Vocal recording question.

[Dadofcats]

So, I'm a complete newbie to recording.
I currently do not have a recording interface, my only hardware input access is through the mic Jack on my pc soundcard nor do I own a mic yet.

My partner wants my to record some voice snippets of our daughter to try out sampling with.

Will it be worth it to just go on reverb and find a mic that i can just plug into the card?

I had not gotten an interface or mic yet because i honestly had not planned on recording anything yet in this new hobby of mine.

Any recommendations on cheap/free software to do this with? I'm literally talking about one or 2 word phrases....just to make the girlfriend happy.

Thanks for time and input!

[BertKoor]

There are several options:

• Audio interface with mic input. Going full into the money pit of a home studio. Costs $80 to $400. Mic with XLR plug (which one: can of worms!) pop filter & mini vocal booth not included.
• USB "podcasting" mic. Costs, ehrm... $50 to $200 I guess. Sounds pretty good, but useless if you ever get a proper audio interface. Reason: your DAW can handle just one ASIO device at a given time. Would not recommend this to anyone worth calling my friend.
• Mic for PC soundcard with 3.5mm jack. Costs like $10 (mainly shipping), sounds like rubbish, but better than nothing. Would lend mine to any friend, were available for grabs at thrift stores some years ago.
• Use the VoiceRecorder app on your phone, transfer the recorded file to the computer. Quality is same or even better than that PC mic. Costs nothing, girlfriend will be guaranteed to be amazed nevertheless.

Regarding the software: any decent free audio editor like Audacity or Wavosaur probably can get the job done easily.

So... what's yer budget?

[Dadofcats]

Budget is kind of small at this point, I got my m22, mikro, and mpc studio this month.

I was actually looking at one of the fostex iPhone units....trying to see if there was any way to use it with just usb on the mics....literally just saw it..need to look more. Also saw some cheap sound card interfaces on reverb with better inputs.
..both those are about 20bux...but the card still don't have a mic.

[Dadofcats]

Was thinking about these 2.
https://reverb.com/item/1622281-fostex- ... 4FRXQ-KiQY

https://reverb.com/item/25797495-rockvi ... ter-cables

The sound card I was looking at with xlr breakouts is not available.

[Forgotten]

• Use the VoiceRecorder app on your phone, transfer the recorded file to the computer. Quality is same or even better than that PC mic. Costs nothing, girlfriend will be guaranteed to be amazed nevertheless.

This is definitely not a bad option at all, and the quality is certainly better than cheap mics.

If you transfer to the PC, you can then process the audio to improve it (gate it, remove noise, etc.).

[BertKoor]

I was thinking about one of these:



Seen them for sale, brand new, for just a dollar at surplussales.com

[Dadofcats]

I ended up ordering the fostex unit I linked above.

Will probably look into getting an interface next month.