Building a Home Studio: Which Plug-Ins are Necessary?

It is important to consider electrical needs when building a home studio for audio recordings. Having the right plug-ins will provide safe operation and protect your equipment from damage from power surges.

To determine the best plug-ins for your home studio, it is first important to understand the equipment you will be using. The following are equipment commonly found in a recording studio.

Studio Equipment

The equipment used in a recording studio often requires more power than typical household electrical appliances. These include a mixing console, multi-trick recorders, microphones, loudspeakers and equalizers.

Digital audio workstations are professional versions of computers that have recording software. For building a home studio, a computer is the most accessible and easy way to make recordings.

The hardware plugs for all of the aforementioned equipment typically are three pronged plugs that include a grounding pin.

Plugs and Sockets

The designs of plugs and sockets offer safety measures to earth a device prior to connection to power. On a plug it will have a third grounding pin or on a socket it will have a configuration that will only allow the correct insertion of a plug. The grounding pin shank is often insulated to eliminate or reduce the possibility of electrical exposure if the plug is only partially inserted.

Typical plugs for powerful electrical devices such as those used when building a home studio are three-pronged. Make sure that all of the sockets in your studio room accommodate this type of plug.

Surge Protectors

Surge protectors can offer some protection for high-powered electrical devices. It works to regulate the voltage supply to the device and prevent any spikes that can cause damage. Surge protectors also have three-pronged plugs to insert in a wall socket that will help ground the protector.

Surge protectors come in two versions – one that offers multiple plug-ins and is directly plugged into the socket or a power strip that has a cord to plug it in.

Power Conditioners

Depending on how much equipment you need to plug in, surge protectors may not be sufficient for protection. A power conditioner may be a better choice for voltage, surge and spike protection and additionally offers noise reduction, which is important for studio recordings.

This device is a rack with multiple outlets that aids in power distribution. It is more effective than surge protectors on preventing surges to pass on to the equipment as they have a limited capacity.

However, in a similar situation, a surge protector or an inexpensive power conditioner will be internally destroyed from a surge to your equipment and will need replacing. Higher end power conditioners will have a stronger capability to react to a power surge and will not be damaged.

When comparing your options, decide if spending more on a power conditioner at the outset may be more cost effective than replacing less expensive models of surge protectors each time they are damaged.