Many years later in 2009, I decided that I would convert the 4th bedroom of our house into a small recording studio. I had got a reasonably powerful iMac with GarageBand and Logic loaded on it, but as good as this was there was something missing. It took me a long while to figure out what it was and then it dawned on me. Where was that nice warm, mellow sound, that nice tape saturated sound that you can only get with analogue reel-to-reel machines by deliberately putting a lot of level onto the tape?

There was only one thing for it, I needed to buy an analogue multi-track tape deck again. At first, I started looking around for used Studer 1'' and 2'' machines but these were seriously expensive and not without their mechanical and electrical challenges - let alone their limited spares availability. I needed to be more realistic in what was going to give me the most 'bang for the buck' and my ability to carry out regular maintenance on it.

I was looking at eBay one day and came across a Tascam 38 which was a half inch 8 track machine with 8 channels of DBX noise reduction all nicely loomed and housed into a studio trolley. I went to look and listen to it and bought it there and then. In retrospect, I probably did pay too much money for it as the heads weren't in the best of condition but you live and learn I guess.

​Shortly afterwards I took the machine to a North London based firm who gave the deck a complete service, a new headblock and a full alignment. I got it home and was delighted with the results. Bass and drums in particular were seriously impressive and even today I would say that the dynamic range is difficult to match in the digital world. Analogue tape just has something about it that it is not possible to fully imitate with any other audio format.

As I write this in February 2017, the machine still sounds fantastic and is fed through a Soundcraft M8 mixer and onto a pair of Samson Resolv 80a studio monitors.

Fast forward (see what I did there?) to May 2018. I have recently sold the Tascam 38 and the new owner is delighted with it as he now has it installed in his 'retro' studio in Wakefield. I'm sure that he'll have many years of use out of this recorder!
If you have read this far, you might think I'm some kind of 'audio dinosaur' that doesn't embrace modern digital technology. There is some truth in that, but you cannot beat the convenience of digital particularly when it comes to portable or field recording. I bought this Tascam DR-40 back in 2016 and I've been delighted with the results from the build in stereo microphones or when you plug in an external one. It has XLR connectors with 48v phantom power and I think that this is great value recorder with loads of clever editing functionality.

​This is the Soundcraft Spirit M8 that I use in my studio at home, but I have also taken it on location for live events occasionally. It is a lot of mixer for the money and it offers 8 mono and 4 stereo inputs into 2 outputs. Plenty of auxiliary sends and monitoring available as well so it makes for an extremely versatile unit. It's not the quietist mixer on the market, but as long as you're careful with EQ and levels then it's certainly good enough for what I need it for.
I've always wanted to own a Shure SM58, the classic microphone as used by Roger Daltry and many others. I bought one about 6 months ago and it is every bit as good as I expected it to be. I normally use it with my Tascam DR-40 recorder or as a second interview microphone in my studio.
This is my main microphone that I use for voice over work and also when I'm guesting on other people's podcasts. It's a Røde NT-1A which comes complete with a pop shield mesh and an isolating suspension system. I've also added their WS2 foam pop shield as I think it does a slightly better job and the anglepoise arm that I can attach to my desk. All in all, a great value for money package I think.
This is a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface that I use to connect analogue sources to my Mac. It features really high quality mic pre-amps, analogue to digital converters, 48v phantom power and separate headphone and monitor outputs. It uses power from the computer's USB port. I bought it at the same time as the Røde NT-1A microphone and they work brilliantly together.
​Trying to run a hybrid analogue and digital studio in the same place can be challenging to say the least. A while ago I bought this M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R audio interface. It allows me to use the Tascam 38 analogue deck and bounce tracks to and from either GarageBand or Logic on the Mac. It takes a bit of setting up but they have done a nice job on the electronics and the sound quality is really impressive. It can also be used for direct injection of most instruments.
This Tascam CD-RW900SL is what I use to master some of my digital and analogue multi-track tapes on to. It's a superb unit but I hardly ever use it these days and most of the thing I do end up being a digital file of some sort. Amazing what a short life time the CD format has had really.
Just below the CD recorder in the tape deck studio trolley is a very important addition that I made a few years ago. A 2U wine rack that will take 4 bottles of your favourite tipple. This picture was taken after a particularly trying afternoon and therefore the wine rack is empty, but the picture below from Canford's website shows you what a fully stocked version looks like!
Here is my iMac which is a standard late 2015 27'' model with no additional memory or storage. It's just about adequate for the job and the SSD drive does help a lot, but when doing complex mixes in Logic the fan often cuts in and you can tell it's having a hard time of it. I can't afford to get a new one at the moment so it will have to do for the time being.