Both paths are legit, so weigh the project against the rules. Recording at home is free, convenient, and great for demos, songwriting, and in-the-box production. A booked studio wins when you want treated rooms, real isolation, better gear, and an engineer on hand.
The catch at home is compliance. The
City of Irvine's noise ordinance sets residential limits of 60 dBA from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 55 dBA from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Those limits drop by 5 dB for speech or music. Separately, the
City of Irvine's home occupation rules say a home business can't exceed residential noise norms. The residence also can't be the primary place clients are served, which makes client-facing home sessions hard to comply with. If you're weighing the two, it helps to see
how much renting a recording studio costs before you decide.
Pro tip: Booking a private, by-the-hour studio spares you the home-recording red tape. One Peerspace perk is that guests skip the permits or licensing that recording at home in Irvine can trigger, since the host's space is already set up for it.