Hello. First post, so bear with me.
I've been cohosting a podcast with a friend. So far we've been doing things on the cheap: our equipment consists of the Blue Snowball USB mic and my (Mac) laptop. We sit around the corner of the table and put the Snowball equidistant from our mouths, in cardioid mode. (I tried omni mode and it sucks.)
This is less than ideal, although probably not as bad as you think. We've recorded several episodes this way and they sound all right. The main problem is the S/N ratio: because our mouths are a foot or more from the mic (and it's not a very hot mic to start with), the recording level is quite low, and when I bump it up (using Levelator), it bumps up the sound of cars and planes going by outside, too.
We'd like to bring a guest on the show soon, and I'm betting that having three of us sitting around the Snowball will be a total flop--it'll have to be over two feet from our mouths, unless someone wants to sit on my lap, which would negatively impact our ability to attract guests.
I have some cash ($300) to upgrade this setup, but I'm not sure the best way to spend it. Help me out. In addition to the Snowball, I have an analog-to-USB interface (Behringer UCA-202), and my dad has an M-Audio Fast Track Pro that I can borrow anytime. (He uses it as a guitar DI box, so he doesn't have any mics for me to borrow. )
I'm guessing that trying to use the Snowball alongside another USB interface would be problematic. I tried it and it worked okay--the sync seemed fine--but the idea makes me nervous, like the USB bus could catch fire or something (figuratively speaking). Should I be worried? One possibility would be to have one of the three talkers use the Snowball and the other two on XLR mics plugged into the Fast Track Pro. Would this be smart or crazy? Should I be thinking about getting a mixer with three or four mic pres (e.g., Multimix 8, Mackie 802, Behringer 1202)?
Which mics should I be thinking about? I know the AT2020 is popular, and BSW sells B-stock for $65. I could get a couple of those. Should I put money toward shockmounts? Should I look at dynamic mics instead, for better off-axis noise rejection? Should I buy desktop stands or wait until I can afford booms? Is $300 enough to buy me much of an improvement over my current setup? Should I save up more before I think about upgrades? I'm certainly amenable to the advice to incrementally buy good stuff that will last rather than buying many pieces of crap.
Yeah, a lot of questions. That's why they call it the Newbies forum, right?
Thanks!
I've been cohosting a podcast with a friend. So far we've been doing things on the cheap: our equipment consists of the Blue Snowball USB mic and my (Mac) laptop. We sit around the corner of the table and put the Snowball equidistant from our mouths, in cardioid mode. (I tried omni mode and it sucks.)
This is less than ideal, although probably not as bad as you think. We've recorded several episodes this way and they sound all right. The main problem is the S/N ratio: because our mouths are a foot or more from the mic (and it's not a very hot mic to start with), the recording level is quite low, and when I bump it up (using Levelator), it bumps up the sound of cars and planes going by outside, too.
We'd like to bring a guest on the show soon, and I'm betting that having three of us sitting around the Snowball will be a total flop--it'll have to be over two feet from our mouths, unless someone wants to sit on my lap, which would negatively impact our ability to attract guests.
I have some cash ($300) to upgrade this setup, but I'm not sure the best way to spend it. Help me out. In addition to the Snowball, I have an analog-to-USB interface (Behringer UCA-202), and my dad has an M-Audio Fast Track Pro that I can borrow anytime. (He uses it as a guitar DI box, so he doesn't have any mics for me to borrow. )
I'm guessing that trying to use the Snowball alongside another USB interface would be problematic. I tried it and it worked okay--the sync seemed fine--but the idea makes me nervous, like the USB bus could catch fire or something (figuratively speaking). Should I be worried? One possibility would be to have one of the three talkers use the Snowball and the other two on XLR mics plugged into the Fast Track Pro. Would this be smart or crazy? Should I be thinking about getting a mixer with three or four mic pres (e.g., Multimix 8, Mackie 802, Behringer 1202)?
Which mics should I be thinking about? I know the AT2020 is popular, and BSW sells B-stock for $65. I could get a couple of those. Should I put money toward shockmounts? Should I look at dynamic mics instead, for better off-axis noise rejection? Should I buy desktop stands or wait until I can afford booms? Is $300 enough to buy me much of an improvement over my current setup? Should I save up more before I think about upgrades? I'm certainly amenable to the advice to incrementally buy good stuff that will last rather than buying many pieces of crap.
Yeah, a lot of questions. That's why they call it the Newbies forum, right?
Thanks!