Audio mixers with "push-button" radio effects

[ryan4sc]

I have been doing a weekly 1 hour podcast for about a year and a half now. I usually have three segments, talking to a guest in my "studio" or over the phone via skype.

Software I was using Adobe Soundbooth but I have recently switched to using Audacity.

I have two CAD condenser mics and 2 sets of audio-technica headphones that I connect into my Alesis Multimix 8 USB.

I was thinking of upgrading my mixer and wanted to know a couple of things.

Should I get one that has compression (not really sure what that ads). And are there mixers that have push-button effects like pre loaded audio that I when I press the button, it is inserted into my recording in real time. Like what radio stations use.

I tried to search for that feature but couldn't find anything.

I do see some strange varrying of audio levels with my current setup. My guest can be talking and I can see the recording at one level, and then it will switch and be a notch higher or a notch lower across the board. I wasn't sure if compression would help with that or if I was doing something wrong.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[Harlequin_Felis]

As far as I remember from my very cursory glance over some audio tutorials, compression makes soft noises louder. Or loud noises softer. One of the two - I believe the Audacity help file can help you on what its built in compressor does. It might be something completely different in hardware.

Honestly, I think you've got a pretty good rig for basic recording as is - if you really want some sound effects and the like, you can always plug a PSP or something into the mixer and play SFX off of that.

Someone else more learned than I could help a bit more, probably.

[thenahi]

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[ecollazo]

Depending on the software you use, it can be really easy to set up. I use Logic Studio on a Mac and I use the ESX24 Sampler on a MIDI track for sound FX. Samplers let you use sound files and assign them to keys on a keyboard. I did this with some sound bites I like and use a USB based Korg nanoPad to trigger them during a recording. It works great. Basically any MIDI trigger and a sampler can get the job done.

[Jim Smith]

You could always put the FX in during post-production. In Audacity, as long as I know where they go I can pop them into a new track and slide it right into the proper place.
The way I use mine, a compressor/limiter is invaluable for keeping your level fairly stabilized. If you raise your voice a lot, you can set it to clamp down at a certain level. If you keep the gain on the mixer fairly high, you won't have to compensate for low levels and the limiter will keep it from going too high.
Also, since even your computer makes enough noise to be picked up by the microphone, you can adjust the threshold to open up just a hair above the level of the background noise. That's worth its weight in gold to me.
Since I often have cars and children in close proximity to my "studio", those faint sounds were driving me nuts until I got the compressor/limiter set up properly.

Hope that helps.