Guides– category –

Free plug-ins for mixing vocals, sorted by role (EQ, compressor, pitch correction, reverb, delay, saturation). Twelve products confirmed free on the makers' official pages, with the order to use them and the caveats of free versions.

If your home recordings sound poor, suspect room echo. The difference between soundproofing and sound absorption, where to put absorbing material, reflection filters, easy methods using a closet or blankets, and notes for rented homes.

The basics of export settings when you export a cover song or your own track from a DAW. File formats such as WAV, how to choose a sample rate, bit depth and dither, and what normalize means, based on the official manuals of Ableton Live and Cubase.

The current state of free DAWs such as GarageBand, Cakewalk Sonar, Reason Free, Cubase LE/AI, Ableton Live Lite, FL Studio, Waveform Free, LMMS, Ardour, BandLab and Fender Studio Pro (formerly Studio One), checked on official pages. The differences between completely free, bundled-only and trial, with a comparison table.

The gear you need to start DTM, explained in the order of computer, DAW, audio interface, headphones, microphone and MIDI keyboard, with a minimal kit for three levels (light, standard and advanced).

The differences between dynamic and condenser microphones in principle, sensitivity, room pickup and phantom power, how to choose for streaming and cover songs, and standard models such as the SM58, SM7B and AT2020.

How to choose a DAW (music and recording software) for cover songs and home recording. Cubase, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Fender Studio Pro, REAPER and Bitwig Studio compared by supported OS, US price, free trial, vocal pitch editing, comping and bundled instruments.

How to choose an audio interface for home recording and DTM, explained by number of inputs and outputs, a guide to sound quality, loopback and bundled software, with eight standard models compared by level.

How to choose a condenser microphone for home vocals and streaming. The difference between USB and XLR microphones, pickup patterns and the peripheral gear you need, with eight models such as the AT2020, NT1 5th Generation and TLM 102 compared by level.

OBS Studio supports only VST2 plug-ins, so VST3 and Waves plug-ins do not work as they are. Based on official information: how to use VST3 (free bridge plug-ins), Waves' official method, what to check when a plug-in does not appear, and noise reduction, compressor and EQ plug-ins that work in OBS.