Microphone for Podcasting

[jhauser]

I am looking to buy a microphone to record interviews for podcasting.  I assume it should be a reasonably good quality microphone - but I'm not sure how much impact the quality of the microphone will have on an MP3 file downloaded from the internet.  Advice, offers?  Jo Hauser

[Neil Herber]

Hi Jo

If you start off with a crappy microphone, the MP3s will sound crappy, so my advice is to get something decent. You don't say hpw you are recording the sound - direct to a computer, to a minidisc, to tape, to an iPod ...  That determines the kind of microphone that will work. If your "recording device" support normal stereo microphones, I can highly recommend the Sony ECM-DS70P. ( http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/ProductDetailDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=124948 ) It is tiny, has excellent stereo separation, superb response, excellent sensitivty. I have used it on a miniDisc recorder, on a camcorder, and on an MP3 recorder. The results were all excellent. I have a few other Sony mics as well and they are almost as good. It is not cheap, but Hey! you own a Mac so cheap isn't your driving force.

[jhauser]

Neil,

Thanks for the advice.  It sure is tiny - 2 inches wide and less than an inch high.  I assumed that big was better - CBC always uses large microphones.  I plan to record interviews directly to my computer.  This microphone records to "Digital Media such as MiniDisc, DAT and NT Recorders" - I assume this includes hard drives.  Do I really need to record in stereo for an interview.  CBC simply holds a single microphone.

Jo Hauser

[Neil Herber]

If you are recording directly to a computer, then you need to know what kind of audio input you have available. For a while, Apple decided that nobody was interested in recording their own audio, and they built all kinds of Macs with no audio input. For those machines you need some kind of USB conversion box. I know nothing about them.

As to stereo versus mono, a mono MP3 will be smaller than a stereo one at the same bit rate, but that doesn't prevent you from using a stereo mic. The two channels get mixed down to one during MP3 conversion. Sony makes several very good mono mics. For the best sound with minimal background noise, you should use lavalier mics on the participants (one on each).