most affordable XLR to PC solution?

FiddlerMD

FiddlerMD

Well-known member
I need to do some VO recordings soon and i dont have a card capable of XLR in .. in the short term i'm just gonna record to the dvx and then export out to pc. I think the is an OK solution, but for further work, i'd like to get a card that has XLR's. I've worked with the mbox2 before and taht's really nice but its freaking expensive. Is there something out there that can get decent quality for around $100 or so? or would i be better off using the DVX (or maybe dvx -> fw to capture directly)
 
Check out some of the M-Audio and MOTU interfaces. However the quality might not be much different than the DVX with something very cheap, as the quality of the preamp is a large factor in an all-in-one preamp and converter.
 
THe DVX is freakin expensive, the M box is pretty cheap- remember your getting the softwar also. But Frontier designs used to make some decend cheap boxes also Echo used to make some good boxes. T^his may be a bit out of date since I haven't been on a PC in awhile.


FiddlerMD said:
I need to do some VO recordings soon and i dont have a card capable of XLR in .. in the short term i'm just gonna record to the dvx and then export out to pc. I think the is an OK solution, but for further work, i'd like to get a card that has XLR's. I've worked with the mbox2 before and taht's really nice but its freaking expensive. Is there something out there that can get decent quality for around $100 or so? or would i be better off using the DVX (or maybe dvx -> fw to capture directly)
Click to expand...
 
Unless I'm missing something, Brian, the Behringer doesn't have any preamps so you would need more equipment for doing voiceover.

I haven't used the Presonus Inspire but I use Presonus's Firebox and Firepod units and like them a lot. The Cubase LE s/w that comes with all three models is decent enough to actually use. However, I tend to agree tigeba that if you go too cheap, you might as well use the DVX.

Although I have no experience with them, the USB microphones are a cheap possibility. Their inexpensiveness makes me suspicious but here's one from Blue Microphones that's almost ugly enough to be cute: http://www.bluemic.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Products&file=index&prod_id=18
Less than $150 too. Anyone use one of these before?

-Dan
 
ok then I should clarify - the cheapest solution that'll be better than just recording to dvx :)
oh and i don't care about software bundle - i have the software i need
 
USB Mixer Solution

USB Mixer Solution

Hi Mike,

You may wish to consider using an affordable USB mixer for the XLR to PC conversion. When I'm in the field, I use the Tapco Link.USB (Mackie) to interface from my mics to my laptop, which provides me a secondary recording source as a backup (I also record to a Marantz 660PMD in parallel):

http://www.tapcoworld.com/products/linkusb/index.html

I have several extra units and if someone wants one of these cool units (even uses USB port for power), I'll sell them for $100 out the door including shipping. Perhaps I'll get around to posting this our classified ads, now that you've reminded me I have extras...

Warm Regards, Michael
 
My error

My error

I just assumed it would be from a mixer. My apology and my error, you are correct Dan.
TeleDan said:
Unless I'm missing something, Brian, the Behringer doesn't have any preamps so you would need more equipment for doing voiceover.

I haven't used the Presonus Inspire but I use Presonus's Firebox and Firepod units and like them a lot. The Cubase LE s/w that comes with all three models is decent enough to actually use. However, I tend to agree tigeba that if you go too cheap, you might as well use the DVX.

Although I have no experience with them, the USB microphones are a cheap possibility. Their inexpensiveness makes me suspicious but here's one from Blue Microphones that's almost ugly enough to be cute: http://www.bluemic.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Products&file=index&prod_id=18
Less than $150 too. Anyone use one of these before?

-Dan
Click to expand...
 
Wouldn't the Sound Devices USBpre be a good solution here? Generally speaking you can't go wrong with SD products.

Phil
 
Then take a look at the Alesis MultiMix USB - $149. I use the MultiMix FW as my primary mixer and they sound very good and work well with the computer.

Phil
 
There is a cheap cable that converts XLR to a standard 3.5 mm input that can go into the mic jack on the PC, but I'm not sure what it does to quality. I'm not an Audio guy; I'll leave that to the Audio experts to comment on.
 
If this cable solution works, you would be subject to the quality of your sound card, which on most computers is not great.

Phil
 
^Phil is correct on that one.
Also, your pre-amps would be noisy as well. The quality might pass for some people, but the majority wouldn't use that to begin with.

The one that Michael mentioned, Tapco, seemed like a very good solution.
Phil also mentioned about the Alesis Multimix, which is also another great inexpensive option.
 
how would the alesis compare to the tapco? the alesis usb seems to have some negative reviews here and there, but their firewire one seems great .. but costs twice as much for some reason .. any more input on these units?
 
Fiddler, let me qualify by saying I'm using the FW version and have not used the USB version. I can't imagine though that there would be much difference, but again, I have not used the USB versions.

Phil
 
ptalsky said:
Fiddler, let me qualify by saying I'm using the FW version and have not used the USB version. I can't imagine though that there would be much difference, but again, I have not used the USB versions.

Phil
Click to expand...

My guess is that USB is not well suited for continous data streams where firewire is. So most USB divices have a lot of limits with bandwith and probably with compatability. If you think about it your sharing the data stream with your keyboard and mouse. And as I understand it USB was designed to allow streams to inturupt each other based on a set of priorities. So this would/ could be a problem with recording audio that is rather intolerant of throughput fluxuations.


I agree with Phil that in all probability the analog portion is probably about the same. I bet the FW version has more flexibility and probably higher sample rates.

I there were a possibility that you would want to do more intense sound work the M-Audio boxes/ cards have an added advantage in that there is a version of Pro Tools that will run on many of them.
 
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