Our goal is to collect a series of monaural recordings of the spoken
word (short prayers, poems, proverbs).

We don't want to invest in a ProTools setup or other expensive hardware
and software. Right now members of our group distribute lightweight MP3
files (+/- 100kb) by email to other members. Most of us are using
computers equipped with standard Soundblaster-grade sound cards and off
the shelf Labtec/Plantronics-grade headsets-with-boom-mike. The sound
is not bad. If you were to suggest a few upgrades -- mikes, cards, etc.
-- what would they be?

pixsnap wrote:

Our goal is to collect a series of monaural recordings of the spoken
word (short prayers, poems, proverbs).

We don't want to invest in a ProTools setup or other expensive hardware
and software. Right now members of our group distribute lightweight MP3
files (+/- 100kb) by email to other members. Most of us are using
computers equipped with standard Soundblaster-grade sound cards and off
the shelf Labtec/Plantronics-grade headsets-with-boom-mike. The sound
is not bad. If you were to suggest a few upgrades -- mikes, cards, etc.
-- what would they be?

1. What aspect of the sounds you're already getting drives you to feel
like upgrading?

2. What is your budget if you do upgrade? One person's expensive is the
next person's cheap.

--
ha

wrote:
Our goal is to collect a series of monaural recordings of the spoken
word (short prayers, poems, proverbs).

We don't want to invest in a ProTools setup or other expensive hardware
and software. Right now members of our group distribute lightweight MP3
files (+/- 100kb) by email to other members. Most of us are using
computers equipped with standard Soundblaster-grade sound cards and off
the shelf Labtec/Plantronics-grade headsets-with-boom-mike. The sound
is not bad. If you were to suggest a few upgrades -- mikes, cards, etc.
-- what would they be?


What software are you using to record the audio now? If you don't have
something like it already, I suggest http://audacity.sourceforge.net.
It doesn't require a cash investment, although there is, of course, a
learning curve. With an editor like Audacity, you can trim the audio,
edit out extraneous noises, normalize, etc. Audacity will do a lot for
the sound, once you learn how to use it.

On the hardware, you might start with by replacing the headset mic with
something like:

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.proc...Code=AT+ATR35S

Depending on the quality of the headset, this could sound better.

The traditional pro system for recording voice involves a lot of bulky,
expensive, complicated gear. Prices (and size) have come down a lot
lately, though. I suppose you could get started with:

1 http://www.behringer.com/02_products...1800s&lang=eng
3 http://www.behringer.com/UB502/index.cfm?lang=ENG

plus mic cables, adapters, maybe mic stands. You might get by for $100
per person (don't pay list price).

Plugging these into your existing cards should get 3 people started
about as cheap as you can go. I suppose some of the pros here can
tell you how bad this setup is going to sound. Probably it will be
better than a Labtech headset.

You still need a decent sound card, but maybe not right now. A lot
of cheap sound cards are good enough for voice if you get a clean
signal with sufficient amplitude to the line input.

If you really think the sound card won't make it, you could replace
the UB502 above with something like:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...kUSB-main.html

This will take you somewhat over $100/person even with the cheap mics.
Again, this is near (or at) the bottom of the range for this kind of
setup.

Another possibility you might look into is a portable recorder, like
the new http://www.edirol.com/products/info/r1.html. More money
(looks like around $439) but a lot handier.

Be warned, I haven't heard any of this stuff. I just happen to be
shopping too, in case I ever get any money for new gear. Currently
I record Sunday sermons with a Korg D1200 (that I happened to get
a good price on about a year ago), a couple of scrounged condenser
mics and a couple of feeds from the live sound board, then produce
a CD using Audacity on a Linux PC.

--
Phil Nelson