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.