VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Darren]

I'm helping some friends get equipment for a podcast.
They were planning to use a single Yeti mic...I said that was not a good idea.

I'm thinking they could use an audio interface like:
Behringer UMC404HD U-Phoria USB
or is there a better option?

They'll need 3 Mics. Any recommendations in the $50-100'ish range?

What software? I use Twistedwave for my own work but I've never done anything with multiple tracks. Can TW or audacity do that? Or would garage band be a potential option?

If they wanted to, is it possible to plug 3 usb mics into one computer? And what software could manage that?

Thanks for any help, cheers.
Darren

[vkuehn]

You have asked US questions and in turn we need some questions answered by YOU.

Will the finished product be like an NPR news story where the host interviews one person, and then interviews a second person, or will the finished product be like some morning DJ programs where all three people may be interacting unpredictably with each other, maybe saying "uh, huh" while another person is talking... maybe the tone of your podcast is such that we would hear one participant giggling in the back ground while another is talking, or maybe your podcast will be like the current batch of Republican candidate debates where all three are talking at once to see who can dominate the conversation.

It would be possible to have one mic, slide it across the table to the next participant, and then to the next, and then in post production, just edit out the dead space and the mechanical noise of passing the mic around like a bowl of cranberry sauce at the Thanksgiving dinner.

If you are planning on a really complex situation where more than one voice at a time will be heard, then maybe the Behringer UMC404HD U-Phoria USB is less than what you need. The mixer will put all three voices into ONE audio track and you have no way to change the relationship of the voices in the edit. You would need what musicians love in recording their small groups. Every mic needs it's own separate track which leaves you free to do considerable magic during the edit process.

I would start with some trial runs... using one shared mic... and learn how that works for you. The fact that you have asked the question the way you did tends to indicate that to start immediately with multi-track recording could be a bit overwhelming.

[Jason Huggins]

I think a $100 budget for everything is a bit optimistic. If sound quality and multiple channels is of no concern, you could just plug an Audio Technica ATR-3350 omindirectional wired lav mic into the built-in input jack of most computers and then record with Audacity.

That'd set you back $30 (Amazon) and depending on where you positioned the speakers, could sound...ok. I've used that mic as an external on a DSLR and it sounds just fine. Putting 4 people around that mic with it sitting on a table with all speakers at approximately the same distance could work. It comes with a really long cord, built in preamp and a clip so you could put something (like an old CD spindle base) in the middle of the table and clip the mic to it pointing up. It's omnidirectional so it should pick everyone up.

I'm sure noise floor would be higher than optimal, but you could lower it a bit with Audacity's noise reduction.

If you got 4 of those mics and a small mixer, you could have much better control and sound quality...but then you're headed into the $200+ range. It all depends on what you want to accomplish and how much you are willing to invest.

[DenaliDave]

The Blue Snowball has an omni mode. If you aren't broadcasting live and can do some post-production, you could probably clean up the sound. The snowball isn't the world's greatest microphone...but for $58 or so on Amazon with Prime shipping I don't think you'll find a better omni-directional deal.
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[vkuehn]

I just went back and walked my way through this conversation. We each understood your question a bit differently from one another.

When you talked about the $50 to $100 range, I read that as "per microphone" and I think someone else may have been thinking "per the whole kit-and-kaboodle". So if our answers seem a bit confusing to you, just be aware we found your question a bit confusing.

Can you plug 3 different USB microphones into one computer? Not that I am aware of. You can plug 3 plain old inexpensive XLR connector mics into 1 plain old inexpensive listtle analog mixer and then feed that analog either into a tradition sound card in a computer or into a analog-to-digital conversion box.

I suspect someone in this group could explain to us that you could possibly have three separate audio programs running simultaneously on one computer, one program for each mic, but you would likely end up with three separate audio files that you would have to figure out some way to mix down into one final podcast audio file. Trying to do that would be beyond my skill-set and I suspect you would find it a bit of an impossible challenge also.

[vkuehn]

My apologies to the original poster. I think I wandered a bit beyond my knowledge in my first reply. It may well be that the UMC404HD U-Phoria USB would actually allow you to record 3 or 4 mikes and end up with 3 or 4 separate channels which could be edited and then mixed-down for a podcast.

This would be a valuable feature in a 3 person discussion because when two people talk at once, in post-production you could decide which one will be heard and which one will be faded down.... OR you could move the second track so that one finished talking in the final version and the second person is heard FOLLOWING the first person instead of being covered over.

I wanted a device that would do this a few years ago and everything I looked at then was prohibitively expensive for my purpose. If the 404 will do this, the price is certainly very pleasant in the $100 to $200 range. (Some vendors are quoting the lower price, but have no stock to ship. What will their price be when they get an inventory?)

[Frank F]

Great find... The 404HD. There is another way, use three USB Mic's from three different manufacturers. I won't go into detail about why, but the microphones must be from three different makers.

Also use a seperate computer as your server to your CDN.

Good luck

F2
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[Darren]

A little update and clarification:

So I need to get:

-3 to 4 mics, (budget $50-150ish EACH MIC).
-an audio interface that will output 4 channels for post editing.
-software recommendations for editing

We recorded a test episode of the podcast last night, and it came out alright.

I used a Behringer Q1202USB 12-Channel Mixer with 3 different mics.
They were different mics simply because 2 were borrowed.
I dont think the Q1202 can output 4 channels, or I just didnt know how to do it. I'm happy to scrap that for the right equipment if needed.

I could go into detail about how I made it work but I don't know if that's necessary (unless anyone's really curious. I'd rather drill down and find the equipment to do the job correctly.

thanks for the help.

Cheers
Darren

[Frank F]

Well you are close.

You will not need four channels OUT. Two channels OUT are fine. The mixer you are using is fine, it has channels to use for each microphone.

What are you using to get audio into the computer? This would be an interface or sound card. Are you on a Mac or PC? How much time are you willing to spend learning the Digital Audio Workstation software?

Are you intending to do the podcast "live" or pre-recorded with archives? How are going to distribute your show?

O.K. help us help you by answering these questions.

F2
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[Darren]

I might be using the wrong word when I say Channel. I want to have each of the 3 to 4 mics on its own track for the post record edit.

I didn't figure it out in time for the record, so I just put panned the host to the left and the guest to the right to give me some isolation.

I used Twistedwave only because its what I've used for my own work for years now. I believe it can't be used for mutlitrack recording. correct?
The mixer came with a code for Tracktion 5, but I didnt have time to learn it for the test run recording of the podcast.

Adobe Audition, Reaper and pro tools are 3 pieces of software that have been recommended for what I'm doing. Any thoughts on those or other recommendations?

Not "live". It will be pre-recorded with archives. I think it will be distributed through libsyn (or similar service) to itunes and other podcast sites. They have a web guy who is supposed on top of that.

[georgethetech]

Recording all mics on iso-tracks is a nice idea, but unless you have an insane amount of spare time on your hands, mixing all of that in post will be a very tedious process, unless you use some sort of auto-mixing system with a combination of compressors and side-chains. This is an option for a low-budget solution:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/view/m-track-8x4#.VuY8B2QrKRc
Or an Mackie Onyx 820i (I have one of these, but only 3 mic pres).

A 4 track to PC solution is less reliable than another thing you can use which is use an audio recorder like a Zoom H6 ($400) or the H5 ($270) with EXH-6 attachment ($70) to record the four XLR mics. This is not a bad way to go if you aren't wanting to screw with the mixer.
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