Take a look at the Slate VSX. There's a $ 100,- off offer right now and even a possibility to by them with a 12 month payment. Those headphones are best for people who don't have a treated room but want their mixes to sound as good as possible.

 

The Kali Audio LP-6 or LP-8 2nd wave are popular budget monitors. Just remember that just because the LP-8 has bigger woofers doesn't mean that they are "better". Which size of woofers are the best depends on the size (and to some degree the shape) of your room. Most nearfield monitors today are also active, so you don't need to worry about buying a power amp. Just remember that when you buy monitors they are often sold one by one, not in pairs. If they are sold in pairs it will be clearly stated.
https://www.thomann.de/kali_audio_lp_6_2nd_wave.htm

For headphones you could go with the standard Sennheiser HD600 or HD650. They are tried and true, but it's also a matter of personal preference. Other praised budget to mid-tier ones include Audio-Technica ATH-R50x, Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro, Austrian Audio Hi-X65 and the (a bit more expensive) Neumann NDH 30. Just make sure you pick a pair that are open-back and over-ear design if you are going to use them for mixing. For vocal recording you might also want to buy a pair of closed-back headphones that doesn't cause bleed from the headphones into the mic.

You can also look into planar driver/magnetostatic headphones. There are some that are not too expensive, like the Audeze MM-100. Many headphone enthusiasts prefer planar drivers over dynamic moving-coil designs. I can't personally tell you which is the better design since I simply use my good old HD650 headphones in the studio and a pair of HD560S at home. They are more than good enough for me. They get the job done, aren't uncomfortable to wear over an extended period of time and spare parts are widely available. The only things I've replaced on my HD650 pair are the pads, and each pair of pads last about 3 years.

Good luck!

 

The Clarett 2pre has ADAT input, so he will be able to expand it with an ADAT preamp. It doesn't have ADAT out though, so they will have to use the external preamp's converter as master. Even so, I agree that it could be good to upgrade to something with more I/O. Something like the MOTU Ultralite MK5 or the Audient iD24 (like you mentioned) could be good options. A used RME Fireface 802 could also work (if he can find one).

Good recommendations! The CAD M179 is probably the best "hidden gem" budget mic out there IMO. Sounds way more expensive than its price tag, and AFAIK it's still made in the US (including the capsule). Advanced Audio also makes incredible mics for the price. In my experience they beat Warm Audio microphones (similar price bracket) by a mile.

 

Last edited: Jun 17, 2025 at 3:21 PM

Regarding 2, Audient iD14 MKII https://audient.com/products/audio-interfaces/id14/overview/
Regarding 3, the drone needs to be identified (location - where exactly is it) and then dampened so that it is no longer audible.

 

I'm a Thomann customer and I was very satisfied with their customer service. If my friend agrees with me, we'll probably buy some from them again.

 

Last edited: Jun 17, 2025 at 2:57 PM

Everything will be connected to a 27" iMac i5 with 16GB RAM (another 16GB coming soon) and registering no more than one take at a time...

 

Last edited: Jun 17, 2025 at 7:22 PM