Choosing an Audio Interface & Mics

CyanRain

I don't need this for music production but podcasting, but I thought you lads would have the best knowledge of this issue.

I need to record four separate mics at a time through a Macbook Pro and Ableton Live. I'm pretty clueless and how to go about purchasing my setup. USB vs Firewire, interface vs mixer, preamps, outputs, etc etc.

However, the most important issue is PRICE. We don't have a huge budget, and I'm wondering what the CHEAPEST 4-person available is.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help,
Matt

PS. I own two Singstar mics. Do they work with these interfaces/mixers or do I need completely different mics altogether? As I said, I'm completely clueless and any help is much appreciated.

Niall - Dahlia

Well I'll chime in here even though I know nothing about podcasting, you might get better advice somewhere else.

USB or Firewire...since price is the biggest factor you don't even have to consider this. Firewire interfaces start well above the price of USB interfaces. And besides Firewire is potentially more troublesome, so stick with USB, perfect for what you want to do.

Interface or mixer...not aware of any mixer that would be cheaper than just a straight 4 XLR interface, something like an Alesis iO4 maybe? http://www.thomann.de/ie/alesis_io4.htm

Preamps and output...the output is through USB from your interface to your DAW (Ableton). Preamps are preamps at your price range, and for what you're doing not much of an issue. Just make sure they offer phantom power.

Mics...well this is where you'll blow most of your cash. With podcasting/spoken word for a decent natural sound straight off the bat you'll need a condenser. Audio Warehouse in Dublin stock Sontronics and SE mics which have budget condenser options. Cheaper again are Studio Projects and Audio Technica. And of course there's cheaper again (like t bone on thomann) but I can't vouch for the quality of those. I'm sure they're fine for podcasting though.

But really, does everybody need their own mic? 4 x inputs, 4 x mics, 4 x cables, 4 x stands, 4 x pop-shields...you're gonna literally spend half as much getting a 2 input interface and just two mics. Or maybe there's a main speaker and the other 3 can use one mic? That'd be my advice, though I don't know exactly what you're doing. Also would be surprised if there's no podcasting kits you can buy.

Hope that helps.

CyanRain

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated.

Yeah what we've been doing up to this is two people on each mic, but I've come across a major problem in the audio fading in and out from people readjusting their position from the mic. I'm aware this is still a problem with one-person-mics but much easier not to move when you don't have to think about somebody else being the exact same angle and distance away from the mic as you. Obviously the easiest way to remedy this would be to purchase headset mics/lavalier mics, but I assume I'd have to dish out a lot of cash in order to get actual good-quality mics of that kind.

I was looking at the Alesis io4 myself before I posted here, but I'm still a bit confused. Totally clueless here. There is no preamp on-board the Alesis so I'd have to purchase them separately, am I right?

Thanks very much for the help,
Matt

TroutMask

io4 has mic pres and phantom - all you need. Just add laptop + 4 mics & stands. If you let the client get comfy, then adjust a mic in front of 'em with a boom stand or one of those broadcast spring loaded clamp on stands - then you'll get better results. Do a run-through or rehearsal to set levels and/or clock potential problems before going to air. Record the rehearsal (in case it's better than the *real recording*)

Sennheiser Beyer and Electro Voice come to mind as good go-to mics for speech recording. For a low budget, you don't really want to lower than Rode or its ilk - i think Rode make one that is designed for podcasting. The nice thing about, say, an RE20 is the fact that it has a lot of presence and 'grunt' for want of a better description. It really cuts through, in a good way - so you will have a compelling presence on the podwaves. To my way of thinking, that's what you should be going for.