Best Quality Possible for Audio Recording

What exactly do you want to record?

If you mean like vocals, and you want the "best" quality, you will need a good microphone AND a good pre-amp AND a good soundcard (with good DACs). But if you don't already know that, then I'm thinking you probably don't need the "best". No point in giving links yet, until you describe what you want to do, and more importantly, what your budget is (cause believe me, the sky is the limit when it comes to this stuff).

A LOT of money. Really. And a lot of skill.

But in all actuality exactly how good are you looking for? Most of the time if someone is asking that question they dont realise the amount of time and money invested in a serious recording studio. So depending on where you are at some suggestions can be made depending on what you want and how much you can afford.

Seablade

the best laptop for audio recording will be the apple 17 inch powerbook it has firewire and 5 channel line-in using a 24 bit sound card and it comes with garageband

just do a google search for reviews.

>the best laptop for audio recording will be the apple 17 inch powerbook it has firewire and 5 channel line-in using a 24 bit sound card and it comes with garageband

All a matter of opinion.

>Thank you for responding. I am recording vocals and have a 300 dollar budget. Would an echo indigo do me good?

The indigos I have not used but have been highly reccomended by others here. Just make sure you get the one with a Mic PreAmp on it for your use.

What type of vocals? Rock? Voice-Overs? Opera?

Probably for your price range in as far as Mics are concerned a SM58 will probably do you good in as far as a Mic. If you get an interface with Phantom Power you could try some of the cheaper Large Diaphragm Condensers such as I tihnk AT just put one out at about 100 dollars if I remember right. But condensers require phantom power and if you dont get an interface that can provide it dont bother. There are some nice dynamics as well, the SM58 you will see on many stages for live use mainly, but can record as well, albiet not as well as some of the thousand dollar condensers obviously Also for voice-over recordings the EV RE-20 I have fallen in love with as a good dynamic mic, gives a nice warm sound to the voice. Feel free to reply back and Ill try to get a little more specific.

Other interfaces to look at would be ones made by M-Audio, Tascam, Presonus, Mackie, etc. Not sure on the price ranges you will find there but you can probably find several for about 100 bucks leaving you with a little ability to play with your choice of mics.

Seablade

Err yea the RE-20 I think you can pick up for 300 dollars so it is probably a little over your price range Sorry about that.

Seablade

To lazy to hit the edit button

The Echo I cant speak for cause there is no listing on the specs of that card on the page you linked, I would be iffy about buying from that place for that exact reason unless they have it somewhere I missed.

The M-Audio should work for you though. It does have phantom power I believe, which if you are recording Violin I would kinda lean towards a condenser mic myself, but that is personal opinion as I havent recorded a violin yet. Just the sound of a violin seems like it would do best with a condenser though you could probably get away with small diapragm, but since you are doubleing for the voice recordings a large diapragm might be better.

Try the AT2020 Large Diaphragm Condenser, it should run you about 100 bucks normally I believe. That would probably be a decent budget mic for you I think. Though YMMV to be honest. Although if someone wants to jump in with experience with the Mic or Violin recording feel free, I am just taking guesses off what I have done. Havent heard that particular Mic in action but AT does some decent Budget stuff. I have been considering picking that up myself really.

Be careful with Condenser Mics, they are fragile and will break if dropped. Dynamics, which are what you will see on stage typically, are much sturdier, dont get them confused

So between that AT and the Firewire Solo you should be right at your 300 dollar limit I believe. Another 100 dollars will get you a larger selection including another AT as well as some AKG and Shure Mics that would be decent, the benefit of the more expensive AT is it will be easier to find people who have heard it and can give an opinion. I think the 2020 just came out so not many people have heard it, of course I could be wrong as well

Seablade

There is no way to hook up a (real) mic to the Indigo card, you need a something with an XLR jack and a decent mic pre-amp. Or, as an alternative, you could get a small mixer for the mic, and run that out to the Indigo card. The Firewire Solo will work fine for what you want (and I would recommend it), UNLESS you want to record both violin and voice at the same time, because there is only a single mic jack on the Solo. In that case you would have to bump up to the Firewire 410 or something similar with at least two XLR inputs. I agree with seablade that a Shure SM58 is a great starter mic for vocals. For violin though you will have much better results with a condenser mic I would think. Of course if you want to record both at the same time you will need two mics!

On top of this stuff, unless you've got a Mac with Garage Band you will need some kind of software for recording. For about $100 you can get Cakewalk Home Studio or Cubase SE, both are enough for your needs and also give you room to upgrade.

The M-Audio Mobile Pre will let you record directly with an XLR mic and provides phantom power. I own the Mobile Pre and the M-audio Nova condenser mike for vocal recording (dialogue). You can get both for between $250-300.

You shouldn't purchase the Echo Indigo I/O for this because it has no onboard preamp, though otherwise the Indigo is a great card for mobile clean playback (I also own it.)

Uh unless you are set up in very good isolation, DONT record both at the same time, but the impression I got was that both would be coming from the same source anyways so it is a moot point Recording a violin and a voice at the same time in the same area is a bad idea due to the violin occupying the same frequency range as the vowel sounds of the human voice, essentially what this means is it masks a human voice very effectively, and if there was any bleedover it would do so in the recording. You will want to track the violin first most likely and add the voice on after that. Not certain on the monitoring capabilities of the M-Audio Solo but I would think it would be able to do that without much problem. And yea while I have never recorded Violin, I have run Live shows with them(Have one coming up in fact, a musical)

The comment about software is a good one, you can pick some up free as well if you need, do you already have any? Or do you have any budget for one other than the one you already mentioned? If not I can see what is out there for windows for free, or the M-Audio may actually come with some free stuff, I am not sure.

Seablade

Groto, check this out it's also from m-audio $149.00
i think this would be a better option with your budget http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/...se_pid/701368/

and then you can get these mics with your budget too
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/...se_pid/273166/

I already suggested the Mobile Pre...

I gave a link so it can be seen directly.

And besides, i'm not saying you did not suggest it.

relax man.

The cheapest route I know for good field audio on a laptop is get a perky system: P4 or M730 + and interface with a Echo Mona card which can be had on ebay for under $300. The laptop interface goes for around $150. You'll get excellent preamps universal inputs and ... well go the the echo site.

I just bought an m-audio firewire 410 (supports two mic inputs w/ phantom power) and a marshall MXL2001 condenser mic from Guitar Center. It came out to $350 even. It's a little over your price, but it's also a nice step up from pcmcia solutions.

I was told the mxl2001 is the best sub $100 condenser mic you can get, although I haven't had a chance to really try it yet.

Built in mics on camera mean no good for audio. Some can be decentbut they will be blown away in general by an outboard solution.

Ok some general info for you, Most mics fall into one of two different categories...

Dynamic or Condenser.

There are otrs but those dont need to be gotten into for this. Dynamic mics are pretty much speakers in reverse, are much sturdier but a little less accurate in their pickup than condensers. Typically you will find them in live stage use a LOT.

Condenser Mics are More Accurate, but require phantom power and arent as sturdy. Phantom Power is a type of power given over the same cable you use for the audio, a 3 Pin XLR to 3 Pin XLR connection most of the time(And pretty much plan on using that type of connection if you are using condensers).

Phantom Power will be listed as a feature on any mic preamp that you look at. Mic Preamps are part of those interfaces you were looking at earlier that takes a Mic signal which is extremly tiny and amplifies it very accurately and quietly to a larger useable signal.

Now all those details out of the way, if you are doing film work and want to be able to do this again using the same equipment, get a shotgun mic. A Shotgun mic is almost always a condenser mic, with a very focused pickup pattern. You will have to keep it pointed at your actor(s) mouth the entire time to get a good signal, and will need a windscreen for it. That is your best solution if you cant do anything involving wires on camera and is what happens most often in film(Look on movie credits for Boom Operators, yea that is the sound guys that get paid to point shotgun mics all day, much more tedious than it sounds trust me

If you can get away with it though a cheaper solution will be a lavalier mic most likely. Shotgun mics arent cheap by any stretch of the imgaination, and a lav you might be able to get a bit cheaper, but will involve running a cord under some clothes and down a pants leg and dragging along the ground. Might not be an option(Usually isnt for film projects).

If you want to get a shotgun mic, I would suggest looking at the AT835 and AT815 shotguns. I dont believe they are that expensive and if you pick the right ones they can be powered via a AA battery inside of them instead of requiring a phantom power interface. You then would probably want to run this into your camera instead of your laptop, and here is why.

Syncing audio and video can be a royal pain in the arse. If you can record it on your camera do it, even if it requires sinking some money into a shotgun mic with a battery power supply on it. This requires your camera have a decent preamp in it, typically most good cameras will have useable preamps(Dedicated seperate ones are better but more expensive) but some consumer cameras really suck in this department.

The AT835b will probably be your better choice between the two I mentioned, it has the tighter pickup pattern and will work better over distances. You will find them around the 250 range though you might be able to find a better price, that is what most places will sell em for probably. The 815 I cant find info on right now for whatever reason, though I used them this summer, had a wider pickup and might be better suited for picking up small groups near you or something to that effect. I actually had to use them for area boundry mics on stage this summer, one screwed up system to make me use those out there.

Anyways hope this helps ya a bit.

Seablade