Yes, recording one's own or otherwise knowing intimately the nature of your source material is necessary to not get lost in the woods. When setting up my studio this time around, I began with my analog bias built on a vintage Ampex deck. But all things considered, I landed on archival digital. My mics are Earthworks QTC40s (3Hz to 40kHz ruler flat x <50 microseconds settling time) in a coincident stereo array to Metric Halo ULN-8 conversion and stored via ethernet on a Mac solid state drive. MH SpectraFoo is my primary analysis tool with real-time listening (live and/or playback) and visual tools. The simultaneous multi-input environment helps integrate the analysis with the auditory experience, and playback in the recording room minimizes excess variables.