Garage Band+what USB mic?

[Kansaskid]

So i recently got a macbook pro and have been playing around on garage band a lot. I was wondering if you guys could recomend a nice USB mic and any other gear i would need to get some pretty good sounding recordings.

Thanks in advance

[klimax09]

you need an interface...M-audio has a nice one....you run your firewire out of the back of the interface and into your mac.

then when your in the preferences in garage band...go to Audio/midi and change the audio imput/output from built in imput/output to your inface.

then you can plug anything into your interface including xlr's, 1/4inch etc....using any mic

[kramster]

Interface is the way to go for quality ..I use a MUTO Ultralight, but many less expensive ones will work well like what klimax09 mentions.

[DMZ]

I like the Zoom H2 or I use 1/4 to 1/8 adapter and line in

[Bobby1note]

Interface;

Apogee Duet, or
Apogee One

Mic;

Whatever your budget allows.

[cookingwithfat]

On the other hand, if you don't want to get into spending the money for an interface and a mic... you can pick yourself up a Blue Snowball... Blue is a great company that has been producing some great sounding SERIOUS microphones for a number of years, and has recently released the blue snowball for about a $100.

http://www.bluemic.com/

[Joseph Hanna]

Learning to record and ultimately mix is a life long endeavor. I do it 6 and 7 days a week and have since the dawn of history. I still learn something new nearly everyday.

I believe beyond a shadow of any doubt that "Garage Band" and the inexpensive USB Blue mic can produce audio at a level that just a few short years ago was unheard of at any price.

If you learn Garage Band and you learn how to record, you work on your room, you dive into PROPERLY learning compression and PROPERLY learning eq and I'll say again WORK ON YOUR ROOM you and work on your playing as it pertains to recording and work on mixing as a study, you'll be able to do amazing things with almost NO MONEY SPENT.

An Apogee converter (as much as I thin Apogee converters are very good) will make absolutely NO difference if you don't know how to capture the audio pre-conversion and more importantly what to do with the audio once it's been converted.

Skill is what makes mixes sound great...not hi-end converters and mics

[Herb Hunter]

Originally Posted by Kansaskid

So i recently got a macbook pro and have been playing around on garage band a lot. I was wondering if you guys could recomend a nice USB mic and any other gear i would need to get some pretty good sounding recordings.

Thanks in advance

It is difficult to make a helpful recommendation without knowing the price range you have in mind.

This very small, $75 device, with gain control and headphone jack, will turn any microphone into a USB mic. It leaves you free to use any microphone you already have or buy a microphone that would later be useable with other, standard equipment that doesn't require a USB mic. For example, USB mic cannot be plugged into a standard, analog mixer, PA or acoustic guitar amplifier.

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

Unlike some USB mics, this $80 USB mic has a headphone jack.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...io_1_USB_.html

[Herb Hunter]

Originally Posted by klimax09

you need an interface...M-audio has a nice one....you run your firewire out of the back of the interface and into your mac.

then when your in the preferences in garage band...go to Audio/midi and change the audio imput/output from built in imput/output to your inface.

then you can plug anything into your interface including xlr's, 1/4inch etc....using any mic

Kansas Kid asked about a USB mic. Such a mic doesn't require an interface as it is incorporated into the mic housing.

[Kansaskid]

Sorry guys I shoud have known better and mentioned a price range. I'd be happy to keep the whole setup around $300 or less

[TomK]

For $350 I would consider two microphones and a dual channel audio interface. Micing the acoustic with two mics is pretty standard practice. Use the small cap off axis near the 12-14th fret and large diaphragm for the sound hole. Also use the large guy for vocals...small cap works great on mandolin, etc. Good to have a selection of mic's to play with. You may be able to shop around eBay, etc. and get the same concept for under $300. I like the Presonus Audiobox as I have used it and it is a good sounding interface. I have been a big fan of ADK mic's - really a notch above the other "chinese" microphones I have tried. The owner, Larry Villela, has a great collection of German mic's that he uses as a reference and his stuff is NOT built in the same rubber stamp factory in Shenzen as MXL, studio projects, etc. I've been using ADK for 12 years now.

http://www.adkmic.com/


ADK Project G Large Diaphragm $79:

http://proaudiotoys.com/adk-project-...one-p-390.html

ADK SC-2 $129:

http://proaudiotoys.com/adk-sc2-smal...one-p-383.html

Presonus AudioBox $149:

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

[NewEngland]

i use garage band a bit. check out a blue snowball- it's usb

[ScottR]

I was using a Samson C01U (usb) mic into garageband but the mic was noisy with a very noticable hiss in the background of my recordings. I recently bought a good mic (Rode NT1A) and an interface (Lexicon Lambda) and my recordings now have virtually no background noise and the quality of the sound is much better. It all depends what quality you are after.