What are you building your studio for?

Are you streaming?

Are you doing a podcast?

Are you recording vocals for music/film?

If you want to build a multi-purpose studio, equipment goals will overlap but there are specific things to look for in every type of setup. For example, in streaming and podcasting, you could look at using a dynamic microphone. But if you're recording vocals in your studio, you'll want to use a condenser microphone for a studio quality sound that could also work for streaming and podcasting, in the right conditions. Be mindful of the connection types between computers and interfaces when choosing equipment for your studio. The possibility exists that some brands of motherboards are incompatible with other brands of interfaces.

Your basic setups could look something like this:

Dynamic microphone:

Microphone → XLR (cable) → Cloudlifter → XLR (cable) → Interface → Computer (DAW)

Condenser microphone:

Microphone with pop filter → XLR (cable) → Interface (with +48v) → Computer (DAW)

Through the interface you will also be outputting your audio to headphones or speakers.

What does this all mean? Let’s break it down.