I think this fits better on this side of the forum. I was wondering from you pro's what is a good audio editing software to use in editing audio tracks. Just want something pretty basic for a novice such as me to edit home recordings...you know remove some sound that should not be there and maybe a little commentary here and there.
I tried Audacity and it seemed to work OK when I experimented on some audio tracks. Is there a freeware that is better and easier to use than this one?

Audacity is fine for what you are doing. I have tried others and they are about the same. I like cool edit, but it has more features than I need in fact in the work world, it has more features than many production people have time to use...

I LOVE my Cool Edit!

Adobe Soundbooth beta 2 is free to use through April 24,2007.

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/soundbooth/

If you're looking for something a little simpler than Audacity check this out:

http://nch.com.au/wavepad/index.html

It's not too bad for free (for the basic edition, anyway).

There is a Cool Edit 2000 and Cool Edit Pro. Which one do you use Trixter?

Sorry to interrupt, but Adobe bought the Cool Edit products some years ago and turned them into Adobe Audition. So, I'm not sure how you would get a legal copy beyond an old copy of the Shareware that is really quite annoying to use because of its limitations.

I should also mention that I used Cool Edit 96 then 2000 until a few years back when I was going to plunk my money down on Adobe Audition, then discovered Audacity, and find it does much more than 2000, but WAS less user-friendly, though that is now being improved in more recent versions.

If you don't need experience you can put on your resume, stick with Audacity, as you won't be stuck in the "new version, more money" cycle that Adobe promises. Audacity seems to be moving ahead quite quickly, in terms of new features, over the last couple of years, as Open Source software has really taken off, in terms of popularity, in the business world.

Thanks Guys. My daughter is in voice and is awesome. I really mean that and not just IMHO! Only 14 and a possible music career with her! I will play around with audacity and cool edit pro before I buy anything. Thanks again.

I use Cool Edit Pro and have for over 7 years and love it. The updated Adobe Audition is fine but I don't have to pay the OUTRAGEOUS price and it still works great!!!!!

Cool Edit Pro works great for me also.

Dark, for what it's worth, I would spend some time with Audacity.

Build your skills on open software first, then branch out to commerical stuff, if warranted.

The beauty of this is that you won't have to pay to make use of your computer. Audacity will do what you are wanting to do. The latest version has a lot of nice filters and effects that more than fit the bill.

There are tutorials in the software manual that comes with Audacity. Are you working though those?

Once you've got the usability issues worked out, then you can consult nearly any sound tutorial and go from there. Audio is audio. The only real difference between the programs is robustness, quality and sometimes the names of things.

For your tasks, these things are minor, leaving just the how-to use and general workflow parts to be learned.

Adiant
No need for resume or anything like that....Purely personal use for my daughter's voice lessons. I played around with some effects and different trials and put a "Great Hall" effect in it and I can really look forward to the day she is in that great hall with a sold out audience....she sounded great! No personal bias there...Daddy's girl ya know!

I am going to have my son check at the college for the student version of Adobe Audition. I think I can get it through him for $178.00 if I decide to purchase a more advanced version in the future.

Along this same topic....any suggestions on a good voice mic to connect to my laptop to record my daughter's singing. Around or under $100.00 to start out with would be nice! Don't know much about this stuff and do not want to get a mic that is a POS! Although I think that may be the problem with New Alternative Rock these days.....cheap mic's. Could also be just crappy as well....but hey let's blame the hardware.

In IT we look at it like:
"Fatal Error....Delete User"

My theory on mics is to get one that delivers a flat signal across the spectrum, rather than the many that try and boost parts of the spectrum that will make a singing voice sound better. As a friend said, "use software for effects".

If you agree with that theory, I did a long search 18 months back and settled on the Sennheiser e835. I missed it, but it had been on sale for less than $90 U.S. dollars in a "kit" with stand, boom and XLR cable, all made by Sennheiser.

The catch is that you need a pre-amp and converter from XLR (balanced) to standard unbalanced audio. I bought the APEX APA1 for that. About $39 U.S.

I don't record directly into my computer because of issues with Windows "not always paying attention" which translates into clicks and milliseconds of missed audio as buffers overflow. But others report no problems. FYI, I have used CD recorders (LITEON also makes DVD recorders that record CDs) and then Digital Audio Extracted them into my computer (which Windows does fine, since it is not a real-time operation). I recently bought a TASCAM DP-01 portastudio with 40GB hard drive for about $300 U.S., but am working through some issues with TASCAM on very long (over 10 hours of stereo) recordings. Otherwise, nothing but good things to say about the unit. It has a USB interface that allows you to copy .wav files directly to your computer.

Darktemper, you can never go wrong with a Shure SM58 or an SM58 Beta. Although you'll need some way to change it from an XLR connector to an 1/8" mini plug, either an adaptor or a custom cable. I'm assuming it's a 1/8" mini on your PC.

If you have time, go talk to Kurt at Brownell Sound; http://www.brownellsound.com/, 503-652-2160 or 800-755-1665. They are located at 12115 S.E. 82nd. Ave. Suite D. It's down around Clackamas Mall on 82nd.

Kurt is very knowledgeable about sound stuff.

Although, I'm sure there is a wealth of knowledge on this board too!

If you have a small mixer with phantom power capability, the new Audio Technica under-$100 condenser mic (AT 2020) sounds great. It lacks the sophisticated pop filtering of some more expensive condenser mics, but it's fairly flat, and has a very smooth low end. In fact, I normally use the 75 Hz high-pass filter on my mixer, and it's still got plenty of lows.

IMHO, many people buy nice mics, use them in poorly prepared rooms, then are disappointed with the results. You don't need to shell out big bucks for Sonex. Cheap indoor-outdoor carpet glued to particle-board, leaned against the wall behind you, or glued to masonite sheets hung on the wall like big pictures, is very cost-effective. Acoustic ceiling tiles make a huge difference. If you can hang heavy, pleated drapes on the walls, that's good. If you can find abandoned office cubicles, they're ideal for making a booth - just leave one side open to avoid sounding like you're in the shower.

(And, with Google moving into radio sales, there may be some cube-farm "right-sizing" coming soon!)

To get clean, natural sound from any mic, you need to be able to stay a foot away without hearing room artifacts. The muddy, distorted, breathy sound on radio stations comes partly from working mics too closely.

By the way, if you have a relatively new computer and are getting hiccups when recording, try switching from McAfee or Norton to Grisoft's AVG anti-virus software. It's much less resource-intensive. There's a free version you can try, which puts a little text ad at the bottom of your e-mails, and the paid version's only $38.95 for TWO years.

http://www.grisoft.com/doc/products/lng/us/tpl/tpl01

If you don't care about the little text ads on your e-mails, you can use the free version forever.

My partner's nearly-new, high-end Dell would not record smoothly using the McAffee suite he got free from Comcast. We replaced it with AVG yesterday and now, it's working fine.

These two mics are good and connect via USB - no mixers or phantom power issues to deal with.

http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=SNOWBALL

or

http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=C01U

While I agree that anti-virus (and anti-spyware, etc.) software is the first place to look when Windows goes "non-responsive" and messes up your recording, there are a growing number of other software products that can cause problem. e-mail software automatically checking for incoming e-mail, especially if it finds any. Windows itself if you have Automatic Update turned on. And any software product that looks for updates, especially if it finds some.

Bottom line is: since the introduction of Windows (i.e. - straight DOS was fine), no version has been built to handle real-time operations like recording, although I have heard of recording studios buying $1000+ software that seems to know how to set its own priority within Windows (higher priority than anything that might interrupt your recording).

Most people that I know who record successfully directly to their computer use an Apple Mac or Linux-based computer, because their operating systems were built with real-time operations (like recording audio) in mind. Windows wasn't.

On the subject of viruses, I have not tried either, but Consumer Reports' testing of anti-virus software includes only one free product, Alwil's Avast! Antivirus. They rated it as acceptable.

I should also mention that I am thinking of switching back to Symantec Corporate Edition from Norton Antivirus 2006. Even though they are made by the same company (Symantec) and Norton includes a lot more types of protection, Norton is just so slow at real-time scans that the delays really add up over the course of a day.

My employer stopped providing Symantec for home computers when they switched from Nortel VPN client to Citrix for remote connections.

I should also mention that the aforementioned APEX APA1 includes Phantom Power, if you want to go the condensor mic. direction, which I gave up on because I didn't want to get into phantom power. Then ended up buying a pre-amp that provides it anyway. Duh!

Do all your a/v and multimedia stuff on a dedicated computer that does not access the internet or have a connection to one and you don't need to have anti virus software running. Everything works smoother and better.

Use a different computer for your internet stuff.

Was thinking about that. Gonna get a 160gb drive for the laptop and dual partition it. One boot for the inernet and a stipped down boot for music and recording. May even put Win98se on the music boot. Will run like a race car on a duo-core laptop! That is if I can find the hardware drivers for it!

I am considering the mics 1lossir suggested. At this point I do not want the hassle of a mic and an amp so the USB is more attractive. Maybe upgrade later.

Of the following three which would be the best one? Also do all three offer the flat response as mentioned earlier? I agree to record the singing as is (except for maybe noise filtering if that is an option) and use the software for tweaking (if necessary). As I said my little girl has some good pipes!

http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=C01U
http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=C03U
http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=MXLUSB.006

I am kind of interested in how the last two compare. I kind of like the Marshall but what do you think?

Our (my) first ambitious project with her will be to see if she can sing a couple of my favorite tunes.

Styx "Show Me The Way"
Sammy Hagar "Someday"

I think her voice with those tunes would be awesome. If and when we complete any projects I will put them on the web for the PDXRadio Judges and see if we can get a yellow pass to Hollywood! LOL

I also agree that Audacity for free is better than the early Pro Tools that cost more than a good used pickup truck.

I would also put in a vote for the AT 2020 microphone. There is no large diaphragm condenser that does more for less money. I paid $79 shipped for mine. It will handle enough SPL to record a jet. Remember, it will need phantom power.

Have you enjoyed Tape Op yet? A great place to find product reviews, recording tips and great articles. Larry handed me issue number two a long time ago and it has since blossomed into one of the most widely read recording magazines in the world. It is free to musicians and has roots right here in Portland. The latest has an interview with Beatles engineer, Geoff Emerick. http://www.tapeop.com

I don't want to discourage you from getting a bargain, but the cheap Chinese microphones are going to let you down in the long run. For a project with the idea of upgrading, you might do just fine. Save up some bucks for a preamp too, the difference will be worth the dough.

Adobe Audition IS WHERE ITS AT! I think its the ideal program for almost anything you have to do in radio, short of recording a live performance. Then Pro Tools should be your weapon of choice.

Adobe has pitch shift, timing effects, reverb, delay, echo, flange, reverse, normalize, HARD LIMIT and VOCAL REMOVAL... Plus all of it easily accessible. Ive been more than satisfied with the effects and easy of use of Audition. Its everything that i have ever needed for radio imaging or commercial production.

Pro Tools... has that stuff, but i have found it to be more complicated when doing anything short and sweet.

Truth be told, if I could use Pro Tools as an instrument to create effects and sounds; instead of a canvas on which to work. That would be ideal.

If someone says I need a show promo or a new piece of time sensitive imaging done in 10-15 minutes im gonna use Adobe EVERY TIME. WORD!

P.S. I have never cut a piece of tape with a razor blade... Ever. Digital 4 LIFE!

I want to thank all of you for your help in this area. Your advice and suggestions will prove very beneficial as I move forward with this project. This forum has the greatest group of people by far than any other I have posted to. The knowledge on this particular issue is amazing. And thanks to Dan for keeping it as good as it is. Will keep you posted on this with any new progress!

THANKS AGAIN

PS. This thread is on both sides of the PDXRadio forum and each side has had excellent response to my questions so if you to check it out on both sides of the forum…. (Kiddingly known as the Dark and Good side! I will leave that up to you as to which is which. But I think a more fitting description may be the Business side and the whatever else side!).

I’m off to drop Dan a donation. If for no other reason this thread was worth every penny to me!

John

Technically, I am required by my Computing professional designations (CDP in the U.S. and ISP (retired) in Canada) to comment on the suggestion that ANY computer (except an IBM mainframe) be run without regularly updated anti-virus software. (1) it is no longer practical to NEVER connect to the Internet. (2) the Internet is only one of many ways to get a virus on your machine. It wasn't that LONG ago that I received a diskette from a government employee friend with an infected boot sector.

As a dollars and "sense" kind of guy, I also feel compelled to mention that it is both cheaper and more practical to use a dedicated digital recording device than a second computer. LITEON LVW-5005 DVD/CD recorders regularly are on sale for less than $90 U.S. around here. The TASCAM DP-01 is a little over $300 U.S.

Regularly using two computers on one desk is a real hassle. KVM's are expensive and buggy, and having two monitors, keyboards and mice is hard to do within ergonomic standards.

I do not run anti anything on any of my computers, and I'm just not gonna start either. Too much hassle, too many dollars, too many updates.

The Linux and UNIX ones don't need much. The win32 machine just never gets used for anything other than known good Internet activities. If I don't know, then it's just not known good and I won't be doing it on any win32 system period.

I've been hosed once in the last coupla years. Took far less time to rebuild the environment than all of the anti-software hassles would have added up to. Not to mention the expense. It was my fault too. I should have known better, but let myself slack off.

In this state, win32 systems perform nicely enough, you just have to be careful about what you allow onto the system.

Dialup connections are direct to Internet connections usually. Some DSL and Cable connections are this way also. If your computer connects to the Internet and gets a public IP, then adaints comments are spot on.

If you are running DSL in bridging mode, get it changed to NAT or IP mode. You will be a lot safer this way.

If your computer gets a private IP, then you are behind a NAT, which does not allow incoming connections to be made, unless you open up ports.

In this scenario, safe computing is really effective. Been doing it for years.

Just keep your data archived onto some portable device and worst case is you restore your computer, load your software and are off and running. Better yet, start running a real OS, such as Linux, any commercial UNIX, or Mac OS X. These OSes are not perfect, but they are also not big targets either.

Also, for browsing not known safe sites, VMWare offers a Linux browsing virtual machine appliance that's actually pretty cool. You boot it on your computer and it runs in a window. You then send it to questionable sites and let it take the heat. This essentially duplicates the environment I have here at home, on your computer. You just need some RAM to run the virtual instance of Linux in.

One other biggie is the use of local e-mail programs. Outlook, Eudora, etc... all bring the mail right to your computer. These programs can be exploited in a lot of ways, more or less mandating an anti-program to keep things sane.

If you give that up and use a solid web-mail service, you get their anti-spam and anti-virus scanning and security features for free, thus isolating your box in an effective way.

Anyone wanting a gmail invite, there are plenty of people here using it. Feel free to ask. Gmail scans everything and does not allow harmful attachments to be sent in their raw form. This is the biggest source of infections for the majority of people right now.

Sorry, but I gotta say one more thing. If you want to use web office programs, the gmail system comes with the basic word processor and spreadsheet that works completely online. Very nice for unknown files that may or may not be malicious.

I use a Linux machine for this purpose, but often display it on my laptop. The VNC remote desktop software, or the X Window display system both serve this purpose nicely. So, I will often be running the win32 laptop I must have for work related things, but I will be authoring content, surfing and opening potentially harmful documents on that machine first, using the laptop as a display device only.

When things are known good, I then use a shared drive to exchange data for real.

Sean-

My wife is needing to learn some simple audio production and Pro Tools is simply too complicated for her. She is a voice talent and not a production person and she knows that.

If I could have someone show her Adobe or any other simple editing software while keeping me completely out of the loop, I would be willing to pay someone who is patient and loves to teach this stuff. I am simply too close in this case.

Any takers?

Adobe Audition 2.0 Classroom in a Book
http://www.adobepress.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0321385500&rl=1?aid=43bdbc6 5-548f-450f-8bc2-13b84842ac64

Here is the mic I bought today.
http://www.bswusa.com/proditem.asp?item=Q1U
River City Music in Vancouver was where I got it. WAS NOT IMPRESSED with Beacock's. Sloppy shelfs, NO USB mic's at all, just did not like it! Young guy at River City was very helpful and recommended that I should just start with this Dynamic mic and upgrade later if warranted to a mic amp and a better quality mic setup.

Still working with the software and have a few questions. Love the more pricy software that has the ability to remove the vocal's. Tried it and a faint vocal still reamins. Is there any way to completely remove a vocal from an MP3? Some different settings or something?

Darktemper, Remove the vocal from an existing MP3 or from one you recorded?

When you make your recording of your daughter, I'd suggest that you put the vocals on one channel and the instruments on the other.

Then using either the "mixer" that comes with a lot of sound boards or the audio editing software pan one to the left somewhat and one to the right somewhat to give you the stereo effect.

By recording the vocals and instruments on separate tracks, using the software you can manipulate each separately then combine them.

Remove the vocal from an existing MP3.

I am really starting to like Adobe Audition. The more I tinker with it the more I am impressed by what it can do. I experimented as you said. I did a vocal remove on a song she liked....it did leave a small faint trace though.
Then started a second track were I recorded her singing there. She was wearing headphones as the music track played at the same time. I love the ease of deleting a small bad section and letting her redo that little piece rather than the whole thing! WAY COOL!
Took the headphones off of the PC and put it together and it sounded...well a little rough not due to her but by captain novice on the PC.
Will get the hang of it though!

Anyway to completely remove the vocal from an existing MP3 music track cleanly without residue?

lame...

(ignored)

Get the Karoke tracks! That way you've got something clean to work with.

To eliminate the vocal first take one channel and put it out of phase with the other. Since most lead vocals are recorded equally on left and right, and this will knock out most of it. Before karaoke machines, there was a device called a "Vocal Eliminator" which did exactly that.

Then removing the residual can be done with filtering and noise reduction. It can be a little frustrating depending on how much time you want to spend.

If the vocal is not recorded on both channels equally, it's a lot more challenging if you want to preserve the music. If you don't care about losing music, you can do it with filtering ala CSI.

"I have never cut a piece of tape with a razor blade... Ever."

I can't be the only one who feels old when they read that sentence. I'm gonna go snuggle up with my editing block.

I'm going to find some tubes to test.

I've got to recap my ITC triple decker again...

The Samson USB mic. that Darktemper bought looks very impressive. It is pretty close to what we were all waiting for in the '90s but it never materialized -- a digital microphone. It is an analogue mic. with a built-in pre-amp and analogue to digital convertor.

Funny, as I was just going to come back to this thread to mention a point that somehow got missed. I have yet to see a mic. with phone plug or mini-jack on it that doesn't have a high level of white noise in the background. XLR, phantom power or built-in pre-amp are pretty much a requirement, it would seem.

I don't have any experience removing vocals, but one obvious thought is that you will get a lot better results from the original CD or the 44Kbps .wav file derived from it, than you will from any MP3. Reverse phasing between the channels assumes that the vocals on each channel are exactly equal. MP3 warps the sine waves pretty significantly during compression, but I'm not sure that if the left and right channel are both warped equally, so to speak.

Another obvious concern is that you will lose any music in the centre (i.e. - behind the vocal, equally in Left and Right).

>>The Samson USB mic. that Darktemper bought looks very impressive...

Any reviews from Darktemper...how's it sound?

Reviews from me? That would be like asking a doctor to fix the brakes on your car! LOL
Still learning and experimenting but it sounded clean and 5000% better than the cheapo PC mics on the market! At only $55.00 it is going to make my daughter a great starting microphone. Even got a mic stand/boom combo for only $15.00 slightly used....floor demo. Regular price $35.00. Going to record a little more tonight with it but it is very easy to use. The software from Samson you can download is a must for adjusting the levels on it!
BTW....My son is ordering me a copy of Adobe Audition through his college bookstore. $150.00....I almost feel guilty....then I look at the tuition bills and think....NOT!

"I've got to recap my ITC triple decker again.."

Never again, ever.

The modern day PC is our radio salvation from quarter inch tape...thanks Bill Gates and a few more geeks out there...

Bill Gates?

IBM built the first PC. Bill Gates purchased DOS, had Paul Allen write a few tweeks for it, and sold IBM a license to package it with their hardware.

The modern day PC didn't provide any "salvation" for rich media composition and editing at all until the Mac came along.
The Mac hardware was built from the ground up with artists musicians and scientists in mind. The beige boxes of the 80's and most of the 90's practically ignored the needs of the creatively inclined. In fact, PC's made their way into the radio station in marketing and sales to run MS-Office many years before DAW became prevalent. Early workstations in the Windows domain sucked. Get it right.

"Early workstations in the Windows domain sucked."

Amen brother!

"The modern day PC didn't provide any "salvation" for rich media composition and editing at all until the Mac came along."

"Lisa" preceeded the Mac.
http://oldcomputers.net/lisa.html

One could also argue that the venerable Amiga was leaps and bounds beyond the PC for music and graphics -- before Commodore whimpered and disappeared.

"So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'" --Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and H-P interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer.

Im more than willing to teach people how to use cool edit. Its great for voice stuff. Pro Tools might be better cause of the posibilities with the in-program processing... But Adobe is the easiest for simply pressing record and laying something down on a track for later editing. Hit me up if you need me. SeanMcMagic@yahoo.com. WORD!

yeah, hit him up and he'll teach you everything he learned at MHCC last year...

Seriously...what is the problem with MHCC? Personally I found it an enlightening way to get my first degree on my way into PSU.
I met lots of great people, learned some incredible stuff....needless to say, I have learned more doing hands on stuff at work...but doesn't everyone when they come out of college?

I just don't get why people get so snarky about that school. It's not something to count as your only education. It's an Associate's Degree, meant to build off of. And it meant a lot to this dumb kid when she was 18-20....

I did the KDOX -- what the hell is a "Dox that Rox" anyway? -- gig briefly back in the late 80s. I had a phone hogging totally unhinged cable only/campus audience and nothing but month old CHR to offer. Folks made gookie faces and flipped me off through the window. I also remember knowing Dr. Rice in church growing up.

The MHCC program is fine, and although I gained my skills and have far more warm memories from my time at KBPS, I would recommend it as a college radio program.

The issue I believe was the digital fawning by someone who is obviously enthusiastic and young. Every few years there is something new that is supposed to revolutionize everything and make it easier. Something like the madman engineered ITCs. (need any parts?)

For anyone who has had a complete DAW system failure, or an intermittent DAT or a flaky master on CD-R, those days of throwing up some 226, grabbing a China marker and chopping it up seem very attractive. I'm only in my late 30s and miss the art of it all.

Found these on the web:

I also noticed that there is a built in wind filter in the head of the mic that helps with the "P" popping a little. Tried it with the top off and the popping was noticeable more so than with it on. It is not the best mic in the world I guess but a great low cost startup mic for me.


Reviews
Following the success of our multi-award winning CO1U, the world's first USB studio condenser mic, Samson are pleased to announce the new Q1U - the first professional dynamic USB mic! The Q1U features a smooth sounding neodymium element, capable of handling high SPL, cleverly interfaced to an onboard high quality microphone pre-amp, Analogue-to-Digital converter and USB output. Just plug in the supplied USB cable, launch your DAW and start recording. The extended frequency and fast transient response insures an accurate reproduction with linear characteristics from bottom to top. The Q1U faithfully reproduces a variety of sound sources including vocals, acoustic instruments and overhead cymbals, and can handle high SPL perfect for use on drums or in front of a loud guitar amp. The Q1U is perfect for recording your music, Podcast or any acoustic audio source on your favourite computer based DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). * Dynamic Handheld Microphone with USB interface * Plugs in directly to any computer with a USB input * High Quality A/D Converter with 16-Bit, 48kHz Sampling Rate * Super Cardioid Pickup Pattern * Compatible with any Computer Based Digital Audio Workstation * Tripod desk stand, USB cable and carry pouch included.

Excellent value mic, 15 Dec 2006
Reviewer: J. P. Mowatt (Cambridge UK) - See all my reviews

This mic is extremely good value for money and quite versatile. Being a USB mic it is wonderfully simple to use. You simply plug it into the computer and plug and play takes care of the rest. I upgraded from a headset mic so it was a massive step up in quality for me. I particularly liked the nice rich tones it gives to your voice. As with any mic you need to spend a little time experimenting with recording positions to find the best sound for what you're trying to create. Being a dynamic mic it is quite tolerant of those people who move their heads around a lot so you won't get wild volume flunctuations. It's not the best mic in the world but for the money it is in a class of its own.
I'd recommend it.

Great quality for low price, January 9, 2007
Reviewer: Paul H. Sadek - See all my reviews

If you do a modest amount of voice work on your computer but don't have a full-blown "home studio"--and if you're less than satisfied with the input quality of your sound card circuitry--this is the microphone for you. With frequency range only slightly narrower than the EV RE-20, the Q1U is a great home solution for most broadcast uses; and since it has a USB interface, it completely bypasses your consumer-grade sound card. Just plug in, and use with your audio recording software. I manage a radio station, and occasionally do voice work from home with the Q1U, and it is virtually indistinguishable from work done in-studio.

I've heard there may be some compatibility issues with Adobe Audition and Windows Vista. Anyone played around with that combination yet?

The entire multi-media sub-system has been reworked to incorporate DRM.

No matter what you think of that whole mess, the recoding and new data paths are reason enough to hold off for a bit, until both the OS and software have had some time to mature.

At this time, there is nothing in Vista that warrants taking the plunge, particularly if this kind of thing is your bread and butter.

Read this blog first before you either buy the Vista upgrade or get a new PC with Vista preinstalled:

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/01/20/windows-vista- content-protection-twenty-questions-and-answers.aspx

Stop at window's Media center edition or XP! Unlike a MAC good old PC now needs a GPS system in order to navigate through it's own bullshit!

I see there are a lot of opinions on this topic in a short ammount of time!

my advice on the technical side would be to use a USB or FIREWIRE interface. Presonus and many others make them, they have XLR inputs as well as line inputs and a phantom power supply. this is the best way to get a professional mic (not a USB mic) into your PC.

Record it raw with NO FILTERS or EFFECTS. maybe if you are an amature you will not notice the general low quality of software filters and effects but they are no match for the real thing.

Buy a $100.00 Chinese large diaphram condenser mic. make sure she sings about a foot away from it.

spend your time finding the optimum mic position rather than fixing things with software effects and or filters. they will only distract from a truly good recording and deteriorate the quality.

be careful about cheap small box compressors or effects processor boxes too. some work ok but as usual a little goes a long way.

I use Cool Edit 2000 Pro version and find that the on board filters and effects most all have a negative effect on a high quality recording.

I do a lot of this type recording of live music and vocals and find after repeated attemts that these files sound best when not dynamically processed with software at all.

I have even taken material other people have dynamically processed and going back to the master recording undone all that they have done, burned the naked .wav file to CD and let them listen to the difference. they were amazed at how "clean" and "good" i made their material sound compared to their efforts with software filters and effects.

to my ears the overuse of software dynamic processing is endemic and noticable in both music and radio produciton. and i'm including the misuse of protools plug ins in that statement too.

its very easy to ruin a good recording this way.

I agree with Notalent. Avoid effects in the box as much as you can. If she turns out to be a genius and writes a few originals down the road, all parties will be happier if raw tracks can be transferred and manipulated in a "real" studio with "real" equalizers, outboard effects and processors. This is the least expensive way to make a quality demo -- and often a good release -- these days.

Darktemper, I admire you for bonding with her on both the nerdy tech stuff and music. Gotta get some imaginations fired up around here or were all stuck with Britney or Courtney's kid being the current Liza Minnelli of the future. *shudder* Good luck, our fate is in your hands!

Your fate.....my fate.....is in the hand's of our children! Lately I am trying to find alternates to the internet and afternoon TV situation. A remote control helicopter for my son means we go to the park and practice crashing it!!!!! LOL No Shit.....up then down....recharge battery while fixing broken parts and do it all over again! LMAO
Found a way to spend time with the daughter and help her with her interest "Singing"! I am learning about audio processing and she gets to have her singing made into CD's....!!!!

I think this type of thing is a win win win!

BTW....my son gave me a price sheet on Adobe student full version software. Adobe Audition $149.00 regular $349.00 direct! If you have a sibling in college get it from there.

Wow! Has Adobe ever raised their prices. It was $169 when it first came out, and that was only a few years ago.

Me too is novice to music, I downloaded FlexiMusic Wave Editor, an shareware audio editor with free trial version to learn basic editings of music files. http://www.fleximusic.com/

Folks made gookie faces .....

only someone familiar with the world of the Marx Brothers would know what that meant!!!!

And two hard boiled eggs.

*honk"

Make that three hard boiled eggs.

Cool Edit Pro is the best! With it, anyone can "splice the smell out of a fart" as the classic Sam Lee expression goes.

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SPAM!

What does photography have to do with Portland Oregon USA radio?

I haven't been able to get Adobe Audition 2.0 to run properly on Windows Vista. However, Audition 1.5 works fine on Vista. If you are running the Vista Aero Glass, Windows will automatically kick the display settings down to a basic level while 1.5 is running. The other solution would be stick with XP.

I think i'd not like to upgrade to Vista "ME" (mistake edition)! WARNING.....Bad OS!