My friend needs an affordable mic or recorder for voiceovers/podcasting (she doesnt need professional stuff). The budget is only $125. What would you recommend? (The problem is that the soundcards in notebooks have pretty noisy input, she already recorded something with Skype mic and the sound was full of noise / she achieved much better result with her cell phone)
Thanks for any tips.

What's SKYPE mic?

Regular cheap microphone for voice communication over internet (Skype etc. :) I dont now the details.

Does she need to wear it?

If not, the MCA SP-1 is less than $50 USD and sounds quite a bit better.

With SKYPE calls, she really needs to be wearing headphones and muting the computer speakers.

Ty Ford Audio and Video: MCA SP-1 Cardioid Condenser Mic (http://tyfordaudiovideo.blogspot.com/2012/03/mca-sp-1-cardioid-condenser-mic.html)

Regards,

Ty Ford

Thanks. I was wondering if you can record noise-free voiceovers with ordinary soundcard. I never achieved a quality audio recording with my soundcard. I had allways MUCH better results when recording voiceovers with microphone pluged into my (prosumer) camera. But she doesnt have a camera. So I was wondering if some cheap sound recorder (like Zoom H1) would be a better solution.

Although a bit of a battery eater, the TASCAM DR-60D at $349 USD is a nice recorder. (get an external power supply)

Ty Ford Audio and Video: TASCAM DR-60D Four-Track Digital Recorder for DSLR and other uses (http://tyfordaudiovideo.blogspot.com/2013/10/tascam-dr-60d-four-track-digital.html)

Regards,

Ty Ford

So do you think that MCA SP-1 pluged into a regular soundcard on a PC will sound ok? Or should I recommend her rather Zoom H1 (or MCA SP-1 plus Zoom H1)? The Tascam is out of her budget.

BTW, MCA SP-1 is a XLR mic, so she will need some XLR to 3,5mm adapter, right?

Have a look at one of the USB offerings from Blue Microphones

Blue Microphones Yeti looks great.

I've been using one of these now for a couple of years. It sounds better than I expected for the $$. Since it is also a USB mic you don't have to worry about noisy laptops.

M-Audio Pro Tools Vocal Studio 8250-30006-01 B&H Photo Video

So do you think that MCA SP-1 pluged into a regular soundcard on a PC will sound ok? Or should I recommend her rather Zoom H1 (or MCA SP-1 plus Zoom H1)? The Tascam is out of her budget.

BTW, MCA SP-1 is a XLR mic, so she will need some XLR to 3,5mm adapter, right?

Actually it's a mic that requires phantom power and significant gain, a preamp in other words.Then that preamp will need to be connected to the computer. The usual solution is a device called an audio interface

The H1 will not work, it provides plug-in power which is not the same as phantom power.

The H1 or H2n or H6 can all be connected directly to the computer and used as a USB mic, an alternative to the various USB mics being recommended in this thread.

Fran

Most pro and semi-pro studio type condenser mics like the MCA SP-1 need Phantom Power via an XLR>XLR cable, so a common everyday (noisy, awful sounding) consumer sound card would not work. In the OPs case and IMO, a USB mic would be the best choice.. eliminating the need/cost/installation/set-up for a Phantom Powered mic preamp.

I've been using one of these now for a couple of years. It sounds better than I expected for the $$. Since it is also a USB mic you don't have to worry about noisy laptops.

M-Audio Pro Tools Vocal Studio 8250-30006-01 B&H Photo Video (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/673811-REG/M_Audio_8250_10009_61_Pro_Tools_Vocal_Studio.html)

If the mic is half-decent, this looks like a very attractive package. (With the M-Audio and ProTools logos all over it, you'd hope it would be good-enough.) Just add a stand, a pop-shield (some old tights stretched over a wire coat-hanger will do) and away you go.

Presumably mics like this and the more expensive (c. $230) Rode Podcaster have simple pre-amps built in, before the A-to-D and USB circuitry.

It is plenty good enough for a podcast.

I don't use the version of pro-tools that comes with the mic. I use Audacity due to its light footprint and its more modest hardware requirements. It works very well with that software.

I've even set up my steadicam case as a bit of a sound box to remove some room tone from the recordings.

I would look at the Audio Technica AT2020 USB.
The AT2020 is a good deal for the price, and I trust that Audio Technica did a decent job of making a USB version. The built-in USB interface bypasses the uniformly terrible built-in audio inputs found on all computers.

Remember that the environment is AT LEAST as important as the microphone. If you have a noisy location, reflective surfaces, and/or a nearby computer with a whirring fan, the best microphone in the world will sound no better than the built-in mic on your laptop.

The only thing to watch with USB mics is that the gain settings are often fixed, and a bit low - so you need to get in perhaps a little closer than idea.

+1 on Richard's AT2020 USB suggestion. For that matter, I've done nice voiceovers using a "lowly" Samson C01U.into Final Cut. Any of the USB mikes will most likely be better than a conventional mike going into your computer mike input. For more bucks you can get a Presonus or MOTU or equivalent a/d converter and a conventional mike, but why bother?

So do you think that MCA SP-1 pluged into a regular soundcard on a PC will sound ok? Or should I recommend her rather Zoom H1 (or MCA SP-1 plus Zoom H1)? The Tascam is out of her budget.

BTW, MCA SP-1 is a XLR mic, so she will need some XLR to 3,5mm adapter, right?

This'll do the job more easily: Ty Ford Audio and Video: Centrance MicPort Pro - 24/96 Audio On A Stick (http://tyfordaudiovideo.blogspot.com/2012/12/centrance-micport-pro-2496-audio-on.html)

Regards,

Ty Ford

This'll do the job more easily: Ty Ford Audio and Video: Centrance MicPort Pro - 24/96 Audio On A Stick (http://tyfordaudiovideo.blogspot.com/2012/12/centrance-micport-pro-2496-audio-on.html)

Regards,

Ty Ford

If you already have an XLR microphone, that's a really neat gadget. It's going on my Christmas list right away! The spec. sheet it says it has 44.1 and 48 kHz options, but not whether those are 16- or 24-bit. For video voice-overs, I'd prefer to record in the target format (48kHz/16 bit) and not have to reformat later, though I guess it's not really a big issue.

Try this for a DIY sound booth - open the doors of a wardrobe, spread a quilt or blanket over the doors to make a roof, face the rail of clothes... The real problem is getting far enough away from the computer that you don't have its hum and whine in the background.

When I've made voice-overs, I've used my camcorder as the recorder, then imported the clips into my NLE just like normal video. It helps that the camera has XLR sockets and phantom power, so I can use a "proper" mic. I sit the camera on a cushion a few yards away from the "booth", which is enough to stop the mic hearing the tape motor (yes, still using tape!) and point the lens at a clock with a second hand, which gives a visual cue to help when scrubbing through the clips. I have an old AKG C1000 condensor mic in a simple crossed-rubber-band shock mount, the Heath Robinson pop-shield I described earlier and a music stand to hold the script. It's not perfect, but it works well enough. You could probably hear how it was done on a good hifi, but not on most TVs and certainly not on YouTube ;-)

If you already have an XLR microphone, that's a really neat gadget. It's going on my Christmas list right away! The spec. sheet it says it has 44.1 and 48 kHz options, but not whether those are 16- or 24-bit. For video voice-overs, I'd prefer to record in the target format (48kHz/16 bit) and not have to reformat later, though I guess it's not really a big issue.

Read closer! It's 24/96 capable and will lock to whatever your computers has between 16, 24 bit and 44.1, 48 or 96 kHz.

Ty Ford