Podcasts, multi-track recording, and USB mics

[ValiantGreen]

I want to do a podcast, but it would be more along the lines of a scripted comedy show. (Sort of a mock-podcast, I suppose.) So I figure I need a fairly decent mic. I'm having an extremely hard time figuring out what type I want. (Cheap would be good, but more expensive would be better, and USB mics are the best, but they're full of technical difficulties, and analogue is so yesterday, but it's much easier to control, headsets are so easy but the sound quality isn't great, mics are good blah blah blah.....)

So the whole cast will be done by me, and I'll be providing the voices for multiple characters, who will often be talking at the same time. I've been leaning toward a USB mic to use in conjunction with the headphones I already own (being one of the few pairs I've found that fit entirely over my sensitive ears- another reason I'm leaning away from headsets which usually have small earpieces). I read that a reviewer of the Samson mic said that since it was a USB mic you couldn't hear what you'd recorded already while you were recording, so multi-track recording was out of the question. Can this possibly be true? It doesn't make much sense to me, but this is pretty important. I can't get much info on the matter, as not many people end up needing the ability to do multi-track stuff.

Any thoughts on this? Or ANY advice for that matter based on what I want to do? I have this horrible feeling that whatever I pick I won't be able to get to work.

 

[Richard Monroe]

You need a USB interface. Then you can use any mic you want, you can feed stock tracks into the second input, and you get a separate headphone output. Here's dirt cheap:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=60682&Category=Audio_Interfaces

Here's a couple of better ones- I recommend this:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=60669&Category=Audio_Interfaces

or this:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=40819&Category=Audio_Interfaces

Here's a good starter mic:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=6458&Category=Microphones

Once you give up the idea that you can just plug a microphone into a computer, the rest is a piece of cake. Good luck-Richie

 

[Shadow_7]

FWIW, mics ARE analog. You don't go digital until you reach the soundcard ADC (analog to digital converter), and back to analog on the way out DAC (digital to analog converter). Which might happen at the soundcard, or the stereo that's connected to it.

You're probably looking for an interface. Audio inputs and OUTPUTS, which a USB mic lacks. A USB interface is one of many options. I have an M-Audio Mobile Pre ($80 on craigslist), and it's functional. I have other gear too, but that one has inputs to accommodate most devices so I find it hard to justify getting rid of it. Basically it opens up the option to multi-track and use pretty much ANY mic. Not to imply issue free, but serviceable.