Chits Recommended Gear

Real gear, real budgets, real experience — no filler.

People ask me constantly what I actually use to record and how to build a home studio without wasting money on gear they don't need. This page is the honest answer — my real setup, plus a full breakdown by budget for every category below it, from a closet full of clothes to a broadcast booth. I don't put anything on this list I wouldn't use myself or hand to a fellow VO talent starting out.

Quick disclosure: Some links below are Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — it doesn't change your price and it doesn't change what I recommend. I only list gear I've used, tested, or would personally trust in my own signal chain.

My Everyday Setup

This is what's actually running when I hit record on a paying job:

Microphone: Sennheiser MKH 416 — Shop on Amazon
Interface: Universal Audio Apollo Twin X Duo (Gen 2) — Shop on Amazon
Headphones: Sennheiser HD 280 Pro — Shop on Amazon
DAW: Adobe Audition — Learn more
Wind Protection: Hakan P110 day-to-day, and a Hook Studios Octo-842S when I'm tracking on the 416 — Hakan P110 / Octo-842S
Booth: XL Ultimate Portable Vocal Booth — Shop on Amazon

Microphones

Every mic below is a legitimate choice at its price — I'm not padding this list with junk to hit a number.

Low Budget

MXL 990 — a real condenser sound for well under $100. Shop on Amazon
Audio-Technica AT875R — a compact shotgun mic, good intro to directional pickup. Shop on Amazon
Audio-Technica AT2020 — the standard "first real mic" recommendation for a reason. Shop on Amazon

Medium Budget

Rode NT1 5th Gen — my top pick if you want one mic that does USB and XLR. Shop on Amazon
Shure KSM32 — studio-grade condenser with a lot of headroom to grow into. Shop on Amazon
Warm Audio WA87 Jr — a U87-style character mic at a fraction of the price. Shop on Amazon

High Budget / Pro

Neumann TLM 103 — a broadcast and studio staple, in a class above. Shop on Amazon
Sennheiser MKH 416 — my go-to. The shotgun mic most VO pros eventually land on. Shop on Amazon
Universal Audio Sphere DLX — a modeling mic system that lets you switch between dozens of classic mic emulations. Shop on Amazon

Audio Interfaces

Low Budget

Focusrite Scarlett Solo — the entry point almost everyone starts with. Shop on Amazon
Audient iD4 MkII — punches above its price with a genuinely clean preamp. Shop on Amazon
Rode AI-1 — simple, single-channel, no-frills option. Shop on Amazon

Medium Budget

Universal Audio Apollo Solo — onboard DSP for real-time processing while you track. Shop on Amazon
SSL 2 — that legendary SSL preamp color in a desktop box. Shop on Amazon
Audient iD22 — more I/O for anyone building out a full chain. Shop on Amazon
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 — the most common interface in home studios, period. Shop on Amazon

High Budget / Pro

Universal Audio Apollo Twin X Duo (Gen 2) — what I run every day. Best-in-class preamps plus UAD plugin processing on the way in. Shop on Amazon

Headphones

Low Budget

Audio-Technica ATH-M20x — genuinely usable closed-back monitoring for cheap. Shop on Amazon
Audio-Technica ATH-M30x — a small step up in clarity. Shop on Amazon

Medium Budget

Sennheiser HD 280 Pro — my everyday pair. Accurate, durable, and comfortable for long sessions. Shop on Amazon
Audio-Technica ATH-M40x — flatter response, great for critical editing. Shop on Amazon

High Budget / Pro

AKG K371 — closed-back with a surprisingly wide, accurate soundstage. Shop on Amazon
Sennheiser HD 300 Pro — broadcast-grade comfort and isolation. Shop on Amazon

Cables

People skip this category and shouldn't. A cheap, poorly shielded cable can add noise and hum you'll spend hours trying to EQ out later — it's the least glamorous upgrade with one of the biggest impacts on your noise floor.

Mogami Gold — the industry standard. If you buy one cable in your life, make it this. Shop on Amazon
Pig Hog — solid mid-tier build quality, road-worthy. Shop on Amazon
Cable Matters — the affordable option that won't actually hurt you. Shop on Amazon

Boom Arm

Rode PSA1 — sturdy, quiet, and it just works. Shop on Amazon

Pop Filters & Wind Protection

Stedman PS101 — the classic metal-mesh pop filter. Shop on Amazon
Hakan P110 — my daily pop filter. Gooseneck-mounted and effective. Shop on Amazon
Hook Studios Octo-842S — purpose-built wind protection for shotgun mics like the MKH 416. Not what I use every single day, but the right call whenever I'm tracking on the 416. Shop on Amazon

Acoustic Treatment

Treatment matters more than the mic. A $3,000 microphone in an untreated room will sound worse than a $100 mic in a well-treated closet. Start here before you upgrade anything else.

Low Budget (Free – Cheap)

Pillows and blankets — stack them around your mic. It works better than people expect.
A closet full of clothes — genuinely one of the best free vocal booths available. Clothes absorb reflections extremely well.
Moving blankets — cheap, effective, and reusable for building a DIY booth. Shop on Amazon

Medium Budget

GIK Acoustics 2" panels — real, tested absorption from a company that specializes in this. Shop on Amazon
2" pyramid acoustic foam — budget-friendly, noticeable improvement on first reflections. Shop on Amazon
Soundproof foam wall panels — good coverage for a full treated room. Shop on Amazon

High Budget / Pro

Tri-Booth — a purpose-built portable vocal booth. View on Tri-Booth
GIK Acoustics 4" panels — deeper absorption for low-end control. Shop on Amazon
XL Ultimate Portable Vocal Booth — what I record in every day. Fully enclosed, quiet, and portable. Shop on Amazon

DAW / Recording Software

The DAW doesn't make you sound better — but the wrong one will slow you down on every single job. Here's what's actually used in professional VO workflows, including a completely free option with zero excuse not to start today.

Adobe Audition — my everyday DAW. Purpose-built spectral repair tools and a workflow made for spoken word. Learn more
TwistedWave (Mac only) — lightweight, fast, great for quick edits and cleanup. Learn more
Reaper — extremely capable, extremely affordable, endlessly customizable. Learn more
PreSonus Studio One — a clean, modern full-featured DAW. Learn more
Audacity (Free) — open-source, no cost, no excuse. Learn more

Plugins

Two tools handle most of my cleanup work before a file ever leaves my studio:

iZotope RX 12 — the industry-standard audio repair suite. Noise, clicks, mouth sounds, room tone — this fixes it. Learn more
iZotope Velvet — a smart de-esser that smooths harsh sibilance without dulling the top end. Replaced multiple plugins in my chain. Learn more

Want Files That Sound Like This Without Buying Any of It?

Skip the research, the trial and error, and the gear graveyard. I'll handle the room, the mic, and the cleanup — you just get a broadcast-ready file.

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