Audio Interface help?

M

meganiam

New member
I just ordered my first three things for my home studio, a condenser microphone, a boom stand, and a pop filter.
Simple. But it's all I have the money for right now.

I thought I had ordered a USB microphone, but apparently I was misled.

It's a Behringer C-1, that requires phantom power.
I have a TOSHBIA computer, that does not have a firewire port.

Does anyone know what kind of interface I should be looking for?
I need to find the chepeast one I can find.
But I don't know anything about this.
 
I would stick with a decent brand name. You'll probably be in the $150 - $200 price range.

Here's a unit from m-audio that's about $150 canadian that would do the job.
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MobilePreUSB.html

WIll you ever have a need for more inputs or a MIDI connection? If so you may want to spend another $50 - $100 and ge something that will handle those needs.
 
I'm not sure I'll ever use MIDI.
I'll only be recording vocals with this, no insturments at all.

:/

This is a lot more complicated than I had expected.

I ordered all I needed for a low price, and then realized that I needed a interface... even though, Amazon said it was a plug straight into the computer type of deal. But, I suppose I need to invest in an interface anyway.

What are the chances I can find a cheaper interface?
Slim to none, correct?
 
meganiam said:
Amazon said it was a plug straight into the computer type of deal.
Click to expand...

You've already learned a valuable lesson. Never trust a glorified book seller's pro audio advice.

Think of it as a blessing in disguise. A USB microphone would only limit your options. An interface is a much better way to go.
 
I think I may buy the first one you sent out of my next check.
It looks rather simple to use, and I am beyond new to this.
Does the microphone plug into the three-prong slot??

Is there certain softwares I have to use certain interfaces with?
I'm currently using Mixcraft 5, and Audacity.
Down the road, I'd like to get an edition of Sonar Cakewalk.


Can you tell me anything interfaces such as these two?

http://www.google.com/products/cata...a3HaC6wgXowP3ADw&sa=title&ved=0CAcQ8wIwADgA#p

http://www.google.com/products/cata...iuDY3owAWHhOTCDw&sa=title&ved=0CEAQ8wIwBDgA#p

They aren't phantom power, that I can tell.
:/

Thanks for your help... by the way.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
You've already learned a valuable lesson. Never trust a glorified book seller's pro audio advice.

Think of it as a blessing in disguise. A USB microphone would only limit your options. An interface is a much better way to go.
Click to expand...


I will think of it that way!
I should have looked more into it.

Honestly, I'm just a tightwad.
I don't have much money to spend,
and when I get enough I hate letting go of it.

I've figured out you can't be that way in this bussiness.

Even though,
I'd like to believe I found a fairly decent microphone for a low price.
I hope.
 
I wouldn't be spending $150 up on an interface, pretty necessary at your level

this has phantom plus can take midi and guitar etc so if you want to add other things

it sitting at $20....these go for next to nothing

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tascam-US-144-A...698?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e5df85cfa


or a small mixer, this ones sitting at $16..Ive seen this and its smaller 502 brother go for less than $20 on c'list

http://cgi.ebay.com/Behringer-Xenyx...320?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35abde6468

then put it through an interface like

http://cgi.ebay.com/M-Audio-FastTra...724?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a5e1d934c


it needn't cost a fortune to begin with, but tbh you're going to have to upgrade as the c1 isnt going to get you very far, but it needn't cost the earth to try and see if its something you want to progress in

there is the old saying buy cheap, buy twice....but when it cost this little who cares ;)
 
Last edited:
kcearl said:
I wouldnt be spending $150 up on an interface, pretty unecessary at your level...
Click to expand...

Good advice. If I were starting out from scratch I'd probably use a free computer, free stereo speakers, free DAW program, any ol' Craigslist interface I got for $25 and spend every cent I could on the best mic I could possibly afford. You won't hear the computer, speakers, interface... etc on your recording. If you had that cheap crap and a pro mic your work would have a chance at sounding pro.
 
meganiam said:
I think I may buy the first one you sent out of my next check.
It looks rather simple to use, and I am beyond new to this.
Does the microphone plug into the three-prong slot??

Is there certain softwares I have to use certain interfaces with?
I'm currently using Mixcraft 5, and Audacity.
Down the road, I'd like to get an edition of Sonar Cakewalk.


Can you tell me anything interfaces such as these two?

http://www.google.com/products/cata...a3HaC6wgXowP3ADw&sa=title&ved=0CAcQ8wIwADgA#p

http://www.google.com/products/cata...iuDY3owAWHhOTCDw&sa=title&ved=0CEAQ8wIwBDgA#p

They aren't phantom power, that I can tell.
:/


Thanks for your help... by the way.
Click to expand...

Yeah, no phantom power. And yeah that three prong slot is XLR.

Also, kcearl probably has a much better idea considering your limited budget. I always forget good ol' ebay.
 
dintymoore said:
Good advice. If I were starting out from scratch I'd probably use a free computer, free stereo speakers, free DAW program, any ol' Craigslist interface I got for $25 and spend every cent I could on the best mic I could possibly afford. You won't hear the computer, speakers, interface... etc on your recording. If you had that cheap crap and a pro mic your work would have a chance at sounding pro.
Click to expand...

Mostly I agree, except that you will hear the speakers in the recording. Every sonic judgment you make will be skewed if you rely on inaccurate speakers. If, for example, the speakers are lacking in bass your recordings will be proportionately too bass heavy.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Mostly I agree, except that you will hear the speakers in the recording. Every sonic judgment you make will be skewed if you rely on inaccurate speakers. If, for example, the speakers are lacking in bass your recordings will be proportionately too bass heavy.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's true. After a good mic, I'd spend the next money on the room & speakers. I use NS10-m's but have some cheap speakers that were useable. It's not crazy to think that you could find speakers for $10 at Goodwill that would work. I bought a set of Infinity speakers that new were $400 and I got them at Salvation Army for $10 each and they are good enough that I could use them. If you record with great mics and use little/no eq the playback speakers are less crucial than if you want to tweak a lot.

The mic seems like the only component that there's no cheap fix for. That and that funny "musicianship" stuff everyone keeps referring to. :confused:
 
Anybody else have some advice on the Nady SMPS-USB Phantom Power Supply w USB that was posted above?

I've found the M-Audio (150 new) one for around 60 dollars on Ebay...

Which would be better?
 
Err... another question.
What kind of cable will I need to connect the condenser microphone to the interface and what are the price ranges????
 
Did a quick read on the Nady, It looks like it has direct monitoring so that's good. The biggest drawback I think would be the outputs. It only has a headphone jack where the M-Audio has 1/4" outs you could eventually connect to studio monitors.

You'll need a XLR Male x XLR Female cable. You can get an economy cable say 10' or 16' for under $20.00.
 
I'm going to get the M-Audio Interface, it has a place for MIDI too and there's five left in stock for $75 from a Parts Express place on eBay. :)

More so into the XLR cables...
I've found a 20ft economy microphone cable for twelve bucks at the local music store here. The guys who own it aren't really helping me out...

Once I buy the cable, I connect it to the bottom of the microphone... and the other end will go directly into the interface (which will be connected via usb to the computer).... and everything should go smoothly from there, right?
 
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