Need Recommendation for Starter Mic and Pre-Amp

[menotti1]

hey jeff,check out the tread below about the p1 vs the sca pre.did'nt you have a P1? thanks

 

[marketweis]

fwiw, I've been using the stock soundcard in my PC (Soundblaster Audigy something-or-other) to record v-o for the past 3 years and have never had a single complaint/problem. I've been running my Marshall MXL-2001 mic --> dbx 286a --> mackie 1202-vlz --> the tiny little line-in jack on said soundcard and recording into SoundForge... no glitches, no noticable noise, and I personally think my v-o that I record at home sounds better than when I record with the expensive ProTools system at work.

That said, I just ordered a Focusrite Saffire Firewire box because I'm going to start doing more extensive recording, but for a start-up situation I wouldn't completely discount on-board soundcards.

Just a follow-up for curious minds. Was at Guitar Center wrapping up my studio purchases, and since they had the usb interfaces I was looking at and could go back for if I had to, I decided to take the much cheaper route, really out of curiosity as much as anything else. So, I bought a $10 mono 1/4" to 1/8" stereo cable to go from my DBX to my PC and the stock sound card. Much to my surprise, and I realize this is subjective, the audio is clean, clear, crisp. I'm sure there may be a bit of "ignorance is bliss" here, as I can't A/B compare this audio to that of going through something like the fast track pro, but comparing the sound of what I'm getting out of my radio station prod room, I'm impressed. Using the Shure SM7 on both ends, I'm able to achieve - with post-production in Cool Edit - a VERY similar sound @ home. I'm actually hoping to dial-in a better sound yet, as I haven't played too much with the DBX, but the integrated pc sound card has really amazed.

 

[Chuck]

but the integrated pc sound card has really amazed.

I've had a similar surprise. I accidentally left my M Audio USB interface at the station, and was faced with having to send a file back with no time to go get the right stuff. I did have a $99 battery operated Behringer mixer and a couple of mics and headsets with me. The problem is the HP laptop computer only has a mic input. I discovered that in the Windows Mixer, the microphone fader has a box to click for "Mic Boost” I unchecked it, and connected the mixer to the mic input. It seems the "Mic Boost" was responsible for about 20 db of gain. Without it on, it handled a line input with fairly well. I did what I needed to do, saved it as a 193 KB mp3 file and emailed the file back to the station to be played.

Later I got a chance to actually listen to the file through some decent speakers. It sounded way better than I'd ever hoped for. With some decent mics, it would have been even better. Since this revelation, I've been using it this way quite a lot. It may not be as good as high end external audio interfaces, but the addition of the mixer does a lot to improve versatility, especially when more than one mic and maybe a line input is needed. Keep in mind, I'm using this for "virtual remotes" where the file is emailed back to the station and inserted in the automation system. It's almost like voice-tracking a remote. I'm not doing serious VO work, but the quality is acceptable enough that I think you might be able to do it with decent results.

Isn't technology wonderful (when it works)?