RECORDING's Holiday Buyer's Guide 2020

The Holiday season is upon us. Along with cheer, peace, and goodwill, there’s the giving and receiving of gifts. As musicians and engineers, it’s often tricky to articulate to our civilian friends and family the gear we hope to find under the tree, in our stockings, or in a package delivered to our doors. It can be even more challenging for those musicians and budding engineers looking to piece together their first recording setup.

RECORDING’s annual Holiday Buyer's Guide is here to help as we focus on the key pieces you need to kick start your studio: interfaces, microphones, and headphones. Like past RECORDING roundups, we asked our pro audio industry friends for their recommendations on the best entry-level interfaces, microphones or headphones in their lineups priced under $600.

We received a broad range of suggestions in each category, with a few fun curveballs thrown in along the way. While recording software is not featured in this roundup, most entry-level interfaces include a starter DAW. Please see our last issue’s Inside the Box column for advice on this topic, and also check out this month’s entry on Page 54 for advice on choosing an audio interface.

Please note: the product descriptions here come direct from the companies themselves, and all prices are either MAP or Street and may vary slightly at your favorite local or online retailer. A few might even be offering seasonal sale prices.