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Working from home always sounds a lot easier than recording from home. Getting the audio and video quality that’s possible in a studio can seem impossible when you’re recording at home. But that’s not actually the case – if you know what you’re doing.
Before you jump into recording audio from your home, we’ll give you all the tips to follow when it comes to choosing the best place (room) in your house to maximize the audio quality of your recording.
Can you record high-quality audio at home?
A dedicated studio space is no longer a prerequisite for recording high-quality audio. That said, your choice of home recording space can make a substantial difference to the quality of audio you’re able to record.
What to consider when choosing where to record at home
Space & size
The first thing to think about is your space limitations and needs. Depending on what your setup looks like – and the kinds of audio recordings you’ll be doing – you’ll have certain needs when it comes to how big your studio has to be. At a very minimum, you need enough space to set up your mic and laptop in a stable place.
The size of your space will also impact its acoustics: if it’s too small or tight, for instance, you’ll find yourself grappling with overly loud recordings.
Shape
The shape of your room will also influence its acoustics and sound profile. Overly symmetrical rooms can lead to echoes and sound build-up that’ll negatively impact your audio recordings.
Background noise
Though background noise is virtually impossible to eliminate completely in a home-studio environment, try to pick a space that’s as immune as possible to unwanted sounds. This includes noises from outside sources as well as vibrations from appliances within your home, for example.
6 Best places to record audio at home and still sound professional
Dedicated home studio
A dedicated home studio is obviously the best place to record audio at home. If you’re lucky enough to have a spare room at your disposal and the budget to get it all set up as a purpose-built audio recording space, then it’s a complete no-brainer.
Why record here:
- You can have a permanent audio recording setup with all the equipment you could need
- You know that your space is purpose-built to record the best audio possible
- No surprises or hiccups
Challenges:
- Even some home studio spaces are not entirely perfect or immune from unwanted disturbances.
- Budget restrictions might mean you’re unable to build out a home studio as you would like to.
- You might not have space at home for a home-studio.
Living area
Your living area is an obvious contender as a home-recording environment, especially if you’ve got guests you want to include. It’s a naturally comfortable space to sit and record and if you’re also shooting video it’ll probably act as a nice backdrop too.
Why record here:
- Comfortable for recording with guests
- Usually one of the more spacious rooms in your house, but still filled with soft furnishings. This balance usually results in good-sounding audio.
- Good backdrop if you want to record video
Challenges:
- More chance of background noise or disturbance, especially if you live in a shared home
- Even with your furniture etc, you may find that your audio is echoey or not as high-quality as you had anticipated
Basement
Basements are typically - although not always - unused areas in your house. They’re also usually pretty spacious. They can make great spaces for recording audio, but you need to be conscious of echoes and audio reflections if it’s a fairly empty space.
Why record here:
- Spacious and room to set up your equipment and potential sound treatment
Challenges:
- If it’s an empty or unused space, you might face challenges with echo and reflections
Bathroom
You might sound good to yourself in your bathroom, but it’s not actually the best place to record audio in your home.
Why record here:
- If you’re in desperate need of a recording space, then a bathroom is a good last resort
- If you’re looking to record specifically echoey audio for a creative project
Challenges:
- Bathrooms typically feature a lot of hard surfaces and not many soft furnishings. This means that any audio recorded in there will suffer from echo and reverberation.
Bedroom
We’ve all been tempted to record from our bedrooms. Not only is it comfortable but often you’re away from background noise or unwanted disturbances. It can work well for recording, but there are a few challenges to consider.
Why record here:
- Comfortable like the living area
- Away from background noise
- Like the living room, the soft furnishings will absorb any unwanted echo
Challenges:
- Might be difficult to get your equipment all set up
- If you’ve got a bigger bedroom, you might encounter issues with echo
Closet
We know that recording in your closet sounds a little crazy. But hear us out. A larger closet such as a walk-in closet can work surprisingly well for recording audio. Though it’s admittedly not the most glamorous recording environment, sometimes, you have to make do with what you’ve got. The fact that most closets don’t have windows and are filled with clothes make them an ideal space that’s protected from echo. And you wouldn’t be the only one – a lot of podcasters use their closets to record their content.
Why record here:
- Can work effectively as a space for recording dialogues, voiceovers and vocals.
- Closets also help to isolate your audio and don’t have too much echo
Challenges:
- By nature, closets aren’t the most spacious environments to record in. You probably don’t want to be recording with multiple people.
- Even though they feature a lot of soft materials that absorb echo and audio reflections, they’re still not an ideal environment for recording audio
Tips to improve audio recordings at home
Your home studio will only get you so far. There are a few other things you can do to improve the quality of your home audio recordings:
- Use high-quality microphones (and equipment). Getting yourself set up with high-quality equipment that facilitates professional-grade recording is important. It’s also important to get yourself a mic that’s made for the type of audio you’re recording: instruments vs vocals, for example.
- Work on your mic placement and etiquette. Knowing how to make your mic work for you can make a really big difference to how your recording sounds.
- Background noise removal. Make sure to use a platform like Riverside that includes audio optimization features such as background noise removal.
- Multitrack recording. Using audio recording software like Riverside that does multitrack recording is really important. Multitrack recordings means each participant’s audio (whether remote or in-person) records onto a separate track. This gives you the control during post-production to be able to optimize and master each track individually.
- Soundproofing and treating your home studio. Investing a bit of time and energy into treating your home studio space can make a huge difference. You can improve the acoustics and protect your studio environment from background noise or vibrations with just a few small changes. You can check out some tips in our article about setting up your podcast studio.
FAQs on Best Places to Record Audio at Home
How can I record good audio at home?
There are a few different things you can do to make sure you’re able to record good audio at home:
- Invest in good quality equipment (mic, headphones, recording software)
- Choose the right room in your home for recording audio
- Spend time sound-treating your home studio space
- Use recording software that includes audio optimization tools and features
Where is the best place to record a video at home?
This totally depends on what kind of video you’re trying to record. Your considerations when it comes to your video’s audio will be exactly the same as everything we’ve outlined above. Factors to think about when it comes to recording videos include lighting and your background.
What is the best room for a home studio?
No home is the same. And a lot of people don’t have the luxury of a lot of extra space at home. So a lot of the time, home studios involve a bit of compromise or the best option that you can come up with. Home studios often aren’t perfect, but they work well for what they are and make it possible to record high-quality content from home.
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