A home studio setup for beginners needs only two pieces of gear: a computer and a good pair of headphones. Add music software you can try for free, and you can start making music tonight. Everything else, from an audio interface and studio monitors to a microphone, a MIDI keyboard and acoustic panels, is optional and can wait until you need it.

Max puts it plainly in his gear video: “That’s all the necessary hardware you need to make music. Believe it or not, everything else is totally optional.” Below is the whole setup in buying order, what to look for in each piece, and how to fix your room for almost nothing.

What equipment do you need to start making music?

Here’s the full list, split into what you need now and what can wait. The must-haves come first.

• A computer. The one you have now is probably fine for your first months.
• Headphones with a flat sound. This is the one piece of gear worth buying first.
• A DAW. That’s the music program where you build your songs. FL Studio has a free trial with no time limit.

And here’s the gear that can wait, in the order most people end up needing it:

• Audio interface: only when you want to plug in a microphone, a guitar or studio speakers.
• Studio monitors: speakers made for music, once you have the space and the budget.
• Acoustic treatment: as soon as you use monitors, because your room changes what you hear.
• Microphone: when you want to record vocals or a real instrument.
• MIDI keyboard: nice to have, never required.

Max walks through every piece in this short video. The steps below follow the same order.

Step 1: Check your computer (you may not need a new one)

Don’t buy a new computer just to start. Max says you’ll likely be fine for the coming months with the setup you have. A laptop or a desktop both work, and FL Studio runs on Windows and Mac.

If you do upgrade, look at two numbers first. One is single-core speed, which means how fast one core of the processor runs, and Max says to get the highest you can. The other is memory, called RAM, which holds your sounds and instruments while you work. This slide from his video sums it up:

• Windows: at least an Intel i5 13th gen processor.
• RAM: at least 16 GB, or 32 GB if you want room to grow.
• Mac: any M-series chip. Max calls them unbeatable for music.
• Storage: an SSD, ideally 1 TB or more, so projects and instruments open in seconds instead of minutes.

Step 2: Get headphones with a flat frequency response

Headphones are the one item Max won’t let you skip. Music is made of frequencies, from the deep sub and bass, through the mids, up to the highs. Your headphones decide how clearly you hear all of them.

Look for two things. A flat frequency response means the headphones don’t boost or cut any part of that range, so a song that sounds right in them also sounds right in a car, on a laptop and in earbuds. Good imaging means you can tell where each sound sits, like a guitar on the left and cymbals on the right.

Headphones made for everyday listening often boost the bass. That’s fun for music you already love, but it hides problems in your own songs. If you plan to record vocals, pick a closed-back pair, because it keeps the beat from leaking into the mic. Open-back pairs sound more open but let sound out. Our guide to studio headphones for mixing and recording compares popular pairs.

Step 3: Pick your DAW and get the free trial

A DAW, short for digital audio workstation, is the one program where you do everything: write, record, arrange, mix and export. There are four big ones. Pro Tools is the standard for recording live instruments, Logic Pro is a Mac-only favorite of songwriters, and Ableton Live suits tech lovers and live shows.

FL Studio is the one Max tells beginners to start with. In his words, “It’s easy to start, hard to master, popular with beginners and pros.” It doesn’t lock you in either. Every DAW is built from the same parts that just look different, so switching later takes days, not months.

The FL Studio trial gives you every instrument and effect with no time limit. The catch is that it can’t reopen saved projects, so export each song as a WAV or MP3 before you close it. If you buy later, paid editions start at $99, and Max’s pick is the Producer Edition. New to it? Start with our beginner’s guide to FL Studio.

Do you need an audio interface?

Only when you want to plug something in, which is the moment a home studio becomes a home recording studio. An audio interface is a small box that connects a microphone, a guitar or studio monitors to your computer, usually over USB. It turns the sound from a mic into data your computer can record, and turns your music back into sound for your speakers.

For one person, two inputs are enough. That covers a vocal and a guitar at the same time. Max’s one warning is about ultra-cheap interfaces, because they can break quickly, add latency (a delay between playing a note and hearing it) or fail to give a mic enough power. Condenser mics need that power, called phantom power, so make sure your interface has it. We compare options in our list of audio interfaces for every budget.

How to connect your interface in FL Studio

Plug the interface in, then open Options > Audio settings in FL Studio. Open the Device menu (1). Under ASIO devices (2), pick the driver that has your interface’s name in it.

ASIO is a type of driver that keeps that delay low on Windows. If your interface isn’t listed, use FL Studio ASIO, which installs with FL Studio, or ASIO4ALL, and get your interface’s own driver from its maker’s website. On a Mac there’s no ASIO, so just pick your interface by name in the same menu.

Studio monitors: what size and what to spend

Studio monitors are speakers made for making music. Like your headphones, they should sound flat, so you hear the truth instead of a flattering version. You don’t need a subwoofer. Max says 5-inch monitors are perfect for an average room, and you shouldn’t go bigger unless you have a huge space.

Good monitors last. They don’t wear out the way headphones do, so Max says about $300 buys an amazing-sounding pair you’ll keep for 10 years or more. If you’re shopping, see our picks of the best studio monitors.

How to place studio monitors: the 38% rule

This step costs nothing and matters more than which speakers you buy. As Max puts it, “With the monitors, however, placement matters even more than the gear itself.” Here’s the method:

1. Face a wall, in the middle. Put your desk against one wall and sit centered between the two side walls, so the room is the same on your left and right.
2. Sit 38% of the way into the room. Measure from the wall you face to the wall behind you, and put your head about 38% of that distance from the front. Bass bounces between those two walls and piles up in some spots, and the middle of the room is one of the worst.
3. Make a triangle with three equal sides. The two speakers and your head are its corners, so each speaker is as far from your head as the speakers are from each other.
4. Put the tweeters at ear height. The tweeter is the small speaker that plays the highs. Raise the monitors on stands or pads until the tweeters line up with your ears when you sit.
5. Turn them in toward you. Angle each speaker so it points at your ear. Keep it off the wall and out of the corners, where bass sounds bigger than it really is.

In the diagram from Max’s video, the speakers (1) and your head (2) form exactly that triangle. To skip the math, use our free studio monitor placement calculator. Measure your room, type in the length and width, and it shows where your chair and speakers go.

How to treat your room on a budget

Even with perfect placement, sound bounces off bare walls and echoes around the room. Acoustic treatment means adding soft or dense things that soak up or scatter those echoes. You don’t need an expert or expensive panels. Shelves of books, sofas, carpets and mattresses all absorb and scatter sound, which is why Max says a studio in your bedroom is a good idea.

Cheap acoustic foam helps a little, but it only tames the mids and highs, like the human voice. The real trouble is bass. Low frequencies build up in a small room, and Max warns that this can make you think your music sounds bad when it doesn’t. Bass needs very dense material, like mineral wool panels. Or try his budget trick: “Even getting an old mattress and putting it against the wall will make a huge difference.”

If you add panels, put them where they do the most work:

• The side walls, at the first reflection points (1). These are the spots where sound from each speaker bounces straight to your ears. Sit in your chair while a friend slides a mirror along the wall. Wherever you can see a speaker in the mirror, hang a panel.
• The corners. Bass gathers there, so thick panels or bass traps help most in a boomy room.
• The wall behind you. A panel or two there stops sound from bouncing back at you.

You can build panels yourself from a simple wooden frame, dense mineral wool such as Rockwool or Owens Corning 703, and a thin fabric that air can pass through, stretched over the front. Our DIY acoustic treatment guide has more ideas.

Acoustic treatment vs soundproofing

They’re not the same thing. Treatment makes your room sound better from the inside. Soundproofing stops sound from getting in or out, and it’s much harder, because it takes heavy, sealed walls instead of panels. Foam won’t keep the neighbors happy.

For a home studio, sealing the gaps around your door and keeping the volume sensible go a long way. Max adds a warning about your ears: keep your listening volume a little lower than you’d like, because long sessions at high volume can damage your hearing.

Which room should you use?

Any quiet room works, and a lived-in bedroom often beats an empty one, because soft furniture breaks up echoes. If you get to choose, pick a rectangle over a perfect square, since square rooms make bass pile up in the same spots. Skip rooms with bare walls, tile floors and big windows. They bounce sound everywhere.

Clear the space so it’s for music, not storage. Set the desk so your arms rest at about 90 degrees, and get a chair that supports your back. You’ll spend a lot of evenings in it.

Do you need a MIDI keyboard, a microphone or a real instrument?

A MIDI keyboard is a piano-style keyboard that plays the virtual instruments inside your DAW. It makes no sound on its own. Max’s take: “Having a MIDI keyboard is cool, but definitely optional.” Your computer keyboard can tap in drums and simple melodies, and FL Studio comes with virtual instruments for everything from pianos to synths. You don’t need a real instrument, and you don’t need to know how to play one.

A microphone only matters once you want to record vocals. A condenser mic captures the most detail but also hears your room, so it needs a quiet space. A dynamic mic picks up mostly what’s right in front of it and forgives a bad room. Either way, use a stand, a pop filter and a shock mount, and never hold the mic in your hand while you record.

What to buy first: a home studio in 4 stages

If you’re building over time, this order puts your money where it makes the biggest difference:

1. Start: the computer you have, a pair of flat studio headphones and the FL Studio trial. That’s enough to make full songs.
2. Record: a 2-input audio interface, a microphone with a stand and a pop filter, and an XLR cable to connect them.
3. Speakers: a pair of 5-inch monitors, two balanced TRS cables, stands or pads to get the tweeters to ear height, and some basic room treatment.
4. Extras: a MIDI keyboard, more panels and new software, once you know what you’re missing.

Your first songs won’t be held back by your gear. They’ll be held back by not knowing what to do next, so spend most of your energy on finishing songs. Our guide on how to produce music walks through a full track, from the first idea to the export.

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