the quality of this bundle's recordings truly justifies the price!
I've tested the five most popular studio bundles available right now.
I've even got a mic audio interface and headphones bundle that costs
only $158! so which one is right for you?
let's find out! I never like to keep you waiting for the best part of the video,
so let's start right now. here's a blind test of the song i
recorded with the five mics and interfaces in this comparison.
make a note of your favorites and i'll reveal which is which later.
(Music) every time I think of you i get a shot right through into a bolt
of blue it's no problem of mine but it's a
problem I find living a life that I can't leave
behind there's no sense in telling me the wisdom of a fool
won't set you free that's the way that it goes
what nobody knows and every day my confusion grows
[Music]
all right did you pick your favorites? I'm going to reveal which is which and
remember, the sound quality alone may not be enough to win. what about
things like the included software, bonus features, and durability, build
quality? watch until the end to learn everything you need to know
to make your decision. and if you use any of the links in the video description to
buy one of these bundles it does help out my channel
and you still get the best deals. if you're new around here I'm Sanjay C.
i have tons of videos about music production and budget gear on my channel.
consider subscribing if you haven't already. I bring you the latest gear
and budget options so you can record your own music at home.
[Music]
[Music] so were you surprised at the ones you picked?
let's get into the details. by the way,
you'll see that I'm using a microphone shield.
this is the Aston Halo. it's super effective in isolating your recordings
and protecting it from reverb in your room. I'd really
recommend this if you're recording at home,
or in a studio for that matter. it's big but it's light
and it worked beautifully. i'll put a link to it in the video description.
all of these bundles come with three things - an audio interface,
a microphone, and headphones. the Mackie bundle
comes with an extra microphone which makes it a bit more expensive.
but otherwise it's comparable to the others. latency was similar on these
interfaces but Mackie had a slight edge. all right first up the Mackie bundle was,
in my opinion, the best sounding of all the bundles
here. the mic picked up every nuance of the recordings and
sounded very professional for this price. the quality of this bundle's recordings
truly justifies the price. I recorded my vocals with the
included condenser microphone, but depending on your voice or application,
you may want to use the dynamic mic included as well.
the interface is also very high quality and my guitar recordings, once again,
sounded excellent. the Mackie is the most expensive bundle here and if you just
need one specific mic the other might just be
waste. but for the price you do get some features like
MIDI ins and outs. the only other bundle that includes MIDI ins and outs is the
Presonus. there is one questionable issue with the
Mackie bundle - the headphones. they sound fine, but they
look identical to the headphones included in the M-Audio
and Focusrite bundles. it leads me to believe that these are
just some generic headphones with each of the logos slapped on.
they all sound pretty much the same. the audio interface features two combo
inputs. you can record two microphones or two guitars or a
combination - or even a stereo synth. and the bundle
includes all the cables and even a very nice shock mount. they've
really covered everything. the Mackie bundle includes Traction
music production software. but Traction doesn't have the same
popularity and cachet of other DAWs included in the other bundles.
let's check out a bundle with my choice of software included.
now the one thing these bundles don't include is speakers or
studio monitors. I recently compared the best studio monitors for home recording
and you can watch that video here. great budget picks in that video
too. next is the Focusrite Scarlett solo recording bundle. it costs around
$220 and for that price the recording sounded excellent. I found
that the Focusrite recordings were the smoothest
of all. and with this bundle you get an excellent software package.
it comes with Ableton live lite - my DAW of choice.
excellent Focusrite plugins, some free instruments, and
access to the Focusrite plugin Collective, which delivers
free plugins every few months. Focusrite interfaces are the most popular out
there and this one has all the basic features and great sound
quality to go along with it. however, you don't get as many options for
ins and outs as you do with the Presonus, Mackie, and Behringer interfaces in this
roundup. if you need to record a stereo input
like a stereo synth for example, you're better off buying one of the
others. the Focusrite mic has a very tight XLR jack and if you
don't get your cable in just right it actually produces
a hum in your recordings. easy to correct by
jamming the cable in of course. Focusrite has a great reputation, but for a little
less money, you get a better value with the Presonus
bundle. let's check that out next and then we'll
also take a look at the cheapest option in this roundup. hey if you're recording
songs at home and want to release them to the world,
you may want to check out DistroKid the sponsor of today's video
i use DistroKid to upload my music to Spotify,
Apple Music, Pandora, pretty much everywhere.
no record label needed. I just do it myself straight from my computer.
DistroKid distributes your music to all the popular platforms,
all at once. and they'll collect earnings from all the platforms so you get paid
for downloads and plays. it's really seamless. one of my favorite
features of DistroKid is Hyper Follow. once you upload your music
your unique Hyper Follow page allows you to promote your music
anywhere you want to share the link. and it's easy to get people to follow
you to keep up with your future releases. marketing your music - so important. I've
actually created two dedicated videos on DistroKid to give you all the details
about how it works, how you upload, how you get
paid, and the features you don't want to miss. you can watch my intro video to
DistroKid right here. that video generated so many questions
from you all that I created another one answering all the most
popular questions. check out those videos and if you're ready to sign up i'll
include a link in the video description that will give you
7% off your first year of membership. all right the Presonus bundle
is in my opinion the best value of all the bundles in this roundup.
my recordings sounded great a bit of high-end sparkle with this microphone -
but still pleasant. the Presonus audio interface is one of
my favorites. I've actually recommended this interface before.
at this price you get two combo inputs and midi ins and outs -
just like the Mackie. vocals and guitar recordings sounded excellent with this
interface. I've actually compared it to a bunch of
other interfaces and if you're just looking for
an interface you can check out my top picks in a video here.
so great interface pleasant mic and. actually the headphones were decent too
they are more comfortable than the others and have decent isolation. the
Presonus bundle includes Presonus's own studio one artist recording software.
Studio One is an excellent recording solution and they
even throw in some very nice additional instruments and effects.
Studio One is not as popular as some of the other DAWs out there, but
it is complete nonetheless. the Presonus hardware
components don't have the same build quality as the Mackie ones but
it's such a great value and I highly recommend it as a complete solution that
you won't need to replace for a long time.
next let's look at the cheapest bundle the Behringer U-Phoria Studio pro
recording podcasting bundle. wow that's a mouthful!
the Behringer bundle gives you everything you need for under $160,
but the quality of the recording just didn't compare with the others in
this roundup. the microphone just didn't deliver a
full sound. it was harsh on the high end and it
lacked a lot on the low end. my voice sounded thin and I had to eq a
lot to get it to sound natural. the interface itself isn't bad.
this is the "Pro" version of the Behringer bundle, so you
get a decent interface. it's got all the features of the others
except no MIDI ins and outs. but you may not need that. the headphones
included with this bundle are definitely the worst of the bunch.
in fact they feel and sound like headphones you might get
on an airplane in economy class. I always try to find the positive aspects of the
music gear I review but it was impossible to find anything
positive to say about these headphones. okay enough about that. Behringer throws
in some software with this bundle but nothing to write home about.
so would I recommend it? if you're really tight on your budget
you can make do with this bundle but it's not up to par
with the others in this roundup. alright last we've got the M-Audio bundle. this
bundle includes one of my recommended audio
interfaces. great interface and I love the layout of the controls.
the microphone recording was fine but not my favorite. it sounded a little boxy
in my opinion. but hey use your ears. if you like the
sound that's all that matters. they include a shock mount with this mic
which is nice. nothing special with the headphones they look and sound exactly
the same as the ones included with Mackie and Focusrite bundles. M-Audio
includes Ableton Live Lite - awesome! Pro Tools First - okay.
and a bunch of great effects and instruments from Air. great quality stuff.
this is a great bundle exactly the same price as the Focusrite one but
honestly for $10 more you get more features with that Presonus one.
listen, you don't have to choose from my favorites. use your ears,
buy what you can afford. but I'm so glad i did this test because it really goes
to show how good your recordings can be with a
budget bundle like these. if you're ready to buy one of these, you
can use the links in the video description below.
don't forget to hit the like button, and subscribe for more videos like these and
if you'd like to show your support for this channel check out my merchandise right
under this video - t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and even a MIDI
and sample pack! keep making the music you love! and hey
if you're just getting started with music production,
watch one of these videos next.
[Music]