Hardware Question not software...Recording Equipment?

I use the M-Audio Podcast factory with an Audio-Technica Proformance P610... got the M-Audio piece refurbished for $75 and the mic on sale for about $25. I like it because the mic is "poor" enough that I don't pick up any background noise whatsoever.

I would not trust the mic that comes with the podcast factory... it has a lot of plosives when you use it. I have also used the Tascam US-122... it was good but died on me after a few years.

Hope that helps!

~Luke

M-Audio has a bunch of stuff capable of giving good results. Starting with the mic, the Nova and Luna mics will give good results. You won't get the same audio as a $1000 AKG, but you will get good audio. The other component is a mixer of some sort. With better mics, you'll need phantom power to the mic. Again, M-Audio has a few firewire interfaces to suit budget. Another option would be to buy a small mixer. Tapco makes a good line of mixers and they have some right around $100 for a 4 input model that have phantom power.

Good luck!

interesting to hear about the m-audio mics...

it depends on your budget....Rode mics are very nice as are AKG's, Neumann and Sennheiser. But you need an idea of a budget before plunging in! I'd recommend condenser mic as you will be recording in a studio environment.



As for interfaces....get a firewire interface (not usb). It will be better for audio work. There are many factors to be considered here:
- Budget.
- How many inputs and outputs are needed
- What sample rate do you wan to record at? (44.1khz, 48khz, 88khz, 96khz....)
- Do you need pro, semi-pro, consumer preamps for your mic and other line inputs on the interface?

Personally i wouldn't use an m-audio interface because i primarily use logic pro, and the drivers for m-audio products are known to be poor with Logic. Again, depending on your budget, look at interfaces from RME, Presonus, MOTU etc.

Hope that helps

Rounik