Recommendations

Here is my “living page” of recommended gear and services related to music production. As we all know, there is plenty of gear out there (and a lot of marketing to go with it).

I've broken my recommendations up into several categories for your convenience (feel free to select what interests you):

I've been fortunate enough to work on some high-end gear (SSL console at school, Dolby Atmos mix theatre at my workplace, vintage Neumann microphones on vocals, etc.), but I'm also fully aware of the need for great value and price-to-performance ratio for home studios. I'd like to share my personal recommendations for beginner and intermediate music production setups, and even a few advanced recommendation (though producers in advanced studios likely already have a solid idea of what they need). I'll also share what I personally use in my home studio as well as what's on my Wish list!

This is cliché to write, but it's not about the gear your have, it's about how you use it.

And just like music itself, the rules of what's “right” are meant to be broken.

So this is all just my advice on what I'd recommend for gear and services. If you find yourself on this page, I'm honoured that you're interested in what I have to say!

Please check out what I have to recommend, and for more information on any given product catagory, check out my in-depth buyers' guides here.

Full disclosure: I may or may not receive a small commission if you decide to purchase anything through my links (at no additional cost to you). It's a small way to help me make more free-for-you content here at Fox Music Production. The potential for commissions has no influence over my recommendations.

Beginner

So you're just getting into music production. That's great!

I started with a cheap laptop and FL Studio way back in 2009, using the stock plugins and a USB microphone. We don't have to build a full studio to get into the wonderful world of music production, but having some of the basics certainly helps.

After trying out a lot of entry-level gear over the years, I've developed a list of gear I'd invest in if I were starting over in my music production journey.

Whatever laptop or desktop you have will work great! Though it's possible to produce music on tablets and even smartphones, I wouldn't recommend it.

The Focusrite Scarlett lineup of audio interfaces gets my recommendation here. For beginners, I'm particularly fond of the Solo, 2i2 and 4i4 models.

I recommend a pair of closed-back studio headphones for beginners. There are plenty of affordable options, and I'd stand behind my experience with Audio-Technica's M Series. Notably the M50x and M40x (which I still use to this day since I've become so accustomed to them).

I usually consider studio monitors as gear you'll “grow into”, which can be improved with proper room selection, placement and acoustic treatment. They're a big step in getting better playback versus typical speakers, and I'd recommend, for most home studios, a pair of powered 5″ monitors.

I use the Yorkville YSM5s (original versions), which I've owned for nearly a decade. I also really like the Yamaha HS5s for home studios.

I've used plenty of high-end microphones in my career (I even started a blog called “My New Microphone”). Still, I usually rent when I need them for a particular record. My at-home mic locker consists of my go-to “beginner” budget microphones:

Dynamics:

  • Shure SM57 (for everything)
  • Shure Beta 52A (for kick and bass guitar)

Condensers:

  • Rode NT1-A (large-diaphragm)
  • Rode M5 pair (small-diaphragm)

As a beginner, I'd recommend trying out a few demos and choosing a DAW based on what feels best. Personally, my favourite DAWs are Logic Pro (which I've used for over a decade in my home studio) and Pro Tools (the industry-standard DAW I use professionally more than any other).

That stated, I've had lots of fun with FL Studio, Ableton Live, Cubase, and even Cool Edit Pro (now Adobe Audition).

Start by familiarizing yourself with whatever stock plugins come with your DAW (Logic Pro's are my favourite). Don't fall into the trap of thinking that one more “secret” plugin will fix all your problems when you're still learning the fundamentals.

I recommend working off of hard drives when producing music, and the SanDisk Extreme line of SSDs is great for beginners and advanced producers alike. I also like the Samsung T7 SSDs.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about acoustic treatment as a beginner. The cheap “treatment” you can buy won't do too much to help you tame your room. Rather, if you're producing at home, I'd recommend setting up furniture around the room (bed, couch, bookshelves, etc.) to help with room acoustics.

I would, however, recommend a vocal shield like the sE Electronics RF-Space if you're recording vocals or even some close-miked acoustic instruments.

MIDI controllers come in a wide variety of styles. The type of MIDI controller(s) you'll want for your music production will depend on your workflow and goals. I recommend the following options to beginners:

  • AKAI Professional MPK (multipurpose)
  • Novation Launchpad X (grid/pads)
  • M-Audio Keystation 88 (full piano)

Intermediate

Intermidiate Home Studio Mix Room

This, to me, is the sweet spot for msuicians producing themselves, which is ultimately the crux of this website.

With the democratization of music production equipment and distribution, we can effectively do everything ourselves without the need for high-end studios (though these studios are certainly worth it in many cases).

At this stage, we can really mold our studios to suit our goals and workflows, so my biggest recommendation is to only invest in the gear that will get you closest to the results you want.

That said, here are my recommendations for “intermediate” studios, which encompass most home studio builds.

At the intermediate level, you're going to need a solid computer for running your sessions, both in CPU and in RAM. I've been using Apple computers for over a decade, with increasing power, spanning from a 2010 MacBook Pro to a 2015 iMac and now to a 2023 Mac Studio M2 Max.

I'd recommend getting the most powerful computer you can within your budget, with 16 GB of ram or more (especially if you're accessing sample libraries), multi-core CPU, and at least 250 GB of storage (see External Hard Drives for more storage).

The Universal Audio Apollo series gets my recommendation for the intermediate studio. The range features desktop units for smaller studios and rackmount options for larger sessions. A major feature of the Twin model (and everything above it) is the optical port(s) that allow us to connect other interfaces and preamps for more inputs and outputs, including more Apollo units.

They all run realtime UAD processing for tracking through UAD plug-ins at near-zero latency, regardless of audio buffer size of your DAW.

I'm a firm believer that your best monitoring tools are the ones you're most familiar with. This is especially the case with headphones, which effectively eliminate room acoustics from the monitoring equation. I've used the ATH-40x headphones for years and have become super comfortable with them.

That being said, I do really like the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro closed-back and DT 990 Pro open-back studio headphones at the affordable end of “intermediate”. They sound great and they're super comfortable, at least to my ears.

At a higher price range, I'd recommend the Sennheiser HD 600, which I admittedly have limited experience with, but recommend based on the few times I've listened critically on them.

At this level, I'd consider including a subwoofer into your studio in order to produce the low-end frequencies more adequately. While I don't personally utilize a sub in my 150 ft2 room, I do really like the Adam Audio T10S for smaller rooms (I plan on adding one to my setup someday).

In terms of main monitors, if you have a larger treated space, you'll likely benefit from larger monitors than the 5″ options I mentioned earlier.

While the long-time industry-standard Yamaha NS10's are no longer in production, the Avantone CLA-10 A's are an in-production “average”-sounding set of nearfield monitors that can work wonders for mix translatability once you get used to them.

On the topic of “average” listening experiences, grabbing one or two Avantone MixCubes can help you with mix translation in mono or stereo, respectively.

But if you want a flat response to hear a true representation of the mix at a somewhat reasonable price, my recommendation is a pair of the Neumann KH 120 A monitors, which I've had the pleasure of using for nearly a decade.

If you're setting up studio for lots of multitrack recording, developing your mic locker is essential. Here are but a few of my mid-price-range recommendations for studio microphones (not including my previous recommendations):

Dynamics:

  • Shure SM7B
  • Sennheiser MD421-II
  • Sennheiser e906
  • Electro-Voice RE20

Condensers:

  • AKG C414 XLS or XLII (large-diaphragm)
  • Neumann TLM 103 (large-diaphragm)
  • AKG C451 (small-diaphragm)
  • Neumann KM 184 (small-diaphragm)

Ribbons:

  • Royer R-10
  • Royer R-121

At this point, it's worth considering Avid's Pro Tools if only for its compatibility with other studios. I use Pro Tools almost exclusively at the studio I'm employed at.

However, if you're working entirely in-house or produce your own music, I'd suggest sticking with whatever you're most familiar with at this point and what suits your workflow the best. For me, personally, that means Logic Pro.

At this point, you may need to hosting large sample libraries or backup and run large sessions from your external hard drives.

If you're moving from studio to studio a lot, I really like the LaCie Rugged line (be sure to grab an SSD if you're working from it).

For more stationary setups, Glyph has been a major player in my professional career. I'd recommend all their drives, though the Glyph Atom line stands out for me.

Glyph also offers superb, reliable storage for all of your backups. I like the StudioRAID and Blackbox lines for reliable backup storage.

Acoustic treatment is important for both live rooms and control rooms. It helps us reach the full potential of our recording and listening environments and our monitoring system.

I personally use and recommend the Primacoustic London kits for home studios. There are different kits to choose from, largely dependent on the size of your room, though you can double-up on kits for your own needs.

For recording, in addition to the vocal shield I mentioned earlier, I'd also recommend grabbing a few go-bos (go-betweens) for larger multi-track recording sessions. They're a bit pricey, but I like the Auralex ProGO line of gobos.

If you're handy, I'd also recommend considering making your own absorption panels to save some cash and customize to your specific needs.

By this point, you should know what style of MIDI controller(s) will suit your workflow, but if you're wondering what I'd recommend, here are my top choices:

  • Softube Console line (Console 1 and Fader)
  • Arturia KeyLab line

Power conditioning and uninteruptible power supplies become increasibngly important as you build out your studio and begin working on larger projects. They help protect your gear and offer you time to safely shut your gear down in the case of a power outage.

Without getting into the specifics of your particular studio, I'll recommend the brands Furman for power conditioners and APC for UPSs. I've put my trust in them for years and haven't had issues, so they get my recommendations.

Advanced

Advanced Dolby Atmos Mixing Theatre

If you've made it to the point where you require a high-end, advanced music production studio, then you probably don't need my advice.

That being said, I'd like to offer a few recommendations from my experience (outside my home studio, admittedly) on what to consider for an advanced studio build. If you're in the beginner or intermediate stages, this can give you an idea of where you may want to go.

Now, in advanced setups, there's likely to be a lot of customization, from the physical structure and acoustic treatment of the studio to the studio furniture and routing.

You'll know what's best for your workflow and what's required to get your specific work done, so I'll leave that to you. For example, I could recommend SSL or Neve mixing consoles, but if you're a fan of API instead, then that's your choice! Likewise with outboard gear and musical instruments.

Nonetheless, here are a few recommendations I have for the high-end music studio.

My advice here would be to get the best computer possible within your budget and keep futureproofing in mind in your choice.

If you're running Pro Tools, I'd recommend looking into the Avid interfaces and HD interfaces. Otherwise, the larger Universal Audio Apollo interfaces get my recommendation.

There are plenty of high-end headphones on the market, but I'd recommend sticking with a pair that you know well.

For advanced studios with larger control rooms, farfield monitors become an option. My recommendations here are the Neumann KH 420s and, if you really want to splurge, any of the PMC options.

In terms of nearfields, it's good to keep your “average” monitors as options, but to add a pair of high-end monitors to your setup. There are plenty of great options on the market, but the Genelec The Ones 8341A get my recommendation.

There are plenty of high-end studio microphones, and, to some extent, they're status symbols of having invested heavily in your studio. Here are my recommendations to consider for your studio mic locker (including the less expensive options as well):

Large-diaphragm condensers:

  • Neumann U87
  • AKG C12
  • Telefunken ELA M 251
  • Sony C-800G
  • AKG C414

Small-diaphram condenser:

  • Neumann KM 184
  • AKG C451
  • Neumann M 150 Tube

Dynamics:

  • Shure SM7B
  • Shure SM57
  • Electro-Voice RE20
  • Sennheiser MD421-II

Ribbons:

  • Royer R-121
  • Coles 4038

For high-end studios, I'd personally recommend hopping on the industry-standard bandwagon and use Pro Tools, though you're free to use whatever DAW you'd like!

Glyph hard drives get my recommendation for advanced music production studios. I'd recommend saving redundant copies of separate drives and even purchasing cloud storage for additional backups of your work.

In high-end custom-built studios, the acoustic treatment will likely be customized as well. I have no strong recommendations for acoustic treatment in this case.

High-end studios often benefit from having in-house instruments that are finely tuned and intonated for optimal recording. It's worth having a few guitars, basses, keyboards, drums, a piano, and more on-sight that can be selected for recording. Here are a few of my recommendations:

Guitars and basses:

  • Fender Stratocaster
  • Fender Telecaster
  • Gibson Les Paul
  • Fender J-Bass
  • Fender P-Bass
  • Gibson J-45
  • Martin D-28
  • Taylor 814ce

Amplifiers:

  • Fender Twin Reverb
  • Marshall JCM800
  • Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus
  • EVH 5150
  • Fender Bassman
  • Ampeg SVT

Keyboards and synths:

  • Fender Rhodes
  • Hammond B3
  • Wurlitzer
  • Roland Juno-60
  • Roland Juno-106
  • Moog Minimoog

Snare drums:

  • Ludwig Supraphonic
  • Ludwig Black Beauty

My Gear

Arthur Fox Using The FabFilter Pro-L 2 In His Home Studio

I've been slowly but surely investing in my home studio over the years. Now that I have a house, I've set up in a spare bedroom and am building out my ideal music production environment for my own music and the music of others.

In this section, I want to share my current gear.

Mac Studio M2 Max (2023)

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2

Audio-Technica ATH-M40x

Yorkville YSM5 pair

  • Rode NT1-A
  • Shure SM57
  • Shure SM58
  • Shure Beta52A

  • Pro Tools Studio
  • Logic Pro X

  • WD MyBook 16TB
  • SanDisk Extreme Pro 2TB

  • Primacoustic London 12 kit

  • Arturia KeyLab49 Essential

Guitars:

  • Jackson JS Series Dinky
  • Martinez Babe Traveller

Amplifiers:

  • Orange Crush 35RT

Effects Pedals:

  • Ruach Foxy Lady Pedalboard
  • Pedal Power Mondo
  • DigiTech Whammy5
  • Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
  • Vox V847 Wah
  • Boss MT-2 Metal Zone 
  • Ibanez CP10 Compressor Sustainer
  • Danelectro Cool Cat! Chorus
  • Danelectro Cool Cat! Vibe
  • DigiTech DF-7 Distortion Factory
  • Ibanez SM7 Smash Box
  • TC Electronic Ditto Looper
  • Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor
  • Line6 DL4
  • Ibanez BC-9 Bi-Mode Chorus
  • Boss DD-3 Digital Delay

My Wish List

Arthur Fox Taking Notes In His Home Studio

It's my goal to build out and opimize my home studio for music production, and that, of course, means optimizing my equipment. Here's what's on my current “wish list” for my home studio.

  • Focusrite Scarlett 18i8

  • Beyerdynamic DT 770
  • Sennheiser HD 600

  • Avantone CLA-10A pair
  • Avantone MixCube single
  • Adam Audio T10S subwoofer

with Drawmer CMC3 Compact Monitor Controller

  • AKG C414XLS pair
  • Neumann KM 184 pair
  • Royer R-121
  • Shure SM7B

  • sE Electronics RF-Space

  • Softube Console 1 and Console 1 Fader
  • Arturia KeyLab88

  • Furman M-8×2
  • APC BR1000MS

Plugins

What's great about plugins and mixing “in the box” is that it further democratizes music production. For a fraction of the price of hardware, we can utilize plugins (often the same as the professionals) to create our music.

I've accumulated an excessive number of plugins over the years. Here are a few of favourites and my personal recommendations for plugins.

Note that, I'd always advise mastering the stock plugins within your DAW before investing in third-party options. There's a lot you can doing within your DAW's built-in processing.

Of course, in some cases, a third-party plugin is required, but please don't fall into the trap of thinking that a new plugin will solve all your problems — more often than not, it's not the case!

  • FabFilter Pro-Q 3
  • Plugin Alliance bx_Digital V3
  • Plugin Alliance Mäag EQ4
  • Waves GEQ

  • Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor
  • Waves CLA-76
  • FabFilter Pro-C 2
  • Xfer Records OTT (free)

  • Waves DeEsser
  • Plugin Alliance SPL Transient Designer Plus
  • Kilohearts Transient Shaper (free)
  • FabFilter Pro-G

  • FabFilter Saturn
  • Soundtoys Decapitator
  • Plugin Alliance Black Box Analog Designs HG-2
  • Noise Engineering Ruina (free)

  • SIR Audio Tools StandardCLIP
  • Venn Audio FreeClip (free)

  • FabFilter Pro-L 2
  • Waves L1 Ultramaximizer

  • Arturia Delay TAPE-201
  • Arturia Delay ETERNITY
  • Arturia Delay BRIGADE
  • Sixth Sample Deelay (free)
  • Soundtoys Echoboy

  • Soundtoys Little Plate
  • Softube Spring Reverb

  • Moog MF-102S RingMod
  • Arturia Chorus DIMENSION-D
  • Arturia Chorus JUN-6
  • Soundtoys PanMan
  • Soundtoys Phase Mistress
  • Soundtoys Tremolator
  • Xfer Records LFO Tool

  • Neural DSP Archetype: Nolly
  • Neural DSP Darkglass Ultra

  • Waves Douber
  • Kilohearts Haas (free)
  • Waves S1 Stereo Imager

  • Celemony Melodyne
  • Synchro Arts VocAlign Ultra

  • Kilohearts Pitch Shifter (free)
  • Soundtoys Little AlterBoy
  • Waves SoundShifter

  • iZotope RX 10 Advanced

  • Cableguys ShaperBox 3
  • Arturia Efx FRAGMENTS
  • Soundly Place It (free)
  • GlitchMachines Fracture (free)
  • Sinevibes Rerun

  • Waves SSL E-Channel

  • iZotope Ozone 11 Advanced

  • Mastering The Mix Reference 2
  • Youlean Loudness Meter 2
  • Socalabs Oscilloscope (free)
  • Voxengo SPAN (free)
  • Bertom EQ Curve Analyzer (free)

Synths:

  • Xfer Records Serum
  • Native Instruments Massive
  • Spectrasonics Omnisphere

Orchestral:

  • EastWest Opus w/ ComposerCloud

Drums:

  • Superior Drummer 3

Services

There's a lot that goes into music production that we could use help with. Here are a few services/retailers/resources I recommend for music producers!

There are plenty of sound/sample libraries on the market to choose from. I've found that Splice and Soundly cover my sample needs, so they each get my recommendation. They're not perfect, and can be overwhelming, but still get my proverbial “stamp of approval”.

I've been using DistroKid for releasing and distributing my music to streaming platforms since 2018 and stand by it as a great solution for independent artists.

There are plenty of online retailers for music production gear. Here are my recommendations:

  • Long And McQuade
  • Sweetwater
  • Guitar Center
  • Reverb (go-to for used gear)
  • Plugin Boutique
  • Amazon

Ear training is incredibly important for musicians and engineers. It's doubly important for us who record and produce our own music. Therefore, I though it necessary to weight in on my top picks for training your ears.

For engineering, SoundGym gets my recommendation, and for musical ear training, I recommend EarMaster.