Best recording equipment for podcasting over the web

Special Interest Groups Recording Equipment
1

Basically looking to record a podcast, but the individuals who are participating are not together in the same room or studio, but are online and chatting via a programme like Skype (I know of a lot of podcasts run like this).

Having run a few tests with the in-built laptop microphone, I have concluded it is pretty rubbish because it picks up the fan noise. Even when I use the Noise Removal, the sound when there is even a hint of silence sounds horrible.

So I am now looking for some advice as to what the best microphone is for the scenario I described in paragraph one. I have read the stickied post about the various equipment I can use, but I am still concerned about buying something that won’t work for my scenario. For example, a headset mic like a Sennheiser PC130 would obviously pick up my voice, but would it pick up the voices (and thus, would Audacity actually record them) of the other podcast participants who are chatting via Skype?

Budget - max. of around £50-60. But a range of prices would be nice.

Many thanks.

EDIT: Obviously appreciate the fact that because it’s over-the-web podcasting, the mic will still be near the fan. But I am hoping that by purchasing an external mic (and not using the in-built one) the fan noise will be minimal and can be removed with Noise Removal.

2

are online and chatting via a programme like Skype (I know of a lot of podcasts run like this).

You should probably contact them and find out how they do it. It’s not trivial. Skype is ego-centric. You run Skype and it takes over the computer. There are money-based software products like Pamela that will let you manage Skype conversations, but I don’t think you can run a separate show at the same time.

I own and use one of these:

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/webcam-communications/microphones/devices/221

It’s good quality spoken word and it has reasonable room rejection. That’s what keeps you from sounding like you’re in a bathroom all the time and helps a lot with fan noises. Don’t fall in love with Noise Removal until you’re used it once. It can be a nasty surprise. Plan on having a perfect show and then use the rescue tools if it doesn’t work out. Don’t get out of bed in the morning planning on using the tools,

I can see perfectly using two computers, one with the full-conference Skype session and the second machine recording the show and your own voice.

Doing everything on one machine can be very amusing.

Koz