Help With Recording Setup

[uberninja]

Hi Guys,

I'm new to these forums, so wanted to say hi. I have a question with recording. I'm looking at getting a large diaphragm condenser mic, specifically this one:http://www.zzounds.com/item--MSEV57M

I understand that I need a phantom power source to run this baby, so I was looking at preamps. The ones with a USB out are twice as much as normal ones with a 1/4' or XLR out. I talked with the guys at the music store and they said that I could use a 1'4' to 1/8' converter and that would work.

Then I called Apple, who said that there is no "optical input" for the macbook, hence the only way to record would be with a USB interface.

What's the deal? What's the cheapest setup?

Thanks for your help!

[MacBass]

Originally Posted by uberninja

Hi Guys,

I'm new to these forums, so wanted to say hi. I have a question with recording. I'm looking at getting a large diaphragm condenser mic, specifically this one:http://www.zzounds.com/item--MSEV57M

I understand that I need a phantom power source to run this baby, so I was looking at preamps. The ones with a USB out are twice as much as normal ones with a 1/4' or XLR out. I talked with the guys at the music store and they said that I could use a 1'4' to 1/8' converter and that would work.

Then I called Apple, who said that there is no "optical input" for the macbook, hence the only way to record would be with a USB interface.

What's the deal? What's the cheapest setup?

Thanks for your help!

There should be optical input on the MacBook, however, you need a Line Level input source, which is why many mics don't work out of the box on MacBooks/MBPs/Minis/etc. As expensive as the USB preamps are, I would suggest you spring for one, they will pay for themselves (hopefully).

[thegoldenmackid]

I'd highly recommend the USB output. The sound quality is going to be immense, the size is not that big of an issue and there is no guarantee that it works. For something small and reasonable, I recommend something like the Native Instruments Audio Kontrol 1, you can pick one up for about $250. Hereyou can get one with a Samson mic, all you need then is an xlr cable and your good to go, also you get some free software out of the deal.