Need help getting Mic , etc. for voice recording

[tmh]

Hi. New to this forum - read through abunch of threads - great info! I learned quite a bit reading here but I still have questions and would like specific recommendations for what to buy and how to proceed.

I am a financial advisor and I want to make audio and video clips for my website, also make an audio business card (on CD). In addition, I do a weekly radio show that I usually am at the studio for but occasionally want to be able to prerecord on my PC and send (prefer by email so need to keep size reasonable) to the station to play when I can't be there. Basically, just voice recording - I'd add any background music in the editing step. So, a few needs, hopefully one set-up can take care of it.

I have a PC with whatever basic sound card came with it and quite a bit of RAM and hard drive space. I have Movie Edit Pro 15 for video editing, but I'm not sure I'd use it for voice recording which is why I think Audacity is a part of my solution. We are considering getting a Nikon D3100 DSLR camera that I read takes good HD video but has only the internal mic with no external maic jack. I'd maybe get a more expensive camera with external jack if itis a good solution, but I think maybe having a decent mic into PC using Audacity would be the better way to go.

Microphone : So... could some folks recommend a mic for my use. I read that the usb mics may lack in top-quality applications. I do want to sound professional so I don't know if these are what I need. I also don't want to break the bank but really I don't have a specific budget set in stone - just the lowest cost that meets my need for pretty good quality. Specific recommendations are appreciated.

Sound card : Is this a big part of the quality or would most do the job? I could find out what I have it it matters - it's a basic mid-level HP computer that's maybe 2 years old.

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Thx.

[kozikowski]

What kills most home recordings isn't something you can easily fix or buy. It's room noise and echoes. You can instantly tell when somebody made a YouTube recording at home because they all sound like they were recorded in a bathroom or garage, regardless of what it looks like.

I made a credible recording using the built-in microphone on my computer, but I did it in the dead quiet of the company's Executive Conference Room. Not my kitchen.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/clips/Ex ... emoval.wav

You can sometimes get away by using a headset type of microphone which tends to pick up a lot less room interference, but it does tend to sound "close" and not entirely natural.

What does the station use?

USB microphones are not universally terrible, but they do have their restrictions. The microphone, amplifiers, and sound mixer are all inside that one metal case and if any of them doesn't meet your requirements, you're dead.

You can't ever get very far from the computer, and you can't have two or more microphones, etc.

"Real" microphone, small mixer, and recorder are usually the smallest you can do and still have elbow room, control of the sound, and the ability to expand.

TimPlays.jpg (80.67 KiB) Viewed 4059 times

The lower orders of sound system are fixed. You buy it and it either works or it doesn't.

Koz

[bgravato]

Built-in soundcards that come with most desktop computers or laptops usually suck (mostly because they lack proper shielding and they get all sort of electromagnetic interference from the other computer components). So buying a "jack type" of mic is usually a not very interesting option... Even if the mic is good, it will still suck when you connect it to the computer's built-in soundcard.

If you're going to buy a dedicated soundcard, then an external one will often be the preferred choice... First because it stays outside of the computer case and that by itself avoids a lot of troubles... Second because it gives you the option to take it anywhere and easily hook it up to another computer.

Like Koz said, USB mics aren't necessarily bad, but like he says it's all inside of the same box so if one component isn't up to the job, the rest will suffer too...

I also agree that the recording environment is as much or more important than the recording equipment... Echoes can kill the show... Clap your hands in the room you're going to record, if you can hear the clap sound echoing/reverberating through the room, the show will probably be ruined by echoes. If it's going to sit near the computer then it's probably going to catch a lot of noise from the computer fans too. Are there any other sources of noise? Air conditioning fans? The sound of cars passing by in the road outside? Neighbours yelling? Our brain can filter that and ignore it, the mic doesn't, so it all goes in the recording.

You can get a very decent usb mic preamp for less than $100, such as the ART USB Dual Pre, which I own. There are others.

You can probably get a decent mic to connect to that for another $100. I have a very decent T-Bone (SC1100 I think), they have good quality for the price. It's a large diaphragm mic, XLR connection, you can't connect it directly to the computer, needs a preamp with phantom power. They ship from germany, might not be the best option if you're outside europe.

You can also get a Logitech Desktop USB Mic for $20, it might be just enough for your needs

[kozikowski]

http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 27&t=48132
Koz

[kozikowski]

This is not a dreadful microphone.

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/webcam-co ... evices/221
http://www.kozco.com/tech/MicTests/Logi ... gitech.jpg
http://www.kozco.com/tech/MicTests/Logi ... icTest.wav

Note in the sound test the slight hiss in the background. You're stuck with that. You can try to do Noise Reduction on it, but you should probably leave it alone. Hiss is hard and some USB microphones are a lot worse than others. Also, I was some distance away from it. If you do voice work closer, you can juggle levels and suppress the hiss. That and it's directional and helps with room noises.

Koz

[tmh]

OK, thanks for the help so far. I sort of get it but I still have questions. If I get a preamp what exactly does that do? Is that instead of an external sound card? The Logitch mic for $20 or so - is it a good chioce for speach recordng? I'm fine with $100 mic if it make a noticable difference, remember, I want to make an audio business card so I need good sound.

I have pretty good control over my environment sounds - good room without echos, only my computer sound which is quite low (I can turn off printer, etc.) and back room so limited road noise.

I did read the link to the other thread on the various microphones, but it really never gets very specific - good background info on genberal issues with various options. Any other specific recommendations for my use - recording a talk show/audio business card ?

Thanks.

[bgravato]

I'd probably go for the logitech first and see if it works... It should be easy to find. Have a try at it and see if you're happy with the result... If not, well you have not spent a big fortune on it, you can keep it for skype calls, or see if you can return it and get your money back.
Sound quality is subjective... what is good enough for someone, might not be for another one...

Maybe Koz can record a new sample on the logitech mic, just speech.

A mic preamp can be somewhat compared to a sound card (external). Some mics need to be fed with phantom power (typically 48V), a normal soundcard won't do that. Most preamps (not all) will have that feature. A mic preamp is specifically designed to get a mic signal and to amplify that signal, usually has a physical button to adjust the gain. Might have some other features. It's designed specifically for that job, so should be good at it. A soundcard is designed as a multi-purpose device... mostly for playback. The mic input is just a small part of its duties and often badly neglected... A mic preamp will most likely be cheaper than a full sound card with equivalent mic input stage.

Some mic preamps can be used as external sound cards for playback, the ART USB Dual Pre can do that, it has a monitoring headphones socket and I can send the audio from the computer to there. It's not what it excels at, but it can do it. I have a dedicated internal soundcard for high quality audio playback on high-end headphones.

[kozikowski]

There is no "good" microphone. You only have microphones with better or worse specifications -- and reputation.

Everybody Knows that these microphones work very well with human voices...

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/wynonna2.jpg

...but they cost thousands, so multiple manufacturer's brought out "professional, studio, large-capsule condenser microphones" that were cheap.

http://www.samsontech.com/products/prod ... rodid=1810

$99 USD.

They left out the expensive step, that each microphone is carefully hand-adjusted for perfect specifications, but the manufacturer's used all the buzz words in the commercials, so the mics are really popular.

And I can hear you building up to a very common question. No, there is no such thing as a "professional announcer" filter in Audacity -- or anywhere else.

Bruno was right. Start with the Logitech ($20 USD on-line) and see how it goes. Most people greatly overestimate the quality of their "studio," and in some cases, their voice.

Koz

[bgravato]

We forgot one important aspect affecting "quality", which is "playback".

It's important to know where and how the target audience is going to listen to it and the delivery format.

If it's going to be for a 24kbps mp3 embedded on a webpage it doesn't a top-of-the-line mic to achieve that...

Most people listen to audio on a laptop's crappy speakers won't notice a difference between a $20 mic and a $2000 mic

I've bought a fairly good mic and mic preamp an year ago, but I haven't done any serious recording with it, because I am yet to "build" a fairly decent "recording studio".

[tmh]

OK, thanks again. I did list my playback uses, but it doesn't hurt to repeat. I'll make some podcast type recordingd to link to my website so playback on computer. I also want to be able to make good sounding audio CDs as an audio business card and maybe for topic specific info. Playback might be computer, car CD player, home CD player. I may also have a SD card or USB Flashdrive with multiple topics, not sure. Also, I'd like to be able to pre-record my over-the-air (AM) radio show and not go to the radio studio to do it (doesn't have to be studio quality, that would be a waste of money for me as I am sure they have $1,000's in equipment.

Now, I did remember that I have a mic that came with my Sony camcorder a while back. Checked it out and it's a Sony ECM-MS907 model. It seems to get good general reviews. The specs say it's a condenser mic so I assume I could try that with the ART USB DUAL PRE maybe? I'd use Audacity as my software I think. Comments on this idea? Is this likely to be a decent quality set-up? Again, not looking for highest end (and cost), juts "quite good" however one might interpret that.

Thanks. Any ideas welcome.