Advise me for Audio Book & ScreenCasting Narration Videos

Hello,

This is Mohamed from EGYPT - Cairo.

It gives me a great pleasure writing to you.

Please I am looking for a vocal microphone but really confused with all these technical details and brands and models, and cannot make up my mind so I hope you may help me to choose a one and make an order.

I will use the microphone only for the following purposes:-

  1. Commenting on my educational screencasting video tutorials.

  2. Make my audio books.

I will not do any kind of music performance at all.

So after googling a lot I’ve found that I’ve two options to do it as follow:-

(A) To buy an USB vocal microphone which is all-in-one solution and connect it directly to my computer. (Most professional reviews go toward recommending xlr option).

(B) To buy XLR vocal microphone and a mixer support phantom power, and connect the mixer to computer using USB audio interface or get a mixer that is already has an USB interface so I can connect the mixer directly to my computer.

So please help me for which option is better for the best vocal sound quality?

Also I will use the microphone for these purposes only and no one will be setting next to me during recording (I mean it is a one direction for recording) and of course will use a pop filter to get a smooth sound and a portable pooth.

I’ve found some mixer like (Focusrite Scarlett 2i2) & (Behringer XENYX 302USB) but I do not know what is the best one of them or to use some adapter like (Shure X2u XLR-to-USB) Signal Adapter.

I’ve found a lot of technical details and I’d love to know your opinion about it as an experienced user.

Please excuse my poor technical knowledge and mistakes because I am totally new to these stuffs.

*) Almost all reviews go for XLR over USB, and I think I will do the same and pick the XLR.

*) Another reason for the XLR and a mixer is the option for later on expansion in case I need to attach more than one microphone, using of a mixer with 2 or 3 inputs will make it easy while using all-in-one usb will just limit it to use it or let it go if you want to change for a reason or another.

*) Mixer could be connected to computer without a USB interface through the line-in interface socket that is already existing in any given sound card, so even if the mixer does not include a USB interface cable it is still connectable to a computer, while I did not test it or found any YouTube for it but theoretically it makes sense.

*) Most vocal microphone suffer a lot of collecting background especially sensitive models and I did found a lot of complains of the famous Blue Yeti and Audio Technica … and on the other hand the dynamic microphones are far good especially when you record and set in the direct front of the microphone and use appropriate microphone etiquette.

and found the following dynamic microphones :-
(Shure SM7B) & (RE20) & (Heil PR40) & (Rode Procaster).

Or still condenser vocal microphones a better option? I am just a bit worry regarding picking up the background noises in the room or the the other places in the house.

And been reading tons of reviews and a lot of YouTube testing and I think I will go for the XLR but now I am confused about which mixer to buy and which dynamic microphone to buy … I am thinking about it as a long term investment so the most important thing for me is the quality of the sound and I do not mind to buy the expensive microphone for the long run investment usage. but I am not after the expensive itself but I mean the good and best quality.

So please advise because your opinion really = $$ and saving a lot of trials and errors time.

Finally if you have a better option, please advise.

Thanks a lot
Mohamed.

Please excuse my poor technical knowledge and mistakes because I am totally new to these stuffs.

We’re going to get you to write technical descriptions for the forum. Are you sure you’ve never done this before?

I wrote two live performance answers that may help a little. The microphone and connection systems are important, but they are tiny compared to a quiet and echo-free room. People laugh at me when I say they need a “studio,” but I don’t mean a room with expensive wall treatments, pleasant lighting, double-glass windows and control room. I mean a room with no dog barking or TV running. I mean a room that doesn’t sound like a barn, plain empty room or empty garage or car park.

Modern stylish rooms with polished wood floors and plain walls with expensive artwork means you will be recording your performance somewhere else. Professional recordists try to call in sick when they have to record a well-paid actor in one of those houses.

https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/making-music-cds-with-audio-on-audacity/32043/1
https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/which-microphone/32047/1

They may give you a better feel for how this works. One of the posters mentioned a microphone with both a USB and an XLR connection. That may work for you as USB for a long time and allow you to expand to a sound mixer later. I have no experience with those microphones.

I write toward “Americanisms” so I may lose you here and there. “As The World Turns” is a popular afternoon TV show.

Koz

As Koz suggested, one of the most underrated piece of “equipment” is the room. To get really good recordings you need a good room. If there is background noise then a good microphone will pick it up. If there is echo then a good microphone will pick that up too. Lots of soft furnishings, heavy curtains and carpet can help to soak up sound. An empty bare room will sound like an empty bare room. These are things that cannot be fixed so they must be right in the original recording.

It is very common for people that are new to recording to underestimate the importance of the room (the recording environment). “This microphone is rubbish, there is a constant tick tick tick…” which turns out to be the clock on the other side of the wall. A good microphone, any good microphone, will pick up tiny details of sound that people are not normally aware of. This is not a recommendation for or against any particular microphone, but to criticise a microphone because it picks up background noise is an unrealistic criticism. Microphones are designed to pick up “sound”, any sound. Some microphones are more directional than others, but other than that a microphone does magically know which sound you want to record and which sound you don’t - it will pick up any sound that is there.

Yes, that can be a big reason to not go for a USB mic. The job that USB microphones are designed for is when you need one microphone and only one microphone. Although some recording programs are able to record from more than one audio device at a time, there is still a risk using 2 USB microphones that they can gradually drift out of synch with each other, causing strange unwanted effects. Audacity can only record from one device at a time, so if you’re recording one USB microphone then that is the limit.

On the other hand, if you will only ever need one microphone, then a USB microphone can be a good choice. A USB microphone is likely to be about the same price as a conventional (XLR) microphone. If you have a limited budget and you don’t need to but a sound card or a mixer then you have more of your budget available for the microphone, headphones and other equipment.

Another important consideration with USB microphones is if you need to hear your own voice through your headphones (often not necessary, but if you do…) then you need to use a USB microphone that has a headphone socket built into the microphone. Some USB microphones have this and some don’t.

The third important consideration with USB microphones is “how loud is your voice?”
Most USB microphones have fixed “gain”. That is, the recording “volume” from microphone through to becoming a digital signal is fixed. If you have a quiet voice then the digital signal will be low level - the digital level can be increased by amplifying, but all microphones and microphone pre-amps have some amount of “self noise” (usually in the form of hiss). If the recorded signal is quiet, then it will need to be amplified, which will not only amplify your voice but will also amplify the “hiss”.
On some (generally more expensive) USB microphone there may be a “gain control” which allows you to control how much the microphone signal is amplified before it is turned into a digital signal. This is very important if you wish to record things that are especially loud or especially quiet.

If you are concerned about future expansion of your “studio” the a conventional XLR microphone will probably be the better option (either with a mixing desk or with a USB microphone pre-amp). If you will only ever need to use one microphone and you can find one that gives good results with your voice, then a USB microphone may be worth considering.

There is one problem with USB microphones that was revealed in several posts recently. Condenser microphones require power to operate. Unlike ribbon or dynamic (moving coil) microphones, condensers all have electronics inside. They can be designed to run from an actual battery you have to buy and install, the “Phantom Power” service in a sound mixer, Mic-In on a computer or the USB socket on the side of a computer. DC or “battery” has to come from somewhere.

In the case of the USB socket, the computer makes five volts and supplies it on one of the USB gold pins. If the computer doesn’t do a particularly good job of providing a clean, quiet and well-behaved five volts, most USB devices like keyboards and mice will not care, but a USB microphone may fail. One complaint was of a electronics hobby person who changed his computer motherboard (essentially the whole computer) and the new one would not work with his USB microphone. His was not the only complaint.

The problem is background noise like frying, sizzling, popping, or whining added to the show.

~~

I do have experience with the Samson G-Track USB microphone.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/samsonGTrackConnections.jpg

I certified it for use in Perfect Overdubbing.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tutorial_recording_multi_track_overdubs.html

The owner (not me) uses it for singing and recording guitar for band rehearsals and new song composition. He likes it and I liked it while I was using it.

Koz

Yes that is true.

This is why I’ve bought a good power supply to ensure the end result. Also many complained about connecting to non-main USB ports. I mean it must be connected to a USB port that is directly connected to motherboard.

Agreed.

~~

But will it fit well for vocal purposes ? :wink:

I am sorry that I did not mentioned that I will use a portable booth.

It is very common for people that are new to recording to underestimate the importance of the room (the recording environment). > “This microphone is rubbish, there is a constant tick tick tick…” > which turns out to be the clock on the other side of the wall. A good microphone, any good microphone, will pick up tiny details of sound that people are not normally aware of. This is not a recommendation for or against any particular microphone, but to criticise a microphone because it picks up background noise is an unrealistic criticism. Microphones are designed to pick up “sound”, any sound. Some microphones are more directional than others, but other than that a microphone does magically know which sound you want to record and which sound you don’t - it will pick up any sound that is there.

Thanks for highlighting this :slight_smile:

Yes, that can be a big reason to not go for a USB mic. The job that USB microphones are designed for is when you need one microphone and only one microphone. Although some recording programs are able to record from more than one audio device at a time, there is still a risk using 2 USB microphones that they can gradually drift out of synch with each other, causing strange unwanted effects. Audacity can only record from one device at a time, so if you’re recording one USB microphone then that is the limit.

Is it possible that I may use two dynamics microphone to record?

On the other hand, if you will only ever need one microphone, then a USB microphone can be a good choice. A USB microphone is likely to be about the same price as a conventional (XLR) microphone. If you have a limited budget and you don’t need to but a sound card or a mixer then you have more of your budget available for the microphone, headphones and other equipment.

I think I may need it later on, so I will go for XLR.

Another important consideration with USB microphones is if you need to hear your own voice through your headphones (often not necessary, but if you do…) then you need to use a USB microphone that has a headphone socket built into the microphone. Some USB microphones have this and some don’t.

Yes, thanks for the tip.

The third important consideration with USB microphones is “how loud is your voice?”
Most USB microphones have fixed “gain”. That is, the recording “volume” from microphone through to becoming a digital signal is fixed. If you have a quiet voice then the digital signal will be low level - the digital level can be increased by amplifying, but all microphones and microphone pre-amps have some amount of “self noise” (usually in the form of hiss). If the recorded signal is quiet, then it will need to be amplified, which will not only amplify your voice but will also amplify the “hiss”.
On some (generally more expensive) USB microphone there may be a “gain control” which allows you to control how much the microphone signal is amplified > before > it is turned into a digital signal. This is very important if you wish to record things that are especially loud or especially quiet.

Then I can confirm that I will go towards XLR solution.

If you are concerned about future expansion of your “studio” the a conventional XLR microphone will probably be the better option (either with a mixing desk or with a USB microphone pre-amp). If you will only ever need to use one microphone and you can find one that gives good results with your voice, then a USB microphone may be worth considering.

thanks for confirming and i will go for xlr.

Thanks for the nice words but it is just i tried to do my homework first before posting here and reading and watching reviews and tutorials really helped a lot. Also when I am reading any reviews I start with the low rated stars reviews which show disadvantages so I search for it to get a better idea and it did paid back in more understanding for the big picture.
I will be glad to do anything that may help anyone and glad to offer my services for free here in the forum :slight_smile:

You are completely 100% true regarding the room and how full or empty it is.

I’ve a very classic room which has a lot of furnitures and I think it will be good for that purposes >>> I’ve found some people make a very good and amazing portable booth with a very cheap materials and some others using egg holders to cover the walls in the room.

Ok, I will check both of them.

Please may I reask for the vocal xlr microphone you are recommending and which sound mixer with usb interface you are recommending? and is it possible or make sense to get two microphone and attach them to mixer to get a better sound? I mean get the two famous good vocal microphone in the market :wink:

If you use a stereo mixer, then when you plug an XLR microphone in, you usually have the ability to “fade” the sound anywhere from the left through the middle and to the right. If you plug in two microphones, whether they match or not, you can assign one microphone to the left and the other to the right – or put them both in the middle and the show will sound like half of both.

However. There are demons associated with this process. Early FM Stereo broadcasts had two microphones for the announcer/presenter. The announcer would lean over to pick up his pencil while he was talking and three cars would drive off the road and one listener would get motion-sick. Nobody does that any more.

Microphones can interfere with each other. You can get Comb Filter Effects where the combination of the two microphones respond to certain pitch vocal tones better than others – and it changes as you sing or speak higher pitches. It can sound like speaking in a barrel in extreme conditions. Some sound technicians put two microphones on a podium – and then disconnect one of them and not tell anybody.

~~

The Electro-Voice RE20 is a terrific dynamic (moving coil) microphone for speaking. It’s used in many broadcast and theatrical voice recording studios.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RE20?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=PPC&utm_campaign=recording&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&gclid=CL7Ty9PvlbsCFdKTfgods20ACw

That and a shock mount, stand and blast screen and you’re good to go.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/309A

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PopFilter6/

I have this stand and work has two. I like it. It’s stable without being heavy.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MicStdFBoomL/

Koz

This is an actual broadcast sound shoot. That’s my stand, microphone with shock mount, the blast filter (barely visible) mixer and computer with Audacity. The client said the show went very well and he was pleased with the sound.

The microphone is an AKG C 414B XLII.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/JMASoundShoot.jpg

Probably overkill, but it was available. We double recorded the session and didn’t need the backup.

Koz

My personal general mixer is a Peavey PV6. Probably its worst two shortcomings are the inability to run from batteries (I have not actually tried the car battery trick) and it uses knobs instead of slide faders for each sound channel. I have the analog mixer because my Mac has a very good stereo analog Line-in. This mixer also comes in a USB version that I have never used.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/search.php?s=pv6&Go=Search

People generally get into trouble by digging to the smallest and lowest cost mixer and sacrificing some quality or feature that’s really necessary.

My opinion is I need three different places to set microphone level: Trim, Volume and Master. Each one has a slightly different job and contributes to the overall success of the performance. If you have all three controls, the mixer typically has more range to boost low volume signals than other, smaller mixers, and it’s easier to get a well-balanced multi-microphone performance (should you need that).

I have two field mixers, but the one I like best is the broken one. This is a Shure FP33 going out on a job.

http://kozco.com/pix/shureFP33SoundShoot.jpg

It has the mark of a successful mixer. There’s no paint left, you can’t read any of the knobs any more and you can’t have it right now because it’s on a job.

Koz

That’s Rush Limbaugh and his gold RE20.
Koz
Screen shot 2013-12-03 at 10.33.11 PM.png

You mean it is better to use two dynamics microphones like re-20 & heil pr-40? or you mean that using two mics will result in getting half the quality?

So it is better to use only one kind?

So you think it is better than the Hiel PR-40 ? I mean I’ve realized that PR-40 is sounded deeper and rich compared to RE-20 and I do not know if it is a matter of adjusting the mixer or it is something related to the microphone itself.

I will need a boom arm for the microphone so it is like those we see on the radio studio.

1st of all thanks for the tip for how to use the stand over the desk because I thought the stand on only used on a stage and a boom arm only on the desk.
2nd I do like a lot your place and how you arrange things a lot :slight_smile:
So the microphone in this picture is AKG C 414 B XL II and the mixer is Peavey PV6, what about the other items in the picture?

Is it a prodcast ?

When I searched 1st I’ve found the brand behringer mixer is the cheap and most reviewed online so I was about to buy the one with the usb interface but later on I’ve found two many suffer of its noise as you mentioned beside that I read many times that behringer mixer is a cheap copy of the mackie mixers and I’ve found the famous Cliff from PodcastAnswerMan recommending Mackie 1402-VLZ4 Mixer with Heil PR-40.

I am afraid that I do not understand this technical details and would like to know more about it.

It is more than 1000 $$ … :frowning:

So to sum it up you are recommending using the re-20 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Z7LLQ0/) which is $414.16 compared to heil pr-40 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BQXOEM/) which is $310.00 ? does the 100 $$ deserve the technical differences in between both microphones?

Also for the mixer shall I buy the mentioned mackie mixer (Mackie 1402-VLZ4 Mixer) or there is something else from mackie? I’ve found too many models here (http://www.mackie.com/products/mixers/index.html).

Thanks a lot :slight_smile:

I’ll be back a little later. Those equipment choices all have stories.
Koz

holding my breath :ugeek:

Just so you’re not on the edge of your seat. That makes your legs fall asleep.

You mean it is better to use two dynamics microphones like re-20 & heil pr-40? or you mean that using two mics will result in getting half the quality?

Different quality. Two microphones on one instrument or voice is almost never recommended. It’s too hard to control the physical placement and combining two different microphones can give unstable or undesirable sound. There are instruments like drums or pianos that have very different sound depending on location. Those are routinely double or triple miked. The best way to capture that is on separate tracks and mix down to one track in a quiet room in post production. “Cymbals are too loud. Pull down Mic #3 a little.”

Microphones have a reputation for a particular working technique. The Shure SM57 has a reputation as a good drum or instrument microphone and the SM58 is used by rock bands all over earth for voice. The world will not end if someone sung a song into an SM57. I’ve shot physical effects [breaking glass, banging sounds] with a SM58. Many times it’s just personal preferences or experience. Or what you have.

So you think it is better than the Hiel PR-40 ? I mean I’ve realized that PR-40 is sounded deeper and rich compared to RE-20 and I do not know if it is a matter of adjusting the mixer or it is something related to the microphone itself.

I do not have nor have I ever used an RE-20. I do know it is very highly thought of in the radio community and nobody will be shocked if they walked into a radio studio and found them mounted above the desk. Rush Limbaugh broadcasts three hours every day on radio stations across the US (and possibly elsewhere). In Los Angeles, he’s on the powerful KFI 09:00 to 12:00. One of his catch phrases is using "The Golden EIB (Excellence In Broadcasting) Microphones.

He’s far right-wing and I can’t listen to him. But he does have an RE-20 and it is gold. I hope they took it apart before they sprayed it. Spray paint will ruin a microphone.

I don’t have or have ever used a Heil PR-40. If you have and you like how it sounds, then we’re done picking a microphone. There’s a note about one of the diagrams at the bottom of this page. The blue line tells us how the microphone works with different pitch tones, lower pitched tones on the left. There is a “droop” in the blue line from 100Hz and to the left. That means the microphone is suppressing rumble, thumps and other “large vehicle driving by” sounds. When I shoot voice, I intentionally make that droop more extreme.

There is a gentle “haystack” rise in the blue line starting about 2KHz and falling around 10KHz. These are the “small child screaming on an airplane” and “tiny dog barking” sounds. It makes a voice performance “bright” and “crisp.” If you have a crying baby on mic, it can drill holes in steel.

AM radio stops at 5KHz. That’s what gives it that slightly muffled, muted sound compared to FM. FM radio goes up to 15 KHz. Much more open and crisp. Note the blue line has fallen seriously by the time it reaches 15KHz.

I will need a boom arm for the microphone so it is like those we see on the radio studio.

It’s a good, stable, light-weight, general stand. We have two different stands. The other is the same size, but is of the older “Atlas” design with a very heavy, steel, round base. After you work with the lighter one for a while, you leave the Atlas home.

A floor stand doesn’t have to go on the floor.

That radio shoot was in the Main Conference Room because it’s dead quiet with no echoes. I had to be very nice to the people that schedule rooms to get it. I only used the lights that didn’t make noise; some of the dimmers buzz. The quilt is on the table to cut table sound reflections. Reflections can affect the quality of a voice as the head is moved.

We had to completely clean up and leave by the time of the next meeting.

what about the other items in the picture?

The red thing on the left is a coffee cup. Decaf, as I recall. Behind that is one of the two Polycom sound modules the room uses for video conferencing (not related to us). If I had more time, I would have staged it better. As it was, the announcer started to tear down before I could stop him.

The computer is a MacBook Pro with Audacity. It’s talent is a very high quality Stereo Line-In connection. Next is the Peavey PV6. Then the desk pad, microphone stand with microphone, shock mount and blast screen.

Next over is the protection recording. That stuff all belongs to the announcer, so I’m fuzzy, but I think that’s a Rhode NT1 with shock mount, blast screen and room isolation panel assembly (fake studio). The headphones are Koss Pro3A and I don’t know who made his. He was recording on Zoom H-something which he removed before the picture. I said several times the announcer could have recorded the whole thing in his office, but he said he wanted me to shoot it.

It is more than 1000 $$ .

The FP33 is $1300 usd. I didn’t buy it. I was fixing it for a friend in Florida who called and said keep it, he was getting a new one. It only works on the Left. It’s an extremely well behaved mixer and has very low self-noise (sssssssssssss). I use the one channel still working.

We have many Mackie mixers at work. They’re very inexpensive, but seem to work OK. Our constant complaint is they never made a simple one. Many times we use a mixer as a volume control. I don’t mean change the volume of the flutes and violins in a complicated mix. I mean turn up the volume on your radio, or turn the volume of the room speakers down so you can answer the phone. One knob out of the thousands of knobs on the mixer. Many edit rooms in production companies have similar mixers doing similar jobs, so we just put up with it.


Nicer mixers have three places to control the volume of the performance. Taking them backwards. Main Mix or Master sliders – sometimes red – control the volume of the mixed and balanced performance as it is applied to the recorder, transmission service, or transmitter. If you pull those down, the whole show fades to silence.

On the left are the multiple channel faders. Eight, ten, twelve and up. Each microphone or single source of sound has one. You pull one of those faders down and only the violin goes down leaving everything else.

If you have a very loud instrument, its fader will be very low – toward the bottom. If the singer is a weak-sister with no volume at all, then her fader may be pushed much higher to bring her up and form a pleasant mix with the others.


Many mixers stop there, but some mixers have trim controls – usually way up on top next to where the microphone plugs in. Their names are sometimes different. They provide a way to, in effect, tell the microphone amplifier what kind of performance to expect so it can work the best that it can. Miss singing-quietly-in-her-beer can be made louder at the trim control instead of the fader, allowing the fader slider to return more to the middle of its range. The Diesel Air Horn performer can be trimmed back, so his performance doesn’t overload the microphone amplifier and his performance better balances with everything else – also with his fader more in the middle of its range.

So now you have a division of duties. The Trimmers pre-condition each instrument and voice for application to the Faders. The Faders change the balance between performers and the Masters control the volume of the whole show as delivered. See pix.

Koz
MixerParts.jpg
Screen shot 2013-12-05 at 4.52.06 PM.png

I’m only partially joking about the air horn performer. There was a performance of the “1812 Overture” on the Mall in summertime Washington, DC that featured actual cannons fired from Fort Myer across the Potomac River in Virginia.

“Cannons, right? I know the Director General at Edgewood Arsenal. I wonder how hard it would be…”

Koz

So you are connecting the mixer to your computer using the output from the mixer and the line in for the computer, right?
does the mixer software enabled you to do any settings adjustments?

You mean the black walmart behind the microphone that is holded on the microphone stand?

But does the mackie mixer produce any kind of hssss or any kind noise after any amount of time?

You mean something with one or two xlr input phantom powered socket? or you mean something else by simple one?

So you think mackie mixer is better then Behringer ones? or any of them is suitable? I mean for the long run usage … Also the result of connecting mixer to computer using line-in is better then these models with USB? I mean to connect mixer to computer using USB?

Thanks a lot and too much appreciated.

does the mixer software enabled you to do any settings adjustments?

The mixer has no software. It’s a straight, uncomplicated, analog mixer.

You mean the black walmart behind the microphone that is holded on the microphone stand?

That shields the microphone from sound entering the back and sides. This is valuable if you’re recording in a noisy room or one with echoes. It may not have been needed in this case because of the quiet, well behaved room, but that wasn’t my shoot.

But does the mackie mixer produce any kind of hssss or any kind noise after any amount of time?

All amplifiers and mixers produce noise. In general it doesn’t change with time. What kills mixers is the faders, knobs and switches. They get noisy as they collect dirt and wear out. We had one Mackie that failed because of a bad power supply. The sound started to hum. The mixer was many years old.

You mean something with one or two xlr input phantom powered socket? or you mean something else by simple one?

Not that kind of simple. All our mixers had 18 or 20 inputs. They also had multiple different ways to get between the individual instrument faders and the master faders, and it was very easy to get lost. They had sub-faders, sub-switching, channel assignments, effects-send switching, and monitor switching. Just having the right faders up was no guarantee at all that you were going to have sound. The illustration has one extra, light colored fader called “Alt 3-4.” I have no idea what that does without looking at the instructions. I will probably never use it.

“We got a call from the Avid Five room. They can’t hear their edit and they want you to help.”

So you think mackie mixer is better then Behringer ones?

I’ve never used a Behringer mixer, but the rest of their stuff seems to be very well designed. Google “Behringer complaints” and “Mackie complaints.”

I used that particular mixer as a model because that’s a “normal” mixer to me and it’s easy to understand. People see all the thousands of knobs and become confused, but a mixer can be broken into sections. The strip between where the microphone plugs in and the fader associated with that microphone is one input channel. Most of the knobs and switches in the channel can remain neutral or off and vanish from the show. The right-hand side of the mixer has the sound meters, master output faders, and monitoring so you can hear what you’re doing. The leftover knobs or switches can be left neutral or off and they vanish, too. I did a talk where I made the knobs actually vanish in my illustration.

“OK, you don’t need the equalizer, turn those off, you don’t need either effects send, turn those off, you don’t need the Aux-In, turn that off…etc.” It’s a lot less intimidating that way.

Also the result of connecting mixer to computer using line-in is better then these models with USB? I mean to connect mixer to computer using USB?

That MacBook Pro has an excellent Stereo Line-In connection and it matches perfectly the Tape-Out connection of the mixer. Most computers have no Stereo Line-In at all and even some of the MocBooks don’t any more, either. Stereo Line-In connections on desktop computers can be noisy because of the closeness to the electronics inside the computer. When you buy a high-quality sound card, they warn you to place it as far from the video card as possible because of noise problems.

An external USB adapter can be used. This is a Behringer UCA202.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/peaveyUCA202Lenovo.jpg

Or you can buy a mixer that speaks USB directly. That’s probably best.

Koz

my friend … i am really do not know which mixer to buy … it seems that searching a lot is somehow negative.
honestly i am confused for which mixer to buy?
:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
the last month i’ve failed into a loooooooooooooooooooooooot of technical details.
so please help me to make a decision because many options are available.
especially after you mentioned this uca202 (when I googled i’ve found there is a newer recent model :uca222).
i do not mean that i am lost but i mean there are really tooooooooooo many options so far.
please help.

I’ve just got a reply from mackie technical support for the email I’ve sent:-
“I think the best model for your purposes will be the Mackie Onyx Blackjack:
http://www.mackie.com/products/onyxblackjack/

And this model in particular has low reviews:-
http://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B003VZG550/

All we can do is tell you the differences and talents of the equipment and software and in some cases traps and known problems. And yes, in some cases, the choices will seem to be getting larger, not smaller.

Sometimes it’s valuable to back away from the problem a little.

If you have a single microphone and want to do announcing in a known quiet room, you don’t need a mixer at all. The mixer’s talent is combining two or more sounds into one. It’s main job is to mix.

I did an evaluation of a simple microphone to USB adapter. That’s a Shure X2U.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/x2uShureOverdub.jpg
http://www.shure.com/americas/products/accessories/microphone-accessories/problem-solvers/x2u-xlr-to-usb-signal-adapter

It contains everything I need to run any microphone that I have – excluding the computer microphones. It is one of the devices that can be used for overdubbing – recording yourself multiple times into your own orchestra.

I would never buy one again because the performance isn’t good enough for what I want. It was designed to be small with enough controls to get the job done. I can’t find the picture, but I have a shot of this adapter in my pocket.

~~

While you may have your microphone and other parts for a very long time – the microphone I used for the stereo sound test is decades old – that’s not likely to be true of the mixer. They wear out and break. It may not be useful to buy your “forever mixer” right now. Buy something small to get you going and then as you become internationally famous, you’ll have enough to buy a larger one – and the experience to know what you want.

This is more in your neighborhood. The woman has a computer behind the glass, not a large sound mixing console, and there is just enough equipment to get the microphone into the computer (sorry, I don’t know exactly how they did it).

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/AmmanStudio.png

I know most people who post on the forum are living in their parent’s basement and have no friends, but it is valuable to see what other people are doing. Talk to rock bands and see what they use. I bet every rock band on earth has to tried to record themselves and even if it doesn’t work out very well, their experiences and comments are very handy.

“I would never buy this mixer again. It’s noisy and all the switches are broken.”
“Our recording is terrible, but my brother has a very nice mixer, so we record at his house.”

Also pay attention if there are no comments about their mixer because it just works day after day. I like those mixers.

From memory, I think we have had people post who use this simple mixer.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/X302USB?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=PPC&utm_campaign=livesound&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&gclid=CMbN0t27nLsCFdJcfgodhm4AbA

It comes with very abbreviated sound level lights, but you don’t need sound meters. You can use Audacity for that. After you find out where the overload and clipping points are by experiment, use the Audacity sound meters. They will undock from the program and expand.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/AudacityPanelFull.jpg

Koz

"I think the best model for your purposes will be the Mackie Onyx Blackjack:

While I think the Mackie may well be the better performer of the two, I’m betting because of its 2X2 label, the microphones only appear on one side. Microphone #1 only appears on the “Left” of the stereo show. Microphone #2 appears on the “Right.”

You might want to check that. You can fix that in Audacity, but it’s extra steps and takes longer.

You should not consider a “Y” cable to force one microphone to appear in both connectors.

Koz