Subjective. My opinion. Open to discussion. Take with a grain of salt. Overall, intended to be helpful for beginners.

Areas where beginners overspend

* Computer parts. It's 2019. Hardware evolved a lot faster than audio software. Most people aren't really going to need 32 GB of RAM, NVMe and Optane storage are overkill, 1000 watt power supplies for an audio rig are a meme and integrated graphics are fine. As long as it's not a really old desk or a laptop with very slow processor, it should be fine for most people's needs.

* Audio Interfaces. Decades ago, it was true that a lot of money was need to be spent in order to get good sound quality, but now technology has caught up and even entry-level options are fine for the home studio. $200-300 interfaces may offer some QOL benefits but in terms of actual sound quality a basic $50-100 interface is going to do the same job.

* Plugins. There are plenty of great free and inexpensive plugins. Some of the more expensive plugins may have some features for QOL, convenience, workflow, etc, but in terms of how they affect the sound, Parametric EQ is an EQ, and a Compressor is a Compressor. Stock plugins that come with a DAW are perfectly fine. At first I focused on acquiring lots of plugins, but once I realized how they worked, I stopped caring about acquiring more plugins and instead found more excitement in the actual progress I've been making using them.

* Microphones. There's a lot of marketing in this part of the market, and people follow hype instead of do blind tests, but really, there are great microphones at all price points. Perhaps the biggest factor which affects people's decision is the frequency response (or the overall tone) of the mic. Some prefer brighter, some prefer flatter, some prefer certain frequencies. A mic doesn't have to be at a certain price point to have the frequencies you like. Beyond that, recording environment, recording technique, the actual source material being recorded and the vocal fx processing will make a way bigger difference than what mic you use.

I say all this because many beginners will buy a Shure SM7B, Cloudlifter, Audient ID14, some expensive plugins and their songs still sound unprofessional.

Areas where beginners underspend

* Acoustic Treatment. This will greatly improve the sound accuracy of speakers and it will improve the sound quality of recordings by reducing wall reflections. It doesn't have to be Auralex. Cheaper foams can make a difference too if there's enough of it. DIY panels with insulation material are an option. Even blankets are better than nothing. It's not sexy to spend hundreds of dollars on foam or insulation material, rather than a flashy software or a fancy piece of gear.

* One-on-one time with sound engineers, mix engineers and other professionals in the industry. In many cases, you'll be able to get a lot of this for free. Make friends with them, find online communities with them in it free knowledge from them, ask questions. Ask them about your speaker and microphone placement (show pictures). I'm all in favor of doing this free wherever possible, but if there are professional that charge a reasonable price for a one-on-one session where they review your mixes and show you their workflow step-by-step, this can be helpful. To pay money and not get anything physical out of it may seem unideal, but in production / songwriting / anything audio related, the knowledge, skill and technique is far more important.

Training, Speakers, Room treatment, mic's. In that order.

Someone else gets it. Fantastic post.

It seems to me:

- On Gearslutz: beginners overspend on mics (many have Neumanns) and underspend on monitoring system. What I mean is the whole monitoring system; the room, treatment, speakers, etc.
- On the country where I live: beginners overspend on gears (mostly hardware) and underspend on proper mixing-mastering services.

Regarding speakers, what budget would you recommend for beginners?

What are the price tiers?

$300-500 for people starting out but don't have a ton of money to spend?

$1000+ for people who have the money and experience and are trying to make a fully professional home studio?

I will explain my list a bit better.

I have to know what to listen for....Training
It has to be reproduced to hear it....speakers
The room can mess up everything....treatment
You have to capture it to do anything...Mic's. Where people go wrong is to many of one kind of mic. You want some of each. Condenser, Dynamic, Ribbon. A tube LDC is the top of the food chain, but not for everything. Taking that one step further, a long and short ribbon is nice. LDC MDC and SDC is nice, Large and small moving coil is nice.

Mic's to recording are like spices to cooking or paint brushes to painting. But if you can't hear the difference...what's the point.

My regrets are that I did not get training and great speakers up front. I had to beat up my ears and learn that two way speakers have a crossover point the hard way....crappy mix's. Polishing turds takes forever. Good stuff happens fast.

Under:
Skills, knowledge, soldering, monitoring, room, arrangement and music skills.

Over:
Legends and hypes, plugins, cheap hardware, computers, overrated mojo hardware, Neumanns, modular synths and Elektrons.

Also should mention, that everybody not working as an engineer most part of his life should be treated as an amateur, beginner. Most of musicians are beginners in these terms.

Right on!

However, I think that we have to agree that this over/underspending is caused by part of the community.

Since we tend to believe that more expensive gear will make any job easier, we believe to accept advice telling us to invest in expensive gear more easily.

And some beginners come asking in what they should invest, and sometimes the answers are in expensive gear. Especially microphones and preamps/interfaces.

Of course, there are very good and sane advices, but some are not that good. Some people still refuse to indicate cheaper brands because of old reputation or thoughts which, maybe, are no longer deserved. In the other hand, a lot of overpriced gear is indicated because a reputable brand is now making budget equipment.

Also, there are some “standard” equipment, and anything below them in quality and/or price, is considered to some to be unworthy of having.

It seems to me that the own advice givers should stop to think if the advice they are giving (And, hey! I give advices too, when I can) is the best to whom they are talking to.

All best!!

Right on!

However, I think that we have to agree that this over/underspending is caused by part of the community.

Since we tend to believe that more expensive gear will make any job easier, we believe to accept advice telling us to invest in expensive gear more easily.

And some beginners come asking in what they should invest, and sometimes the answers are in expensive gear. Especially microphones and preamps/interfaces.

Of course, there are very good and sane advices, but some are not that good. Some people still refuse to indicate cheaper brands because of old reputation or thoughts which, maybe, are no longer deserved. In the other hand, a lot of overpriced gear is indicated because a reputable brand is now making budget equipment.

Also, there are some “standard” equipment, and anything below them in quality and/or price, is considered to some to be unworthy of having.

It seems to me that the own advice givers should stop to think if the advice they are giving (And, hey! I give advices too, when I can) is the best to whom they are talking to.

All best!!

Absolutely.

There's a lot of poor quality information and the few good sources of info get buried because a lot of the most knowledgeable people aren't really savvy (or concerned with) PR/marketing/social media. And they're too busy with their 60 hour a week jobs to put out daily Youtube content so they can rise to the top and have every beginner be able to access their content. Instead, we have a lot of people who don't know that much and make their opinions based on hype, marketing interests and hearsay.

A lot of people have no education music theory, electrical engineering or how EQ/dynamics mathematically work. I can understand that; these are not easy topics for beginners.

But what tends to happen is that people judge a product by extrinsic and superficial criteria: what it sells for, how many units it sells, popularity, history, how many famous people use it, aesthetics, marketing literature. But none of this explains that the product itself actually does.

Daily reminder that a Behringer C-1 or MXL V67g w/ $300 of acoustic treatment will sound better than any Neumann, EV RE20 or SM7B.

well - that's an interesting assertion...

I'm completely with you on "get the room sorted" but...

what kind of $300 treatment are you thinking here?

I thought one of the benefits a nice dynamic would have (ie the re20,sm7 etc, not so much the neumanns) over cheap condensors (even cardioid) would be more 'rejection' of the room..

is that a myth?

Overspend on plugins. Underspend on treatment and most of all, time.

Saying this to myself, really.

Or just turn down the gain volume of the Condenser mic and you'll get less room noise.

More rejection,yeah. But you can still hear the room. I’m using an sm7 for this very reason and you still get room sound in there, not like a condenser but still...

Theres many bedroom guys that mount their $3500 Neumann U87 on a 5 for $100 Musicians Friend mic stand.

Spend $200 on a mic stand. It will last a lifetime, and keep expensive mics safely mounted and out of harms way....

Overspent: pres, converters, plugins
Underspent: Time spent studying great mixes and experimenting

Using this mic sometimes myself I cringe when people act like it is the answer for no treatment. And people argue with me all the time when I rebuttal : with the right gaining settings the sweet spot for the sm7 is very similar to a condenser..

On the contrary I've seen treatment given as to priority to setups and it is just so easy to ignore... I've done it myself, purchased a lunchbox and more mics myself thinking this is what I need... Low and behold my recordings still sounded like crap...

Not studying and research is the longest shortcut and one can take.

$300 in treatment made far more difference than any other money I spent. I'm good for recording now exciting to spin more to bring my mixes and productions up...

Current wishlist more treatment, more knowledge, better monitors, a few outboard mastering peices

I agee with what’s been said... just a couple more thoughts. For someone who comes to all this as just a hobby,who cares.
If one enjoys shopping/demoing/purchasing new gear and can afford it...good for them!
But on the flip side of things I think very little is needed in any particular category. As is always said, it really does just come down to musical talent. Obviously I see the case for acoustical treatment, but I know of many incredible records that were made with a handful of really great mics in totally terrible acoustic environments. One that comes to mind is Damien Rice’s first album. Which won him a place in the rock and roll hall of fame. And a lot of great records are made with a bunch of lofi garbage in really expensive studios. Haha..it’s probably the juxtaposition of things that make listening to music so engaging..??..Now if we’re talking mixdown or mastering... I think that can, and probably should take a bit of a higher technical plane. Hopefully none of that sounds condescending, I just mean to say, no priority of purchases, no systematic approach to upgrading my music making environment is going to make better music that people enjoy more. At least I don’t think so. As unfortunate for me as that may be. Haha

Plugins and PC hardware are where noobs spend way too much. also those ridiculous slate and protools control surfaces and touch screens. Huge waste of money

Forget everything I just said I’m my previous post.

Mogami Cable. Stupid how much people spend on that stuff.

There are a lot of beginners buying that? ??

Agreed, OP. When I started I absolutely spent wayyyyyyy too much on plugins when I should have been focused on getting my signals correct for tracking. I’ve made many mistakes learning the gear ropes but I had to learn those for myself I guess. I’d take back many overspends if I could. But no one knows what they’re doing as a beginner at anything. I wish I would have spent a year learning my DAW rather than looking what to add on to it, for sure.

Mics are definitely something we overspend on. I haven't done a single paid project but I've already got a Lewitt LCT 441 Flex (bought new, $400 USD before tax and shipping), sE Electronics T2 (bought used $350 USD shipped), and an assortment of cheaper things like the 3U Audio CM100, Behringer B2 Pro, iSK BM-600, and 3U Audio CM1. Prior to purchasing the CM1 I also had an MXL V67G.

I recently bought a Behringer UMC1820 for about $350 as well (including shipping and tax), gonna keep my UMC202 HD as a travel interface. I also run "noisier" mics into a FetHead Phantom.

It seems to me that in general people involved in sound engineering seriously neglect their musical education. I think that developing your ears and learning to understand music is the most important task, all technical stuff is secondary to this.

My own biggest screwups were buying Cubase back in '06 or so, and eventually getting frustrated out of using it and just opening up Home Studio or Acid Pro to just have some fun. I learned from that though and use a free DAW now.

Thinking of getting a MIDI controller. Would it be overspending?

So so many things to consider in all this.

Room treatment is crucial as are monitors. My studio build process was "no more than 15% of any one type of surface" be it: foam / insulation, wood diffusion, array diffusion, low end / corner traps, clouds, well traps (my own custom treatment), drywall reflection. But regarding small rooms.. trying to treat a 10x12x8 or less room is a lesson in insanity. And you can't just glue foam on the walls. Proper acoustic treatment starts with evening out the response of the room / reflections starting from the lowest frequency upward. My ceiling clouds are 12 inches thick and are angled off the ceiling to spread the bass absorption out a bit. Bass treatment takes up more space as the waveforms are so large. The only way to treat the bass response in a less than 10x12 room is to nearly fill the room with insulation / foam and even then there will still almost assuredly be some low build up / cancellation. You can though control slap echo a lil easier. And if tracking vocals only a smaller room can be just fine as the vocals only produce so much low end. This brings me to mics..

Spending a lot on mics = being an audio engineer (if you are tracking engineer). I have owned and used a bazillion mics. Lots of cheap ones, lots of expensive ones. And so over the years / and after all the dust settled my main tracking mics are now very expensive: KM84's, AEA R44, Flea 48, U87's. All but two of these mics were bought trading in piles of other cheaper mics. Some cheap / less expensive mics are great. I use: Fatheads, 414xls, 414buls, all the Shure KSM series, sm57, SM7, re20 and I use all these continually.

The problem with noobs buying mics is that most / all of us in the early days just preferred which ever mic was louder or brighter. But if you look over my mic list you will see / hear that almost none of my mics have a bright crispy top end. Yet my recordings are totally pro with high / low end detail and heft (hell, whatever I want). It took a while to learn what a proper mic needs to sound like to be easily used in tracking and especially mixing. I do NOT want the mic adding high end, like never ever ever ever. It sounds ****e. I can if I like add a tiny hair of high on the way in with eq or preferably at mix. Often tracking / mixing compression will bring out a tiny bit of highs and material tracked with a smooth even sounding mic ends up sounding great. If the mic is just a little too bright suddenly the track is ripping your head off and you're trying to deal with de-ess-ing to repair the shrill / bright sound. People often say a proper smooth mic will 'take eq well'.

Easiest route with noobs buying mics is to buy standards listed above, whatever you can afford. Please give me an sm57, re20, sm7 over any boutique / knock off condenser mic. I can make these sound 95% closer to an expensive LDC than I can with a budget LDC. Not being ironic or cute here. Seriously any sm57, re20, sm7 will not get 'reedy' 'sibilant' 'hashy', maybe nasal (switch mics if needed), maybe too dull (switch mics, gain it up a tad, pick a brighter comp). Either way I can make these work. Hand me a Peluso or a Rode mic and I will ask for an re20 / any other mid range dynamic. Because I'm a snob? No because I have recorded a 1,000 vocalists.

Regarding converters. It is silly to blow money on $$$ converters, unless money is no object. I auditioned a ton of converters when buying mine and was amazed to find out the more affordable ones in my mixer were the same / better than expensive ones. The people that say you need expensive converter WE'RE ABLE TO BUY EXPENSIVE CONVERTERS. Conveniently hussling you right out of the 'game'. It's childish and selfish to treat the less fortunate that way. Personally in all but a few cases I consider these guys just rich noobs. I ignore them. I have posted a video which I won't post again: youtube "weak spot get there" video. This song was done passing thru my Tascam dm4800 mixer converters 3 times.

Preamps are also kinda in the same camp as converters, although not as deep. There are many great mic pres for little money. My studio is 11 Capi VP28, 10 BAE/Warm 1073's, and a UA 2-610. The Warm's are a little noisier than the BAE and the BAE 1073's are a tad smoother with a lil bit tighter low end.

When possible:
Get a big enough room with ceilings over 9ft high
Treat it CHEAP: couches, tapestry, hanging blankets, homemade baffles.
Buy great quality mics. Lock your doors.
Record everything you can.

While I have some really great and expensive gear, I really feel Low-End-Theory is the heart of this site. That was where I was for over a decade in this game. And it always seemed to me that budget artists / studios / even gear has a soul / funkiness / legitimacy that their more wealthy counterparts often lack.