What's the best (affordable) USB micropone to purcase to make podcast?

I' consideriing a purase soon, so any guidence would be grealy appreciated.

How do I tell non-members about our PODcasts? How can they most easily access ATS PODcasts?

Do they have to open ATS or can they go right to the feed somewhere?

Thanks.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
I just picked up a new microphone that is apparently the hot mic for podcasting. The Samsung C01U is a hot condenser mic with a built-in preamp and phantom power direct from your USB port.
...
I'll be testing it out later tonight.

Cool.

My computer has USB ports, but the soundcard does not have them on it
directly. It is an Intel motherboard with soundcard built onto the
motherboard. If I plug a USB mic into one of the generic USB ports on my
system, will it be recognized for what it is and I'll be able to record
using it? Anyone?

Can't wait to hear how it sounds!

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
If I plug a USB mic into one of the generic USB ports on my system, will it be recognized for what it is and I'll be able to record using it? Anyone?

Sure you will be able to record. but also consider these;

usb mics dont use the soundcards, you can even record sound with them without even having a soundcard, that could be considered an upside maybe. they directly connect to motherboard, which is not totally designed for sound input and lacks the hardware filters of a soundcard which are located right besides the jack inputs. besides they have yet the problem of latency which will not be ideal if you are recording something in sync with another soundfile. this is also why RJ-45 connection modems are preferred instead of USB modems it is about the USB interface.

your motherboard by itself creates frequency pollution, onboard soundcards pick these, if you record the incard ambient sound while surfing the net and amplify the recording to the max you will see that your actions will create clicks & beeps. (trigerred when you view a pic, save a file, minimize the window etc.) it is best to have an isolated card from the board, which leds me to believe that directly connecting a mic to the motherboard (not even to the soundcard) will not give you the best sound quality. but it is completely digital and sound is regarded as data there so this may not be the case.

I have one USB mic but I can not validate if its just mine or the characteristics of the usb mics ( which I believe it is), you cannot hear the sound you input through the mic in real time. you will not hear your voice through the headphones while recording. at least with mine you cannot, and the method the USB mics use support this ( no soundcard use). so it will not be ideal for recording for music related stuff.

however I cant see any problems to use them for usual voice recording, chat, audio conference etc. thats what I use it for. Maybe it will be best to wait until the mics come out which use Firewire interface.

I am using Audacity and a telephony mic which is giving me great clear sound, the only problem is my file sizes are enormous. I have tried encoding them as 80Hz mpg3 files, but they are still significantly larger than other podcasts.

Any tips on getting file size down some more? What is the past encoding method which doesn't lead to a drop in sound quality?

Podcasting rocks the Kaspa people!

Originally posted by howmuchisthedoggy
I have tried encoding them as 80Hz mpg3 files, but they are still significantly larger than other podcasts.

Any tips on getting file size down some more? What is the past encoding method which doesn't lead to a drop in sound quality?

I think by 80 Hz you mean 88.200 Hz or 88.2 KHz, which is the sample rate of the soundfile, 44.100 Hz (44.1 KHz) is the CD quality so your files are double the CD quality which is not what you orgininally intend for. if this is the case convert it to 44.1 KHz and then encode it , you will get the usual file sizes.

if in the otherhand you mean 80 kbps encoding rate, which I didnt came across besides catalyst mp3 encoder (generally goes like 64, 96, 128,160, 192 Kbps...) so then again check the sampling rate and lower it to 44.1 KHz.

you see there are two parameters, one is the encoding rate (kbps) and the other is sample rate (Hz), if you make one /2 and other x2 it will cancel eachother, kind of. so keep the Hz at 44.1, it is ideal, and lower the kbps.

Also, Though TrueAmerican and Springer tell me it's very unrealistic... it works nonetheless:

You do NOT need a microphone to do a podcast, any plain old headphones will work just fine. Granted, it won't sound as good, but you won't be buying anything if you already have a pair. Just plug your exisiting headphones into the Microphone jack, and talk directly in. It will sound kind of muffled, sure, I mean you're talking back through a speaker. But since the components are similar, its possible to use. Just htought I'd mention that to anyone who isn't podcasting out of lack of hardware.

I use a cheap mic from wallyworld, costs less then ten bucks, and so far no one has complained about the quality of the casts i've made. I use Audacity and though I could go for some sound effects I don't bother, I'm stating an opinion, not going for higher ratings.

Podcasting does NOT cost allot of money, unless its just money you want to spend.

I am thinking of upgrading though, Now that i've been casting a month or so. This is still in the fantasy phase though......

Love and light,

Wupy

Thanks to Kalapadea and xu for your encoding info! I did a few tests and the file size is a lot smaller with no real discernable drop in quality.

I don't think you need to splash out on any equipment. Go listen to any of mrwupy's podcasts, and if that is the quality from a 10 dollar mike, than you don't really need to be spending any more.

I just use a telephony headset and audacity. Cost me nothing and once the mike was set up properly, the quality from the recordings was great. Go listen to any of my podcasts and let me know what you think.

I think that speaking up and speaking more clearly also makes a big difference. The first few tests I did, I was very self-concious about speaking to myself like that. However, a few podcasts later and after hearing how well speaking up and ad libbing sounds, all I can recommend to anyone yet to try podcasting is practice, practice, practice.

*Or a pair of headphones

I'm just saying it, because it DOES work!