OK....I'm a cherry..someone smarter than me...

[billcoe]

I ordered a Samson CO1U USB mic...sounds easy enough...I just pluck around and write and sing and listen to how bad I suck. Someone smarter than me tell me what the alternatives are to a direct USB microphone...since they are basically on a two month backorder. My old cheap-o Radio Shack mic just plugged right into my sound card and it did fine, but I wanted an upgrade. SCHOOL ME!!!!!!!

 

[chessrock]

You know ... you should ask Ed Rei or Sonusman or whatever the heck his name is.

He's smarter than anyone on this board. Just ask him.

 

[seismetr0n]

you should be able to convert a mic to the 1/8" jack

goto radioshack and get a balanced mic line to 1/4" or 1/8" adapter.

you might have to adapt from mic--->1/4"--->1/8"


else get a cheap usb A/D converter - usb with mic and line ins, it would be a start

gl

 

[scrubs]

I ordered a Samson CO1U USB mic...sounds easy enough...I just pluck around and write and sing and listen to how bad I suck. Someone smarter than me tell me what the alternatives are to a direct USB microphone...since they are basically on a two month backorder. My old cheap-o Radio Shack mic just plugged right into my sound card and it did fine, but I wanted an upgrade. SCHOOL ME!!!!!!!

What is your budget for an upgrade? I don't know much about the Samson, but it would not be my first choice. Get a decent condenser mic and separate mic preamp first. Then, look into upgrading your soundcard. There are plenty of sub-$100 condensers that will be much better than your RS mic. Look into mics by Studio Projects (B1) or MXL (v67g, 990). Then get a preamp. Something like the ART Tube MP or Audio Buddy would work. Even better would be a pre like the Studio Projects VTB-1 or M-Audio DMP3.





Cherry popped...that wasn't so bad, now was it?

 

[Richard Monroe]

What Scrubs said.-Richie

 

[billcoe]

Alrighty then....

That actually was good info...this is a really good site...kudos to whomever runs it. Yeah, I just plug my Takamine directly into my sound card...lay that down, unplug, plug my shitty mic in, lay that down, lay down harmonies, and that's it...using Cakewalk Home Studio. So I am the most basic of basics. Could I assume the same thing rings true for my guitar...plugging it into a "preamp", then running that into a USB adapter and on into my PC? Notice I italicized "preamp"...that should tell you how new I am to this. I can't really figure out my software except for the record button. Thanks for any info in "layman's terms". Peace out.

 

[Richard Monroe]

No- The preamp line out plugs into the line in of the soundcard. There are some specialized preamps designed for USB output, including some fairly inexpensive ones (M-Audio MobilePre for one- $149). However, I think for general recording, most would agree that a soundcard designed to accept a variety of line inputs is more generally versatile, and will be a better choice going forward. If you really want to avoid the soundcard, firewire is the current choice for going direct to the hard drive. As far as recording the stuff you want to, the biggest change will be when you get the right MICROPHONE in front of your acoustic or guitar amp, and you STOP plugging the damn guitar directly into the recorder. A real vocal mic would help a lot too. It's simply a matter of what you choose to spend. At your level, moderate amounts of investment will produce big improvements. You need a soundcard, a preamp, a mic, and as soon as possible, monitors, so you can actually hear the unbiased version of what you did.-Richie

 

[billcoe]

richie...

Thanks so very much for sharing your knowledge...I'll be looking for you later when I get retarded again. Thanks again....The Cherry