Building low cost Home Studio in Garage

[MetalWorks]

dude, all this studio construction going on around the place is making me so inspired, yet making me so depressed!

I'm trying to include as many photos along the way to give somewhat of an idea as to whats being done so that people will be inspired to do it themselves and save alot of money.

I'm depressed that it's taking this long for me to finish. I'm trying to use any personal time I have. Unfortunately I can't turn down work when I am capable of recording.

But if anyone has questions about anything I didn't cover too well with photos, such as desk design, I am more than willing to share information.

 

[garry666]

hey what do you think of the control 24s preamps are they any good?

 

[MetalWorks]

They have been fine for me so far. I haven't used them as my primary preamps but I have had to use them for some cymbols and scratch guitar tracks.

I have to pay attention to them because they are showing me the volume level in digital where as the rest of my preamps are in analog.

I would imagine they have to be as good or better than any of the studio in a box preamps like the Saphire or Firepod, which have produced plenty of great sounding recordings.

The only thing I am dissappointed in with the Control 24 is the Monitoring.

My Mackie 8 Bus had a nice deep and spacial sound and the mix sounded great through the headphones.

The Control 24 headphone mix sounds small, sterile and kind of harsh.

I need to do more research to find out if its the way I have it setup or if thats a common complaint.

 

[rvs0002]

But if anyone has questions about anything I didn't cover too well with photos, such as desk design, I am more than willing to share information.

I am interested in building a desk like you did. would love it if you would share the plans you used. How much do you estimate you have in it when complete?

You are really doing some cool stuff, my hat is off to you!

John

 

[garry666]

thanks dude im actually looking at getting a control 24 in a couple months but i dont quite have the cash for the pro tools hd system so i was wondering if you knew how well it worked with the le system.

 

[MetalWorks]

Seems as though plenty of people are using the Control 24 with LE systems, mainly the Digirack 002/003.

Since the Control 24 uses alot of Digisnake Cables, I am sure there is a way to integrate the LE setup to the Control 24. There might be minor limitations to what you can do with it, but I think it will cover all the basics just fine. Im not using my HD setup to it's full potential as far as utlitlizing all of the sends and returns or extra monitoring options.

If I didn't already have a Mackie 8 Bus which I replaced with the Control 24, I might not have been inspired to replace it.

But the idea of having a DAW controller instead of a 32 channel mixer than never gets used other than the Monitoring section and a few preamps, was a lot nicer.

$3500-$4500 is alot of cash to throw down on something like that.

Just stick to a business plan of what is most important to aquire first.

If a deal comes along thats to good to pass, go for it.

I saw a Craigslist add for a Mint Condition Control 24 selling for $2200. The studio was closing down due to some health problems with the owner or something.

I got his reply on the price 1 day after I just bought mine off Ebay for $3400, which was still an excellent deal.

 

[garry666]

wow $3400 is a steal i usually see them going on ebay for arround $4500 but thanks for the advice dude.

 

[KeithRT99]

that arm rest is well done, i always enjoy seeing some diy. you're pretty crafty.

 

[AdamWathan]

Come onnnn updated pics? Haha...

 

[MetallyGuitarded]

This thread is intoxicating and fantastic. I'm buying my first house soon and although I lack any recording equipment right now the construction photos/diagrams/etc are really inspiring! We're hooked MetalWorks, now reel us in.

 

[AdamWathan]

Yeah, my best friend is buying his first house today and we are planning on converting the garage into a studio since I'll be living there with him, so this thread is very interesting to me.

We are considering removing the garage door to avoid the problems with the garage door slider that MetalWorks had, but it would need to be something reversible so I'm not sure what we could do...?

One thing I was wondering, what do you do for heating and ventilation in that detached garage of yours MetalWorks? Do you run an electric heater in there? Also how do you keep it cool in the summer?

 

[MetalWorks]

I am still waiting for a good day to go out and clear coat my desk. Thats pretty much the last step for that. And I am still going to need time to finish the Bass Traps. I have been working on 2 albums and a few demos so my time has been used for recording and I haven't been able to finish the studio itself.

To answer some questions....

We are considering removing the garage door to avoid the problems with the garage door slider that MetalWorks had, but it would need to be something reversible so I'm not sure what we could do...?

If possible, remove the garage door motor and the rails from the ceiling, but leave the garage door and whatever rails would be needed to hold it veritcally in place. Then build up as close to the garage door as you would like.

You would basically manually lock the garage door and never open it until you re-install the garage door opener.

That was one option I had considered but I wanted to be able to open the garage so I went the other path as I detailed in this thread.

One thing I was wondering, what do you do for heating and ventilation in that detached garage of yours MetalWorks? Do you run an electric heater in there? Also how do you keep it cool in the summer?

The originaly Office Room where I currently record drums has an in wall Heater/Air Conditioner. I have only needed to use it for Cooling.

It works well to leave it running in the morning before the band shows up, and turn it back on durring breaks.

Now for the Control Room, I only have a ceiling fan at the moment.

It has worked so far with recent warm weather, but I am expecting it to get much hotter in summer.

In the past, I was able to open my single car garage door and have fans on and make it through summer. Then I eventually added another leg from my house Air Conditioner to blow into the single car garage (old Control Room).

So to complete the question, I am kinda screwed at the moment if it gets really hot.

I can get a pretty good wind circulation by opening the Control Rom Windo and garage side door which is parallel to my inside control room door. Its a straight air path. Combined with my ceiling fan, thats been ok.

I had a chance to get a complete Central AC system from Craislist for $500 but I never got the official go ahead with my Land Lord. So theres a good chance I will either get a window AC unit or find another cheap Central AC to cover the live room and control room.

At the moment I think the Window unit sounds much more obtainable financially.

And I wouldnt mind it so much because I have a dark curtain that can cover it and I can use it as needed.