pads at ear height.
- Basic acoustic treatment: absorption at the first reflection points beside you and bass traps in corners if you can.
- Optional open-back headphones for a second, natural-sounding reference.
What can wait
| Purchase | Why it can wait |
|---|---|
| Monitors before headphones | An untreated small room makes bass hard to judge on speakers; good headphones are more reliable at first. |
| Expensive plugins | Stock plugins in every DAW cover EQ, compression and reverb well. |
| An 8-input interface | Only useful if you record eight sources at once. |
| A condenser microphone | Sensitive mics capture more of your room; treat the room first. |
Get the most from the room you have
- Record in the softest corner: beds, sofas, curtains and full bookshelves absorb reflections.
- Sing towards the room's soft side, not a bare wall.
- Keep the desk away from corners and place monitors symmetrically.
- Check mixes on a phone and in a car before you call them finished.
