My friend I never discount the value of anything, as a scientist I am always open to new vistas.You can sit at your desk and create an excellent first rate demonstration recording.To consider that a master recording session is to fool yourself.I am not saying that it sounds bad or is of poor quality.I am speaking technically here.I have a setup of course to home record,both digital software as well as two reel-to -reel analog decks as well as an ancient phillips cassette recorder for on location stuff and mind boggling acoustic guitar tracks.This is how I get ideas together.As I have explained,a serious home studio is a 30 grand investment and it has to be engineered.At that point even still you are going to have to take the work to a studio (hoping that it will format)and the final mix is going to have to be mastered in a dedicated mastering lab.Now I do know artists that have home studios and the engineering skills to go right from the home studio to mastering.It is one hell of a home studio though,I mean it is a professional studio in a home.All of the high cost of equipment and technical skill,never mind that,a studio is a room designed to inherit,acoustically and sonically the best sound qualities of the work being done in it.When a studio is being built pink and white noise generators are used.The sonic properties of the room are known,you know in a session where to place the artists and how to place the mics, and what mics to use for what purpose.You are set up to begin cutting and the assitant engineer may come out and say "can you please turn to the left about six inches,could you hold the guitar like this?" "Don't sing into the mic,sing over the top of it."Why that,wont it be more powerful if I sing directly into it?Well you see when you are cuttuing vocal composites the big trick after you are warmed up and on pitch is that you have to lean your head in and out of the mic.The mic is extremely sensitive,it is picking up the squeak in your shoe,your keys rattling in your pocket.If you are singing directly into it and leaning in and out you are blowing your headroom.This is really some cool shit ain't it?