Podcast setup, on a budget!

[mm01]

I know this will be well below the standard of the forum but hopefully someone can help me.  As part of my work with a disability charity we are going to do a podcast, seems the trendy thing to be doing at the moment!  There is no budget, so as usual, I'll be paying for any equipment we need so ideally want to keep it as low as possible.

I don't think it would ever be more than 2 people so I thought about this mixer with 2 mic inputs.  Will that work by connecting it to my laptop via USB so we can record?

What software can I use to record the output?

Mic wise I found this which the reviews seems largely positive.

Will the above do the job for what we need or is there something else that I should look ?  I don't imagine we'll be topping the podcast charts anytime soon but would like it to sound as good as possible.

 

Many thanks.

[sandall]

There ae cheaper cardioid mics around (the "broadcast" look of the MB-7 comes at a price). You will also need a couple of stands to mount your mics (preferably with shock-mounts). Look at Audacity for recording (& editing?).

[sandall]

(Missed the rather short "Edit" window) Depending on the acoustics of your recording space you may need to add a bit of acoustic treatment to any hard surfaces that might give reflections. You can buy (more or less) expensive acoustic foam, but a duvet or two will work just as well. I can't see any reason why you can't record straight onto your laptop (you may find useful software bundled with the mixer). I have no idea what, if any, additional software you will need for the streaming side, but there are plenty of people on here who will know.

Unless someone else is monitoring the sound (preferable) it might be worth investing in a couple of pairs of closed-back headphones & a cheap headphone splitter.

Edited February 9 by sandall

[kerry davies]

1 hour ago, sandall said:

You can buy (more or less) expensive acoustic foam, but a duvet or two will work just as well.

I once got hold of spec sheets for very expensive Acoustic Fibre and a certain brand of Jewson cheap thermal insulation. There was no notable difference.

[J Pearce]

Yep. You can make very effective baffles from 100mm mineral wool insulation 'batts' in a frame made from 4x1 (or ripped down from ply), and covered in a cheap flame retardant fabric.

I made 12 for a brass band rehearsal room for under £20 per panel. I have some slightly fancier ones at work that our workshop made up, and they get regular use both for voiceover recordings and for acoustic control in orchestra pits.

 

Software wise - Audacity would do, but Reaper might be a more efficient workflow. 2 dynamic mics, and a small mixer with USB interface, plus stands and cable would sort you out, probably inside £200 with careful choices.

Edited February 9 by J Pearce

[sandall]

14 minutes ago, J Pearce said:

Audacity would do, but Reaper might be a more efficient workflow.

Perhaps, but it's not something for a novice (I've had a 90-year old editing on Audacity in about 10 minutes). Also, Audacity is (really) free, Reaper ain't.

[J Pearce]

Reaper isn’t too complicated, especially if you’re not seeking to do advanced things - and yes, costs a small amount for a licence.

Basic trimming and levelling is fine in audacity, but heavier editing rapidly gets awkward as you can’t drag audio tracks around.

[sandall]

Fair point, but this project presumably only involves a single (mono or stereo) track &, to quote the OP "there is no budget".  As a long-time Cool Edit Pro / Audition user I'm not a great fan of either, but Audacity does seem the obvious choice for a beginner (& doesn't need a 462 page manual !!)

[richardash1981]

1 hour ago, J Pearce said:

Basic trimming and levelling is fine in audacity, but heavier editing rapidly gets awkward as you can’t drag audio tracks around.

Off topic, but as a former Audacity developer I have to dispute the idea you can't drag audio around, because you can (with the clip move tool, which isn't the default tool but is on the main toolbar).
To give substance to Sandall's comment about cheaper mics, Thomann (as we are looking there) have these: https://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_xm8500.htm I'm pretty sure they are what my church has had for speech PA and recording for the last decade plus. All the stand mic speech on here is from them: https://www.youtube.com/@StDavidsURC (music and the lapel radio mic are different), and I would regard as fine.

The little mixer will let you pan Mic 1 hard left and Mic 2 hard right, so the two signals will come into Audacity as separate stereo channels - you won't want to leave them like that, but it will let you adjust relative levels afterwards, which is useful if you don't have a separate sound operator.

[J Pearce]

Fair correction. I love Audacity for its simplicity - the MS Paint of audio editors, but it wouldn't be my editor of choice for a podcast unless it was a record-as-live in one take with just a bit of trimming and mastering to do.

[vlfaudio]

Looking at the little mixer, I note that the second mic input only has a switched high/low gain control.

If you're happy to mix in software, there are various cheap mics available with USB output such as:-

https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tbone_mb_88u_dual_bundle.htm

https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tbone_sc440_usb.htm

The second comes with a software bundle including Cubase LE

[sandall]

1 hour ago, vlfaudio said:

Looking at the little mixer, I note that the second mic input only has a switched high/low gain control.

Well spotted. Also, it has no level metering, both factors which might rule it out. The Behringer Xenyx 802S is probably the cheapest option at £77.  It has reasonable metering, & would allow you to add music if wanted.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_xenyx_802s.htm  

[richardash1981]

9 hours ago, vlfaudio said:

Looking at the little mixer, I note that the second mic input only has a switched high/low gain control.

If you're happy to mix in software, there are various cheap mics available with USB output

I don't think it's possible (or at least easily possible) to record from more than one of these at a time on the same computer, certainly not into the same recording. There are technical reasons for this (no common sample clock) but also consumer audio systems aren't set up for more than one source device at once. The mixer (USB interface) brings in the two mics as two synchronised sample streams on one audio device, which is much easier to deal with in the software.

I would argue that metering in hardware is neither here nor there for recording, because you will get software meters at the recording point (ADC), which is pretty much all that matters. I've never found meters on audio interfaces to be more than a useful troubleshooter to indicate problems with no signal at all.

[TomHoward]

I think you could on a Mac, with an aggregate audio interface, but it's a bit messy.

Just looking at your original proposal, I'd say the £68 mics are better than the £39 mixer, the mixer will probably be your weak point in that.

I'd either go low budget with that mixer and a couple of the £18 Behringer mics if you wanted minimum spend, or I'd get a nicer setup with those £68 Thomann mics and pair them with something like this 2ch or this 4ch interface if you wanted a bit of expansion room. I tend to prefer interfaces to desks with USB unless you're doing something live at the same time.

[sandall]

15 hours ago, richardash1981 said:

I would argue that metering in hardware is neither here nor there for recording, because you will get software meters at the recording point (ADC), which is pretty much all that matters. I've never found meters on audio interfaces to be more than a useful troubleshooter to indicate problems with no signal at all.

I would argue the opposite. If you don't sort out your gain structure while setting up, any distortion or excessive mic-preamp noise is locked-in by the time you get to the ADC stage. El-cheapo mixers (& some less cheapo) won't have PFL, but there is usually some (if convoluted) way of checking levels on each input before you hit Record.

Would agree that the £39 £33 mixer is, for various reasons, the weak link.