Recording with ?

[LewisBrookshire]

How do you guys record on PC's? Is there a piece of equipment that you plug mics into that has a USB input that you run to the PC?

[Rodger]

Typically, you require some interface to the PC and recording software on the PC to record to.

For example, I recently acquired a Cakewalk V20 Guitar Studio. Connects to the PC via USB port. It has multiple inputs: Guitar, Balanced L/R, XLR mic input with phantom power, stereo built-in condensor mics. Guitar Tracks (32 track recording software) comes with it and loads onto the PC.

[Herb Hunter]

Originally Posted by Reviveourhomes

How do you guys record on PC's? Is there a piece of equipment that you plug mics into that has a USB input that you run to the PC?

There are several ways to do it. One, the worst way, is to plug a microphone into the computer's mic jack. Another way is to by a USB microphone that plugs directly into the computer's USB port. An even better way is buy an interface with a built-in microphone preamplifier that allows you to use any type of microphone including those that require a phantom power supply. They range in price from less than $60 to more than $2,000. If your computer has a FireWire port (IEEE 1394) then a FireWire interface would be preferable because its higher throughput minimizes latency issues to a greater extent. Otherwise, it would have to be a USB interface and many people get satisfactory results using USB based hardware.

If you are only going to use one microphone at a time, this is a small, convenient $70 USB interface:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...L+Mic+Mate+Pro

This $164 USB interface accommodates two microphones:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...k_Pro_USB.html

[LewisBrookshire]

I would only be using one mic at a time so I think the first option would work. Thanks guys! I am going to try out the Reaper software.

[chas52]

I've been using Reaper for a couple years. I like it very much.