This is a great time in history to be making music: Quality studio equipment has become more and more affordable, which makes it possible for home (or bedroom) studio recordists to produce great sounding tracks.
A few months ago I did a $1700 vs. $100,000 recording comparison at Sunset Sound – and you guys loved it! The video got such a great response, that I decided to go back with 3 new brands to put them to the test. We are using the following equipment in studio 3 at Sunset Sound (the studio where Prince recorded three of his best albums!)
I placed the affordable Lewitt microphones alongside some of the greatest mics in the world: Neumann U67s, M49s and FET47s, AKGs and Sennheisers!
The Audient interface and preamp were up against one of my favourite consoles in the world, the Sunset Sound custom built console in Studio 3 (estimated value of 1 million dollars).
We had 3 very talented musicians playing in this shootout:
• Christian Vegh on guitar
• Tony Franklin (Jimmy Page, Whitesnake) on the fretless bass
• Greg D’Angelo (White Lion) on drums
All takes were recorded through the vintage gear at Sunset Sound and the Audient/Lewitt Rig back to back. We also recorded guitar and bass through DIs to put the IK Multimedia AmpliTube 4 virtual amp simulator up against real amps!
ONE vintage Neumann U67 microphone on drums alone would cost $10,000. The total cost of the whole Lewitt/Audient/AmpliTube recording Rig is just under $4500!
The results were amazing! It shows that for a fraction of the cost you can get incredible recordings. But in your heart you knew that! Well, watch the video and check it out for yourself!
You can also download the Multitracks of the song below.
Please download the files, mix them, tweak them, do whatever you like! I am thrilled to be able showcase both the talent of these amazing musicians and the power of affordable equipment!
I hope you enjoyed this video, I had a lot of fun making it! Thank you so much to Lewitt, Audient, IK Multimedia, Sunset Sound, Christian Vegh, Tony Franklin, Greg D’Angelo and everyone else involved. Please share this video to encourage artists, musicians and producers around the world and let them know that we can make great music on affordable equipment! YOUR creativity is what really matters!
Have a marvellous time recording and mixing,
Warren