Fairly cheap recording equipment?

xarcul

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So I haven't even got my first uke yet...

But when it comes, I'll be interested in recording myself playing with a view to recording multiple tracks and editing them together. What sort of value-for-money microphones are out there, and how much should I expect to pay to get a half decent one?

Thanks!
 
Just get a decent USB mic and use Audacity on your computer/iPad/etc.

I've got a TASCAM DR-07 and think a Blue Snow Flake does a more true sound capture for my ears.
 
Cheap is my buzzword. I got an audio interface to my PC on Woot.com a while back for $50 and it came with a chopped down version of ProTools. I've been happily using it for a couple of years, recording and treating tracks there and then offloading them to Audacity for noise removal and further mixing.

Last week I tried to do multi-track recording directly with Audacity, and it came out pretty well to my ears. Audacity is free, and there are loads of plugins for effects and all. The automation in ProTools is better, but I really only use that in special cases. Also, I think ProTools is a little easier to use, especially with effects, than Audacity, but that's just an issue of how long recording will take you and how onerous it is.

So recording software budget is $0 - a good USB mike shouldn't run you more than $70 or so. I have pickups and amps for some of my ukes, so I use an audio interface that can take a standard amp cord (1/4") and an XLR for a mike. I dug up a mike I bought 30 years ago (ElectroVoice) and it works well. But keep your eyes open on Amazon deals and Woot for low cost USB mikes and such.
 
I have one of these mics and it's actually not bad. It might not be as directional as you might like and does pick up a lot of ambient noise. It is a good mic, however.
 
Zoom h4 has nice on board mics for stereo 2-track, you can bounce around to do 4-track, plug in external mics, etc. Super easy to use!
 
I use irig. It's a great little tool that you can use with garageband or amplitube. I use it only for recording the uke, but I guess you could plug in a mic as well.
 
iPad
Camera kit for iPad (with usb port)
Powered USB hub
Samson G-Track USB mic (has an instrument in port, which means you don't need any other DI box)
Garageband
(iMovie, too, if you want to post videos)
 
I'm only really interested in the microphone - I'll be able to get simple mixing equipment for free (as I think someone kindly pointed out).

Basically, am I right in saying that I shouldn't be spending any less than, say, £40?

(Sorry, I'm in the UK...)
 
iPad
Camera kit for iPad (with usb port)
Powered USB hub
Samson G-Track USB mic (has an instrument in port, which means you don't need any other DI box)
Garageband
(iMovie, too, if you want to post videos)

I am laughing so hard at this. Fairly cheap? :rofl:
 
There's LOADS of decent kit on Amazon - I've been looking at, using the reviews as my guide :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samson-Diap...TF8&colid=3MA36SQQ3Q3QK&coliid=I3I6V7X3X0ALTY

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-C...UTF8&colid=3MA36SQQ3Q3QK&coliid=IXGUGJ3XOQGXL

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-X...TF8&colid=3MA36SQQ3Q3QK&coliid=I2SV88Q3JSE08E

You really could do with a cheap audio interface of some sort and there's LOADS to choose from for around £40 - as for software, download a free trial of one of the Magix packages - I've tried many of them, and I've found 'Music Maker 17' to be the most simple to use, with LOADS of features - and it's the cheapest one around (bar the free ones, obviously)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Magix-Music-Maker-17-PC/dp/B0046YRZ22/ref=pd_sim_sw_h__2
 
Keep the microphone USB and hopefully you have a computer/laptop with quiet fans or no fans, or I guess a tablet with full USB. Audacity should work well enough for both capture and editing but I think will require some research and playing with settings to get what you want.

The samson go mic does seem to be pretty acceptable from the recordings I listened to on youtube. It has the advantage of having a headphone monitor plugin directly on the mic. Having the samson go mic the three settings are really nice, and the saturation light is really helpful for quickly deciding which of the 2 cardiod settings to use. If you can get that can get that cheap (mine was under 30USD) it's probably if you want to get started with the intent of upgrading later. It's definitely a tiny travel mic.

Other usb mics I've seen shopped are the snowball, blue yeti and audio-technica AT2020USB, more expensive options.
 
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I use the Samson C01U USB mic (about $50). I play through my Kustom Sienna 30 combo amp ($150) to add reverb and mic that. I record using Audacity (Free) but am looking to play around with Cake Walk which comes with the microphone. You can hear a sample of it here
 
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Why isn't iRig an option anyone is considering?
 
Why isn't iRig an option anyone is considering?

Well, I have never heard of the iRig until your post and I don't have an iphone. I'm a bit leary of direct to phone recording because my phone can't sync video with sound unless I fix it in something like movie maker. But, looking at the product it does seem pretty cool. It cost $60.00, here's the link to it on ZZSounds http://www.zzounds.com/item--IKMIRIGMIC
 
what are you talking about? Blue snowflake?
Just get a decent USB mic and use Audacity on your computer/iPad/etc.

I've got a TASCAM DR-07 and think a Blue Snow Flake does a more true sound capture for my ears.
 
We have a Blue Snowball USB microphone that we are pretty happy with. $60 USD from Amazon, and it plays nice with Audacity
 
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