Interview hardware setup advice

[Rick Mac]

[Hollington Lee] “1) I see that some mic preamps go to USB or Firewire and some plug into a sound card. Does going to USB or Firewire avoid issues of sound card quality (in a $600 laptop)?”

Yes the quality of these devices is higher than built in laptop soundcard.

[Hollington Lee] “2) Instead of the laptop, is it better to buy a dedicated recorder like the Fostex FR2 le ($600) and run mics into that?”

They can both do the job. If using your laptop as a recorder it would be helpful to have a audio interface that has XLR Mic connectors and can supply phantom power to your mics.

[Hollington Lee] “what do you recomend for sub-$300 for 2 mics?”

I have no suggestions at that price point.
Purchase the best quality mics you can.
Don’t even think about wireless unless you are
willing to make a $500+ investment.

Are you wanting to use lav mic’s?

Perhaps someone out there has come across a decent
sounding economy lav. If so, share your thoughts.

Regards, Rick.

Rick Mac
Director of Audio Production
TCT Network – Directv 377

[Hollington Lee]

Hi Rick. Thanks so much for the responses.

I think I have focused a bit since my first post — but my needs have now changed.

I will need up to FOUR mics at once for the interviews I will be recording. I have settled on buying a laptop with an audio interface but which one? My budget for the interface is about $500.

I’m having trouble finding an interface with 4 mic inputs.
I was looking at the 8-input Presonus Firepod (FP10) at $400 with Cubase and the MOTU 8pre ($550) no software included (but I can record with Vegas, right?)

Should I spend less on an interface and more on mics?

I will need to buy four mics, well-suited for voice, but not singing, just talking i.e. interviews. I am using inexpensive Sony lavs into my vx2000 but I get a lot of hiss in my audio. I would like to get much better sound. I’m guessing that I need to spend at least $200 per mic?

I’d appreciate any recommendations for interfaces and mics. I am finding that this world of quality audio is quite complex!

TIA.

–Hollington Lee

[John Magee]

Just want to suggest you might try Sweetwater.com for your audio needs. They tend to hire knowledgable people who you can actually talk to on the phone.

[Neil Moxham]

Good afternoon-
I am familiar with all of the choices you mentioned, many others.
If you need more than 2 inputs then
I would highly recommend the Motu 8pre !!
It is firewire, not USB and requires external power.
The preamps are very nice, quiet. Superior to the ones on expensive digital mixing boards we use.
Yes you can use it with vegas , many other audio programs.
It is rock solid, glitch free. The drivers are well written.
Just plug in the mics, assign the different channels to the tracks ,record.

Did you say you were videotaping as well ??
Well here’s the cool part about the 8pre !!
aside from multi-track recording into Vegas at high resolution.
Within the 8pre You can assign the 4 channels to mixdown, playback out the “main out” on the 8pre ..Then connect those to the “line in” mini inputs on the camera. This way you get high quality latency free audio straight into the camera that is locked to your video. There is a “main out” volume knob on the 8pre for quick level control.

Now when you do your editing…drop the video above your multi track audio track, now you have video with locked audio that you can align easily to your audio. After your aligned.. mute the camera audio and away you go.

The 8pre is a standalone mixer as well. Their included cuemix software is perfect for this type of use. read up on it at their site.

Your camera audio hiss is most likely a noisy wireless system coupled with preamp noise on the camera. Not the Mic itself.

If a 2 channell USB bus powered converter is an option then I recommend the Edirol UA-25. It never fails me and the onboard compressor limiter really helps with getting a good hot signal while keeping the input from clipping.
A small 6 channel mixer feeding this unit works well for getting more inputs. Cost effective option.
Both the little mixer and the ua-25 would only be about $225 together. Then buy some of those cheap “Marshall” large diaphragm condensor mics for about $80 ea., call it day.
The sound pretty damn good for the $$$

I am a videographer with extensive audio background
And in in no way affiliated with the products. I just have a lot of experience with these types of gadgets.
Good luck
Zip

Zipedit

[Rick Mac]

[Hollington Lee] “I will need to buy four mics, well-suited for voice, but not singing, just talking i.e. interviews.”

This is a good sounding lav for the money.
It is what I would call a normal size lav.
The pickup pattern is omnidirectional.
Works well in quiet enviroment.

https://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=AT803B

This one has a directional pickup pattern
and will help reduce noise in a noisy enviroment.

https://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=AT831B

These two sound good at a very attractive price.
They are not the smallest size on the block.
Do not try to use them outside without some serious
windscreens.

If you need a really small lav that almost disappears
this is a good one for the money. I use it a lot
and with a good windscreen I even use it outdoors.

https://www.performanceaudio.com/cgi/product_view.cgi?products_id=3547

Regards, Rick.

Rick Mac
Director of Audio Production
TCT Network – Directv 377