Q & A
Make Better Music

A Guide to Beginner Audio

By Consult QnA

Ready to build that studio but don’t know where to start? And how much is this going to cost anyway?

We created a guide for you!

This guide provides a list of factors to consider to get you started recording better audio. We didn't include any pricing because prices of equipment are constantly changing. Instead, we decided to focus on factors to consider to help you decide what gear will best fit your budget. Along the way, we’ll mention some brands to give you an idea of what to be on the lookout for.

There are two important things to understand when it comes to spending money on audio equipment:

There is literally no limit to how much you can spend on audio equipment.

And

Generally speaking, increased price means increased quality in construction, increased quality in signal output or both.

Let’s get started!


Monitoring your sound

When you start out, you’re going to be learning what you need to improve. When it comes to monitors or headphones….starting with something is better than nothing. There are plenty of good headphone brands like Sennheiser, Audio Technica, Sony, etc, that make good headphones for beginners. Start there. You’re only going to find more and more expensive headphones from that point on. 

Headphones are fine for editing, and very basic mixing. As your want for better sound increases, so will your understanding of what you're looking for in sound.  Start with listening to a lot of music with your headphones so you get an understanding of how good productions and mixes actually sound.

Ideally, you will want to end up working on monitors. The basics for headphones apply the same for speakers. As you spend more time using the speakers, you’ll be able to understand what you’re listening to. And as you understand the sound more, you will learn what to look for when you decide it's time to upgrade.

Let’s talk about multi referencing. If you are concerned about the sound you’re getting and don’t have the budget for upgrades, you can use this budget friendly method. This method is based around “averaging” your listening experience to help make decisions. Listen to your audio in as many sound sources as possible...Stereos, headphones, earbuds, cars, trucks, laptops, tvs, you name it. The more sound sources you use, the better sample size you’ll have. Then you can figure out if there’s a consistent issue in your sound. Take into account that every system sounds different and some are very limited e.g. low frequency played through teeny tiny laptop speakers.

This is exactly why major studios have big expensive speakers and small junky speakers, to reference their mix on a less than optimal system, and help them make mix decisions based on that information.


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