I’ll try not to make this short entry too nerdy. As I shall be recording most of the parts for the album in my little home studio (to then be mixed by an as-yet-unnamed producer), I am in the process of upgrading my gear to get the best possible results.
I purchased an Audient iD44 mkII interface to replace my old Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, which has been used for every single set of Wolcensmen demos, as well as the final album recording of Songs from the Fyrgen and all songs featured on the Early Recordings. After some research I decided on this interface because of the quality of the pre-amps.
I also needed to replace my monitor speakers, and went for the Kali Audio LP-UNFs. These are relatively small, and a pro studio may not consider them, but for my needs they are perfect – balanced frequencies and suitable for smaller rooms. I won’t be mixing the album, so I don’t need professional monitoring; just good enough that I can judge the quality of mic-positioning and performance. I have some Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro headphones which can help with that.
The final major piece of the puzzle is: microphone(s) – the most important thing after the instrument itself. Those of you who dabble in studio-work will know that you can end up down rabbit holes researching this stuff, and sometimes you must remind yourself to not squander too much of that precious creative time.