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luigi
Posts: 15
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 Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 8:00 am
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Can somebody please advise what could be the best sound-card/mic combination in order to do voice recording for promos, commercials, spots, jingles.
Thanks and regards,
Luis Filipe
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Graeme
Member
Location: Spain
Posts: 4663
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 8:30 am
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... and your budget is?
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Bernie
Posts: 15
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 8:42 am
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Many professionals would advise you to get an M-Audio Delta 44 or Delta 66 sound card:
http://www.midiman.net/products/m-audio/delta44.php
And a preferably look for a condenser microphone, although a cheaper dynamic mic would be ok for the pc too.
I want to do the same work as you on the PC, so I am watching this thread for advice. I am planning to get a Delta 44 card myself.
Bernie.
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Graeme
Member
Location: Spain
Posts: 4663
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 9:07 am
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The problem with 'best' is that it means different things to different people.
However, in the final analysis, it all comes down to money and what are good combinations within a specific cost band - hence my question about the budget constraints. Until this is known, recommendations aren't worth the paper they are written on.
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Bernie
Posts: 15
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 9:27 am
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[why didn't you simply edit your first reply if you're just going to expand on it?]
Even without a known budget, it is still possible to give minimum budget requirements, for instance, "You would have to spend at least £150 on a decent sound card". Luigi may not even know how much he needs to spend, you see? We can all create and adapt our budgets, save up and wait, etc. So it would only be right to give some ideas, even if it to say what his minimum buget would need to be.
As for 'best', yes all words are ultimately relative in the English language, but again, if you have knowledge in this area, you could at least offer a selection of what you/most people consider to be the best.
Bernie.
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clintfan
Location: USA
Posts: 455
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 9:49 am
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| Quote: |
| [why didn't you simply edit your first reply if you're just going to expand on it?] -Bernie |
Good question. Opinions will differ, but editing old replies is good for spelling corrections, accidental duplicate replies and such. We take it for granted that adding a new reply will provide a good running history as to the thought processes. That's pretty much how it happens on this Forum, and most I've seen.
| Quote: |
| you could at least offer a selection of what you/most people consider to be the best. -Bernie |
Try the Search link at the top of this page. Search for "best mic" (without the quotes) in the Hardware forum. A search against that forum will return results closer to what I think you're looking for, than searching against All Forums. And it pays to go easy on folks who have 4000+ posts, they can be your best friend.
-clintfan
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Beef Stew
Location: USA
Posts: 34
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 10:10 am
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| luigi wrote: |
Can somebody please advise what could be the best sound-card/mic combination in order to do voice recording for promos, commercials, spots, jingles.
Thanks and regards,
Luis Filipe |
'best' is a relative term. sound blaster could be best on the low end (under $100). echo audio or motu could be best in the middle (under $1000). you could spend more on a sound card, but why?
By the way, it's not necessary to post your question more than once or on more than one forum.
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post78
Location: USA
Posts: 2887
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 10:55 am
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The question is also a bit like asking which guitar amplifier is "best", without having a clue as to what guitar is going to be used. A particular Marshall might just tame a Strat to acceptable levels (not likely, but we can pretend), but that same amp might make a Les Paul sound muddy. Then again, there's Graeme's point about what's too "screechy" or "muddy" to you.
_________________
Answer = 1. Probably.
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Graeme
Member
Location: Spain
Posts: 4663
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 11:17 am
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| Bernie wrote: |
| [why didn't you simply edit your first reply if you're just going to expand on it?] |
Because it was basically a follow-up to Bernie's post, not something additional to the original one. I'm sorry if I offended your sensibilities by not going through the hassle of editing the original.
| Bernie wrote: |
| Even without a known budget, it is still possible to give minimum budget requirements, for instance, "You would have to spend at least £150 on a decent sound card". Luigi may not even know how much he needs to spend, you see? |
Well, you have a bit of a point - but unfortunately this forum is littered with questions like this which people have answered in depth, only to find out there a maximum of $100 in the pot!! I prefer to get a feel for how much the questioner thinks he is going to spend first. It may be too low, in which case he'll soon be getting the message.
| Bernie wrote: |
| As for 'best', yes all words are ultimately relative in the English language, but again, if you have knowledge in this area, you could at least offer a selection of what you/most people consider to be the best. |
'Best' is not a relative term at all - it means simply that.
However, in the context of the question, 'best' would run to a figure which very few here (or anywhere) would be willing to even contemplate. Here we are talking about value for money - not best at any price.
I don't think this is the right way to go about it at all. I can give you 'good' combinations - at all sorts of price breaks - but none of them might be considered 'best' (in terms of value for money) by someone else.
You want a good combination? OK, I'll give you one - maybe not 'best', but very good quality. Audiocard: Lynxone (around $500) Microphone: AKG414 (around $1,000). To this you will have to add the cost of a mic pre-amp or mixer with phantom powering.
But, I'll lay a pound to a peseta this will be way over-budget for luigi - and others will disagree with my choice anyway. So it seems I can't win.
Of course, there are other considerations - is luigi going to be doing any multitrack work is the first which comes to mind? Probably not, but it helps us to help him if we get the full story first.
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Bernie
Posts: 15
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 1:15 pm
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Thanks Graeme, and all the respondents in fact, your replies have helped the thought process to this kind of question, even if we arrived at this via a little pressure from me (I thought the guy would never get any help at all  ).
Clintfan, er NO WAY my friend, I am not a communist, haha, I will not bow to a person with over 4 000 posts or 20 000 posts, respect is earned, and I saw a very lame answer from someone who knows now that he could have been more helpful, even if only a little bit.
Anyway, does anyone here rate the Delta 44 card? I'm thinking of getting one next week .. I had to adjust my original budget of £100 to £160, but there you go eh ;)
Bernie.
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luigi
Posts: 15
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 2:33 pm
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I am amazed to find so many experts in one forum.
I apologise for copying my request in several topics, as I was not expecting that there were that many participants and I just wanted to be sured that somebody did see my request.
Going back to the topic, I just want to clarify that I am looking at a complete end-to-end low budget solution just for making promos, commercials, etc, for a small radio station.
Would it be possible to get a complete solution (excluding the PC)with good sound quality upto $1000 USD.
If somebody could recommend what they considered to be the best solution with the names of all the components that fits best (mic ?, mixer ?, sound-card ?, editing software ?, etc ?).
Note: I am beginner in this very interesting field.
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Graeme
Member
Location: Spain
Posts: 4663
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 3:15 pm
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| Bernie wrote: |
| ....I will not bow to a person with over 4 000 posts or 20 000 posts, respect is earned, and I saw a very lame answer from someone who knows now that he could have been more helpful, even if only a little bit. |
I asked him what his budget was - and that's a 'lame answer'? Hmmmm...
Of course, you've been hanging around here for a long time (ever since June 27 2003, must be, what, oh, 24 hours, at least) so you will know all about me and whether or not I have contributed anything worthwhile to this forum in my 4,000 odd posts. You haven't had enough time to discover if any respect is due - but that didn't stop you criticising me.
You and I, my friend, are likely to fall out within a very short period, if you continue to make such nonsensical comments based on absolutely zero knowledge about me - I bet you didn't even read my profile.
I gave you my reasoning for answering the way I did - it's based on more years of experience than I care to acknowledge. You might have thought it was lame and might not agree with it, but that's no reason to start taking personal pops at me!
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djwayne
Location: USA
Posts: 583
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 3:51 pm
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I agree with Graeme on this one. There needed to be more information before an educated answer could be given.
Example: I wanna buy a car, what's the best car for me ?
I need a new house. What kind should I buy??
The questions are too vague and need to be more specific.
Communications are about trading information, the more info traded, the better the communications.
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SteveG
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 6695
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 4:36 pm
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| Bernie wrote: |
| Anyway, does anyone here rate the Delta 44 card? I'm thinking of getting one next week .. I had to adjust my original budget of £100 to £160, but there you go eh |
The one snag that I can see if you are wanting to use a Delta 44 for radio work is that unlike the Delta 66, it has no S/PDIF facilities, which is possibly something you may come to rue. The idea that all the connections are on a breakout box is fine, but for radio work, the Delta 44 seems to have a range of features that isn't perhaps the most useful you could have - a four in four out card is just a little OTT for this application, perhaps? The quality is not in doubt - but there are other cards around that will perform just as well. Like the Audiophile 24/96 and yes, the Mia. Both of these cards will handle S/PDIF.
As for the rest of the original question - and leaving aside any arguments about 'best', etc, I would have thought that for voice work, and generally making up a useable, useful system, a small mixer would be quite a good bet. It will have at least one mic preamp in it, and with a decent mic, will enable you to mix other sources, and maybe a second mic as well - you never know. Try to avoid looking at Behringer, and look towards a bit of afordable quality, like the ubiquitous Spirit Folio Notepad.
Wha mic? AT4033s are quite popular for this sort of work - they sound good, and have an internal mounting for the capsule that tends to isolate them rather better than some mics. Also, you will need a pop shield of some description, and a suitable stand.
And bear in mind that the acoustic that you work in can make a big difference to how good this lot will sound. Getting a PC in a quietened case is also worth considering - you'd be amazed at how much background sound a good mic will pick up. And treating the area you record in will always pay dividends.
If you really want to go down the dynamic mic route, then you should be looking at something sensible from Sennheiser - a minimum of an S/835, or a Beyer. Yes, there are others as well, but these manufacturers produce mics that are known to work well with the spoken voice.
One thing that might be thought of as a slight luxury is a pair of halfway decent monitor speakers - if you are sending stuff out, though, they are not. You'd be amazed at the number of people who turn up with work here and say 'it was rejected - I don't know why' only to have me play it on a decent system and immediately realise what the reason was. 99% of the time, they monitored their work on computer speakers. Says it all, really...
What I'm suggesting is a tried and tested route - this sort of kit isn't going to cost you an absolute fortune, but neither is it going to look rather basic in five minutes time. And it will produce broadcast quality results - as long as you can! The BBC says so - so do plenty of ILR stations, and any number of overseas broadcasters. They've all broadcast plenty of material recorded on different combinations of what I've just listed.
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texas terry
Location: USA
Posts: 31
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 4:43 pm
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First back to topic for a second...
Is it possible to get a decent working system for 1,000 USD total...
Sorry to say no.
You can get something that will work, barely. But you can not get a computer, mic, monitor, and software for 1,000 USD total and expect to make anything that will get you any work. Friends of mine who are production/station imaging people even in small towns couldn't get away with it... You can find computers for as low as 499 (with out monitor)... Don't do it, even the Dells.
But if you want "budget" not "best"... Here ya go.
This is the cheapest system I can think of:
Computer:
Dell Dimension 4600 $749(includes: Pentium 4 processor at 2.40GHz, 256MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 333MHz, 17" (16.0"vis) Monitor, 30GB Ultra/ATA 100 Hard Drive, 64MB NVIDIA Graphics Card)
Find it at http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/products/model_dimen_dimen_4600.htm
Sound Card:
M-Audio Audiophile 2496 $149
Find it at
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=030627161154170020011059149026/g=rec/search/detail/base_id/52393
Mic:
Rode NT1-a $199
Find it at
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=030627161154170020011059149026/g=rec/search/detail/base_id/88744
*** Now this is the part that is the budget buster *** And here forward I clearly state this is my opinion ONLY ***
While you can get an OK computer for $749... A OK sound card for $149... and a decent mic for $199 (total so far = $1097)
You CAN NOT get anything out of that at all with out a preamp because that Mic needs power (+$100 for a barely OK one), AND you still really should get Monitors (pro speakers) because no matter how good or bad you mix could be, you won't hear it at it's best, or worst with out the right speakers... and even with great headphones (another $100+) you have a false stereo field, and your mix will be off at least a bit. AND we haven't added the software yet!!!!!
But to get started, you CAN find an OK preamp with a compressor for around $200-300, and get by with decent home stereo speakers.
But Luigi did mention that he is a novice, and is "interseted" in this... Luigi are you looking for a "Decent" system to play around with? Or one that you can seriously have a shot at making money with? If your just playing around, get the computer, the software, use the onboard POS sound card and get a $99 Marshal Mic (or something like it)... Then if you decide to get serious and try to make some money with your voice, remember spend your money with the Mic Chain (everything from Mic to record source/computer) Believe it or not there are Mics over $3,000 and preamp/compress over $3,000... And I'm not even talking about top of the line!
I'm really not trying to be harsh
Just trying to help.
BTW, I'm staying out of this Bernie/Graeme thing... except to say, to get respect, you must first give it.
FTB,
T
_________________
"Texas" Terry Phillips
Creative Services/Production Director
Infinity Broadcasting's
99.5 WYCD
Detroit's Best Country
www.wycd.com
www.texasterry.com |
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VoodooRadio
Location: USA
Posts: 3971
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 5:16 pm
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I think a nice old "vintage" Telefunken ribbon and an Neve channel strip would quite nicely... thank you!
_________________
I said Good Day!
Voodoo
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texas terry
Location: USA
Posts: 31
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 5:23 pm
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| VoodooRadio wrote: |
| and an Neve channel strip would quite nicely... |
LOL... don't forget a Urei 1176!
_________________
"Texas" Terry Phillips
Creative Services/Production Director
Infinity Broadcasting's
99.5 WYCD
Detroit's Best Country
www.wycd.com
www.texasterry.com |
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SteveG
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 6695
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 5:35 pm
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| texas terry wrote: |
Is it possible to get a decent working system for 1,000 USD total...
Sorry to say no.
You can get something that will work, barely. But you can not get a computer, mic, monitor, and software for 1,000 USD total and expect to make anything that will get you any work. Friends of mine who are production/station imaging people even in small towns couldn't get away with it... You can find computers for as low as 499 (with out monitor)... Don't do it, even the Dells. |
Yes, but luigi said
| Quote: |
| Would it be possible to get a complete solution (excluding the PC)with good sound quality upto $1000 USD. (my bold) |
... and I'd say that the answer was 'Yes', although you may have to compromise on the monitors a little. Okay, the mic might cost a little more than the Rode, but the AT's have a good reputation in radio circles (well they do here, anyway!). But I would still have thought that with a little shopping around, you could do it within the budget, now that the PC's out of the way... 
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djwayne
Location: USA
Posts: 583
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 5:39 pm
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I'm getting my Superlux Condensor mic on monday. I'll do some sound checks with it, running it thru an Aphex Tubessence Pre-amp, Mackie Mixer, Audiophile 2496, and compare it to a Sennheiser 421, and AKG C-1000, and let you know.
The Superlux is being shipped from Arizona. I've been tracking it on UPS's tracking website, and now it's in Ohio, so I should get it Monday. UPS rocks !!!
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jonrose
Location: USA
Posts: 2901
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 6:35 pm
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| Bernie wrote: |
| Thanks Graeme, and all the respondents in fact, your replies have helped the thought process to this kind of question, even if we arrived at this via a little pressure from me (I thought the guy would never get any help at all ). |
Oh, I don't know about that... ;)
For a post that just appeared today, I'd say there's probably been an average amount of feedback (for this forum). So stick around - you'll get a little bit better feel for the pace of things as they happen around here. It's not a chatroom, but it's perhaps livelier than some other forums. :)
Best... -Jon
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post78
Location: USA
Posts: 2887
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Posted - Fri Jun 27, 2003 8:14 pm
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| SteveG wrote: |
| texas terry wrote: |
Is it possible to get a decent working system for 1,000 USD total...
Sorry to say no.
You can get something that will work, barely. But you can not get a computer, mic, monitor, and software for 1,000 USD total and expect to make anything that will get you any work. Friends of mine who are production/station imaging people even in small towns couldn't get away with it... You can find computers for as low as 499 (with out monitor)... Don't do it, even the Dells. |
Yes, but luigi said
| Quote: |
| Would it be possible to get a complete solution (excluding the PC)with good sound quality upto $1000 USD. (my bold) |
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Strange... For some reason I, too, read it as "including". It must be the heat we've got going here.
_________________
Answer = 1. Probably.
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texas terry
Location: USA
Posts: 31
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Posted - Mon Jun 30, 2003 3:37 am
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| post78 wrote: |
| SteveG wrote: |
| texas terry wrote: |
Is it possible to get a decent working system for 1,000 USD total...
Sorry to say no.
You can get something that will work, barely. But you can not get a computer, mic, monitor, and software for 1,000 USD total and expect to make anything that will get you any work. Friends of mine who are production/station imaging people even in small towns couldn't get away with it... You can find computers for as low as 499 (with out monitor)... Don't do it, even the Dells. |
Yes, but luigi said
| Quote: |
| Would it be possible to get a complete solution (excluding the PC)with good sound quality upto $1000 USD. (my bold) |
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Strange... For some reason I, too, read it as "including". It must be the heat we've got going here.
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_________________
"Texas" Terry Phillips
Creative Services/Production Director
Infinity Broadcasting's
99.5 WYCD
Detroit's Best Country
www.wycd.com
www.texasterry.com |
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redblanchard
Location: USA
Posts: 6
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Posted - Wed Jul 02, 2003 2:02 pm
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I am having trouble with my present Creative sound card and Cool 2000,
and wonderuif anybody has any recommendations for a card KNOWN to work well with Cool Edit?
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Red Blanchard |
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ozpeter
Location: Australia
Posts: 3200
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Posted - Wed Jul 02, 2003 3:30 pm
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My Creative SBLive Platinum 'works well with Cool Edit' - whether it works well with audio has been discussed here at length before.... what problems are you having? You won't have to look far back in the forum for plenty of real recommendations - search the forum for any names you have in mind.
- Ozpeter
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Best sound-card/mic combination for voice