simple needs but tres stupid..HELP

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sonja79

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I want to buy my daughter a recorder so she can record her singing voice and get a fair to good voice quality. This is to assist her in voice lessons. I think I realize digital is the way to go, but after that I am lost. As you can see I am not looking for big time recording devices, just a training aid. any suggestions or help would be appreciated. Not even intelligent enough to ask questions about mics or transferring to computer to put on CD with a CD-R.
 
FIRST OFF I WANT TO SAY THAT I THINK YOU ARE A WONDERFUL FATHER FOR GOING THROUGH ALL THIS TO FOR UR DAUGHTERS VOICE TRAING(I AM A VOCAL COACH ,LOVE TO HEAR THAT STUFF)TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION,ACTUALLY IF IT IS JUST TO HELP HER WITH HER SINGING LESSONS THEN CHECK OUT A SMALL CASSETTE TAPE RECORDER BY FOSTEX CALLED THE X-14,FOR $129 BUCKS U GET A RECORDER WITH A BUILT IN MIC AND FOUR TRACK MIXER TO TRACK UR DAUGHTERS VOICE...U CAN EVEN MAKE SMALL JINGLES WITH IT...GREAT LITTLE MACHINE...TASCAM MAKES ONE TOO...I BELIEVE IT IS CALLED THE PORTA 02 BUT LIKE MOST TASCAM PRODUCTS...IT IS OVERPRICED GOOD LUCK TO YOU AND YOUR DAUGHTER.
 
With a name like "sonja" I'd have to say she's probably the girls Mother.

Check out some kind of "Boom Box" special like treble said. Hopefully it would have a jack for a microphone. Then you could pick up a vocal mic that would suit your needs for 30 dollars or so.
 
Sonja - go and buy a Shure SM58 microphone and get an adaptor lead so you can plug the mike into the soundcard on your puter, (XLR - 1/8" stereo jack) . Then get hold of a program called N-Track and run it on the puter and learn the program and in no time you'll be putting her up against Celine :eek:

cheers
john
 
Get a SM58 mic and a Portable MidiDisk Recorder, Tape recorders are fine but with mini disks you can quickly audition takes in seconds with very high quality playback
and is totaly portable i.e to take to singing lessons.
The mini disks are cheap to buy and so is the Mini Disk
recorder itself.
 
I really thank those who replied to my initial post, you have all given me a great deal to think about and if nothing else when I go out shopping I won't look like a total dweeb when I talk to the salesperson. I will be able to state with some degree of confidence exactly what I am looking for when I decide from your informative posts what I will buy. And I am the MOM, no offense taken, I do have a rather deep voice, LOL. Thanks again
 
Hello MOM! Sorry about that though. I didnt realize i had done that until Mr Jones was kind enough as to point it out.Anyway,you are right,there are alot of different options that you and your daughter have.When making your decison, ask yourself this:"Does this cover all of my need bases?" And factor in a couple of things ,potability(unless the teacer makes house calls.)ease of use(will i need a masters in audio eingineering to operate this thing?), and durability (unless she is the only child and if she is not, then you should know why durabilty shold be a factor!)
 
John, Just curious, but

Does the SM58 require phantom power?
 
The SM58 doesn't use phantom power but you need a preamp of some sort to get the signal up to line level (right?) so you can hook it up to the soundcard. Soundcards have a mic input as well but the are not intended for use, at all:) Also, the mic input on a soundcard is designed for computer microphones, which works diffrently than regular mics. I don't know any other names on "cheap" stand-alone preamps than the ART Tube preamp but that one is highly recommended by many here. The ART preamp and an SM58 mic should be a great voice setup, at around US$150 though (again, right?). Any other suggestions for stand-alone preamps?

Plug the preamp's line output to the line input on your computer's soundcard and the do what John said.

If you have an MD recorder, you can just plug the preamp into the line input and you'll have a fairly portable setup. You'd still need power for the preamp but as dannymix suggested, you can bring it to singing lessons. The tracks on MD can be recorded to the PC through either the line out (if the MD recorde has one) or the headphone out. If you use the headphone out, you'll need to be carful with the level or you'll end up with a too quiet or a distorted recoring. Also, the quality may be lower if you use the headphone out than the line out.

Then when you're hooked on recording like the rest of us, you might want a better soundcard for higher quality but that's the next step.

/Ola
 
"Then when you're hooked on recording like the rest of us, you might want a better soundcard for higher quality but that's the next step."
Click to expand...

Ola, it is a never ending battle huh!
I started off recording to PC with a cheapo mic plugged into my soundcard, and you've seen where I'm at now: http://greysfiles.com/Studio/Index.htm ;)

Still struggling for the ever elusive "perfect" audio chain, eyeing $1000+ mics and thinking "A matched pair of those would be nice." Tearing down walls, putting holes in the celing, having people move a grand piano upstairs; there is no end to the madness!!!!

Run Sonja, run, get out while you can, be afraid, be very afraid!!!!:)

I'm kidding! I LOVE IT!
 
It never ends. I hope to start building my studio this winter.

And for some reason, I'm confident that a matched par of Earthworks QCT1 will be the only mics I ever need... As if.

Good luck Sonja.

/O
 
Here's another female that wasn't counted earlier. How many are there? Inquiring minds want to know.
 
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