Newbie Need Help!

[Iggyiam]

Ok here is the deal I want to run a podcast/radio show once I can afford the hosting. Im looking for a mixer / sound processor that can handle 3-4 mics and head sets. Im trying to run this through my pc. Any suggestions what I should be looking for?


Thank You.

[cemeteryspace]

You'll probably get some other answer from some of the more experienced folks. I'm in a similar situation - want the capability to grow into 3-4 microphones.

What's your budget? Are we talking $100 for everything including the mics or $100 for just the mixer?

If you're on a very, very, tight budget you could go with something like the Nady 4 channel mixer:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Nady-MM141-4Channel-Mini-Mixer?sku=630433

Plug in 4 dynamic mics and bring the output into your computer's line-in and bring the headphone output from your computer through a box like this:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Nady-HA1X4-4Channel-Headphone-Amp-?sku=480043


If you've got a larger budget you could replace the Nady mixer with a Behringer 1202:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-Xenyx-1202?sku=631265

That will give you 4 mic inputs with phantom power and pre-amps. If you want each headphone-wearer to be able to set their own volume you'll still need a box like the 4 channel headphone amp mentioned above.

Now, all of those solutions are going to give you OK but not great sound and you'll probably spend a lot of time tweaking your levels. I just spent 4 days trying to get decent sound out of a Behringer mixer and I wasn't impressed at all.

If you have even more money you can jump up to a yamaha mixer:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-10INPUT-STEREO-MIXER?sku=630138

Only $30 more than the Behringer and probably better quality, although I haven't tried it. From there you're looking at a jump to a Mackie Mixer, $200-$300 for the low end models that will accept 3-4 mic ins. Probably the best compact mixers on the market though.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Mackie-802VLZ3-Compact-Mixer?sku=630343
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Mackie-1202VLZ3-Compact-Mixer-120V-?sku=630131

If you shop around on ebay you can find the Mackie 1202VLZ Pro for around $120, so that's an option.

For mics - it depends on your budget. I'm still shopping around myself. Condenser mics are supposed to have the best sound in general, but they require phantom power and are more fragile than dynamic mics. The Shure SM58 retails for around $100 and probably wouldn't be a bad choice. Musician's Friend sells a variety of SM58 clones - the Nady Starpower SP1 comes with MF's $25 stand/cable/mic bundle (you can find it for around $10 w/out a cable or stand) and probably wouldn't be an awful choice. For condenser mics the MXL-990 is often recommended, it's around $80 - you can spend over a thousand on a good condenser mic pretty easily.

Not trying to overwhelm you or discourage you, it just sounds like your budget is going to dictate which route you go, so it's probably a good idea to narrow down your budget and work from there. Do you need 4 mics? You could cut costs by buying a good mixer (the Yamaha or Mackie) and a couple of mics and sharing those until you can add on a couple more. Isn't the ideal setup, but it would work with the right mic.

You might need a USB interface for your computer - something like the Behringer UCA202:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-UCONTROL-UCA202-USBAudio-Interface?sku=702540

Sometimes the built-in sound cards on computers can have a lot of noise, the USB interface is a cheap way to get around that problem.

Finally, don't forget to budget for cables - they're not cheap. Mic cables are easily $10-$20 or more each, then you'll need the cables to connect from the mixer to the computer - another $10-$20.

[Iggyiam]

THANK YOU SO MUCH

Great input. Right now we are using blog talk radio and are forced to use the whole speaker phone method lol. So any upgrade is good. Once again thank you for the information you have provided