Buying the right music equipment can be a challenging and stressful process. If you’re looking to buy your first professional audio equipment, you have probably spent countless hours hesitating over gear decisions. Here are some great and useful tips to help you find the perfect professional audio equipment for sale and make the most of your budget.
Take Your Time
Chances are, the hasty decisions you make will come back to haunt you. Remember, when looking through the wide range of top-notch professional audio equipment for sale, you’re making an investment that should be able to serve you well for years to come. So, the more time you spend researching the available options on the market, the more likely you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for.
Many people make impulsive major purchases, convinced that they need a certain piece of gear without researching it enough to realise they don’t. So, make sure to take your time and do your homework on the major pieces of audio equipment to save yourself some money and headaches down the road.
Know Your Needs
As is with most things, there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all gear. If you’re a singer/songwriter looking to record your next project at home, chances are, you don’t need a 24-track recording interface. Nevertheless, if you’re planning to record demos for local bands, you’ll quickly outgrow even the best 8-channel interface.
Think about it, can your computer handle the software you’d like to operate with? Will that amplifier you’re considering buying provide you with the sufficient range of tone your music demands? Do you prefer working with a stable keyboard workstation or a flexible virtual instrument rig? Think long and hard so you can identify your present and future needs before you go ahead and splurge on professional audio equipment.
Buy the Right Tool for the Job
Now that you know your exact needs, it’s time to decide on the specific type of equipment that will get the job done. For instance, if you want to improve your recorded vocals, you might want to buy a compressor. However, what kind of compressor exactly? There are very sophisticated models offering controls for every parameter, simple models featuring just one knob, and everything in between. The only way to be sure you’re buying the right equipment is to learn all about the available options on the market.
Don’t Spend Your Entire Budget on One Piece of Gear
It’s easy to become fixated on just one piece of studio gear. Maybe you’ve read somewhere that a famous singer swears by a certain product. However, there’s no one piece of gear alone that will guarantee a great sound quality or superb recordings. From the instruments you play to each part in your signal path, the sound you will get will depend on your entire system. Generally, it’s better to have an overall “good” system than a mediocre one with one or two high-end components in it.
You Get What You Pay for
Professional audio gear is expensive because each component used to make studio-grade equipment is carefully crafted from high-quality materials and built to last through extremely tight tolerances. These components are made to perform consistently over a long period of time. Therefore, when you invest in professional quality studio equipment, you don’t just get better sound – you get pieces of gear that will last five times longer than the budget-friendly alternatives. Invest now and save in the long run.
Analyse Your System from the Outside In
If you want to make the most obvious improvements to your system, your best bet is to start at the ends and work your way in. Recording systems start with the instrument or microphone and end with studio monitors. These are the most essential parts of your setup. You can buy top-notch preamps, processors, plug-ins, and other integral parts of your system, but if your instrument itself sounds bad, or if you can’t hear the music you’ve recorded right, you probably won’t be happy with the end results.
Buy Quality Studio Monitors
The most common mistake that people who are new to recording make is using hi-fi speakers as monitors. Hi-fi speakers are used for enhancing the music by boosting low and high frequencies, which means when you use them to mix, you’ll naturally overemphasize the mids. This will result in the mixes you created falling flat on any other system.
On the other hand, studio monitors, have a flat frequency response. A quality pair of studio monitors will help you hear the music you made accurately, enabling you to make mixes that will sound right, regardless of where you play them. Before you start recording more seriously, buy a pair of quality studio monitors and some basic acoustical treatment.
Don’t Buy Cheap Cables
Too many people don’t pay much attention when buying cables. However, the truth of the matter is, that the quality of your cables can significantly affect your overall sound quality. Quality cables usually have durable metal connectors and feature proper shielding that will protect your signal against radio and electromagnetic interference. Having even one bad cable can ruin the sound of your entire audio setup. Splurging on premium-quality, great-sounding gear and hooking it up with cheap cables is like putting bargain-basement tires on your brand-new Ferrari.