Cheers guys, just one last quetion with regards to your replies, how is the condener microphone powered if its running directly into a pc as i was under the the impression that it had to run through a amp of some kind hence the reason i mentioned the PA sysytem?
This is not necessarily a "recommendation". I'm just sharing what I bought.
The Behringer C-1 condenser Microphone:
I really love this mic. In fact, I'll probably buy a second one of these. It's really nice for vocals, and acoustical instruments. However, I'll tell you up front that my own hearing isn't real great in the higher frequencies. So if this mic is lacking in that range I'm totally unaware of it. It works great for everything I do.
Here is a link to Amazon, but you can get this from a lot of different music equipment stores.
http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-C-1...0RLK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295138781&sr=8-1
The mic comes with a really nice padded case, but there is no cable. So you'll need a cable for it too.
Here's the type of cable you'll need:
http://www.amazon.com/GLS-Audio-Cab...QMD8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1295139366&sr=8-2
And then you need a mixer with preamp and the +48 v power supply for to drive the condenser mic
Here's the first one I bought. It's an 8-input mixer for only around 60 bucks. It has the phantom power to drive two of these condenser mics. It also has preamps for these as well. It can be used with regular dynamic mics too.
(
Beware! They have a cheaper 5-input mixer, but it doesn't provide the phantom power for the condenser mics) So be sure if you get a mixer it provides the +48 volt phantom power for the mic. The 802 mixer shown below does supply this+48 volt power for two mics.
http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-802...XS3C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1295138865&sr=8-3
But then to connect this to your computer you'll need a USB converter:
(this went up in price considerably since I bought mine. I think I only paid $25 for mine)
http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-Aud...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1295139820&sr=1-1
So the above is what I bought. I'm not recommending this necessarily. I'm just saying that it worked for me and I'm happy with it.
In fact I was so pleased with everything that I bought a larger mixer.
The following 12-input mixer will power four condenser mics and comes with a built-in USB. (so you save on having to buy the USB converter above. ;}
http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-X12...PW60/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1295138865&sr=8-4
In other words, if you buy the 12-channel mixer, the cable, and mic, you're all set to go.
12-channels might sound like overkill, but it's actually only 6-channels. Because each channel is stereo and so they count each input individually. (same goes for the 8-channel mixer, it's actually 4 stereo channels). But typically you record in mono anyway. Unless you buy two mics! They you can put on on either side of you and get stereo. ;}
So anyway, that's what I got. And then I just use Audacity as the recording software. It's far from professional, but it serves my purpose.
I don't think I paid that much for my 12-input mixer though. I think that went up in price too.
I bought my stuff a couple years ago.
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Just for the record, once again. I'm not pushing this particular equipment. Plus I can't even compare it with other stuff out there because this is all I have ever used. I just know that when I shopped around at the time, this stuff met my budget requirements, and thus far I've been happy with it. I use both the 8-input and 12-input mixers now and often have them both filled to the hilt.
But that's partly because I bought a drum-mic set and so my drums take up 8 inputs right there!
Anyway. There may be far better ways for you to reach your specific goals. All I can say is that this stuff works for me and I absolutely LOVE this C-1 condenser mic. I'll never go back to a dynamic mic again. It's probably the cheapest condenser mic on the market, but it's NICE. At least I'm really happy with it.
Maybe after having read this post some other people might be able to offer other options.
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