You can get quality at home or remotely. However, how many home studios have lockout rates and 24 hour tracking schedules?
At home studios you have to deal with the home, the family, the neighborhood etc.... A rock band may not feel comfortable being at someones home for three months.
Some home studios I've engineered at have a good separation between the home and the studio, like separate parking, bathroom, entrances and hang-out areas. I think this is a key part of feeling like you are working in a professional environment.
These days, with budgets and working styles as they are, the two are literally interchangeable. I can think of one TOTALLY pro 2 room studio (SSL/API) where much work was done that is now owned by a rich investor and sits there as his personal playtoy. (Or so I've heard...) Virtually a "home" studio as it's not open for commercial use.
I can also think of several "home" studios that would blow the doors off 90% of the pro studio's out there - equipment, design, gearwise, etc..
There are some general guidelines as many have stated above, but there is no longer a black and white designation determined by the location of the building. - ie: residental vs. commercial.
I have to agree with the one guy (Kittonian?) on what makes a commercial facility.
That doesn't mean that you can't get high quality results in a non-commercial facility. It just means that if the primary goal of the facility is to make recordings as finished products to be sold to customers there are certain things that make the most sense to have. Those that Kittonian listed are among those things.
After reading through the "Post pics of your home studio" thread, I started thinkin' - what is the difference between a "home studio" and a "pro studio"? Without knowing the title of that thread and just looking at the pictures one might assume some studios to be pro and others to be home. I understand that these studios are located in a "home," but Castle Oaks in Los Angeles is located in a home and it is still considered pro. So what do you all think? Is it location, equipment, buildout, clientele, staff, reputation, etc...
A pro studio charges you more money than what they give you in return
Great thread so far, it kinda reminds of restaurants or eating at home. You will be able to eat at either one and sometimes one is better than the other quality wise, one might have more options to chose from (menu) but at the end of the day it just might come down to what one prefers to do for their meal. It aint all that different these days with recordings and hard drives being the storage medium of this age we live in.
1. Separate live room and control room with a good amount of space in each with proper wiring panels between the rooms
2. Serious room treatment with proper measurements to ensure accurate sound reproduction in both tracking and mixing applications
3. Higher end gear that normal "home users" wouldn't have
4. Experienced and properly credited engineers and producers that know how to take an artist from A-Z when it comes to crafting a song, arranging the material, and of course tracking, editing, and mixing the audio
5. Proper electrical with dedicated circuits, balanced power, and a very low noise environment
6. To be considered professional you have to be charging for your services.
Otherwise, even if all of the other criteria have been met, you really just have an outstanding personal studio.
As far as being called a "professional studio" I don't believe that it matters whether the studio exists inside a residential structure or a commercial building as long as the above criteria is met.
Maybe all of these things add up to a pro studio, but a home studio doesn't necessarily have any of these.
A pro studio to me is one that is regular getting booked out week after week.
I'm actually stuck between the 480 and a bricasti right now.... Can't decide.
Well, somebody has to hold up the bottom end. heh heh Seriously, sold the 480L and the PCM96 here this year and got the Lex Native software and the M7. Couldn't be happier to see the 480 gone. It's not like a console where you can work around problems - when they break,.....they're broken. Get the Bricasti and don't look back.
As far as I am concerned pro studio is based in commercial business premises & home studio is located at home. There are not so good pro studios and fantastic home studios, great pro studios and etc. But that doesn't explain terminology. You can't have a professional hair salon at home, but a pro stylist may work from home.
Well, somebody has to hold up the bottom end. heh heh Seriously, sold the 480L and the PCM96 here this year and got the Lex Native software and the M7. Couldn't be happier to see the 480 gone. It's not like a console where you can work around problems - when they break,.....they're broken. Get the Bricasti and don't look back.
Yeah thats what I'm thinking. Less problems.. I have enough **** to keep up on here as it is. Bricasti it is.. Unless I get a bitchen deal on a 480.
What differentiates a pro studio from a home studio?
Try this at home:
That's pretty awesome.
But with a big enough room, how is it not possible?? And if your demographic does not consist of orchestras, how does that have any relevance as for your studio being professional or not?
I would never be able to do that at my studio because my biggest live room is only 22x24, but I'm sure there is more then one person out there that has a "home studio" that is big enough.
1. Separate live room and control room with a good amount of space in each with proper wiring panels between the rooms....CORRECT SPACE NOT ALWAYS THE ISSUE THOUGH
2. Serious room treatment with proper measurements to ensure accurate sound reproduction in both tracking and mixing applications CORRECT
3. Higher end gear that normal "home users" wouldn't have CORRECT
4. Experienced and properly credited engineers and producers that know how to take an artist from A-Z when it comes to crafting a song, arranging the material, and of course tracking, editing, and mixing the audio.... I HAVE SAW SUCH ENGINEERS IN PRO STUDIOS THAT DID NOT KNOW SH*T OR HAVE A GOOD EAR
5. Proper electrical with dedicated circuits, balanced power, and a very low noise environment CORRECT
6. To be considered professional you have to be charging for your services.
Otherwise, even if all of the other criteria have been met, you really just have an outstanding personal studio. MOST ALL I KNOW CHARGES EITHER WAY
As far as being called a "professional studio" I don't believe that it matters whether the studio exists inside a residential structure or a commercial building as long as the above criteria is met.