When I was collecting equipment for my home recording setup, I asked a lot of questions in G+, LJ, etc. before making decisions or spending any money. I test-drove several types of earphones, including high-end in-ear models, before picking these. Mad props to D_, R_, C_, and A_ for loaning me equipment to test-drive.

Here is the short list of the products I use to record music at home:

MOTU “Mini” analog-to-USB converter, two IN

CueMIX mixing board software, came with the MOTU

Sennheiser HD 280 Pro over-ear headphones

AT 2020 Condenser Mic with a PRO-LINE round-base mic stand (I have a boom-arm tripod stand as well, for recording harp and voice)

Audacity free online audio recording and mixing software

+ assorted ots of acoustic instruments. 🙂

Starting from here, any purchases I make will basically be upgrades to the current setup. I am not in a hurry, however. This set works perfectly for me: I typically record 1-3 voices with limited overdubbing, and I don’t need a lot of post-processing.