***Help choosing recording equipment***

New to the Macbook world and just lookin for advice on what are some deffinates as far as as what I need to record vocals. What type/brand of mic? Pre amp? Lookin to spend around $ 250 or so...


All comments,advice, and suggestions welcomed. thanks

Do you want a single or dual preamp? Digital or analog? That makes a big ole difference in price as well as quality.

My setup for vocal recordings includes a trio of AKG D5s, an Heil Sound PR35s, as well as (my personal favorite) the Audio-Technica AT4050.

The AKGs were about $160 in a three pack I found online, the Heil Sound was about $230 at the local music store, and the Audio-Technica AT4050 was given to me as a gift, but it will run you close to $600 retail I believe.

My preamp is a rackmounted ART but that's well out of your price range, however, ART also makes a much smaller standalone version that retails right at $30. I can't vouch for that particular product, although ART is a great brand and has never let me down.

Hey man thanks for the help. Honestly Im new to all this recording equipment. I have this mic: Amazon.com: Audio Technica AT2041 Studio Microphone Package: Gateway

Whats the difference single and dual pre-amp?
Im not sure which I would need...

ALSO kind of a newbie question sorry...This equipment I buy will be for a Mac obviously, but is this stuff pretty much universal? Or do is there some equipment geared toward PC and others toward Mac?

Because you are new to the wonderful world of recording equipment, I would suggest a single channel preamp. It will be cheaper and you generally won't notice too much of a difference with vocals. If you would like for me to explain the difference in technical detail I'd be more than willing to, I just don't want to throw out a bunch of details that may end up confusing you.

"The Audio Technica AT2041 is a great mic for a beginner."

It has more than enough capability to get you started and sustain you as you progressively become more experienced in recording.

Most recording equipment is going to be pretty universal, however, if you become interested in purchasing a USB Audio Interface, which you will find eventually becomes necessary with some software, I would advise looking further into the supported OS's. Although most recording equipment is generally supported for Mac more than Windows, remember to be sure before you make purchase.

I hope I've helped out a bit. I remember when I first started recording I was only 15 and had a million questions that no one I knew could really answer. Feel free to ask away, as I'm pretty well versed in recording equipment and techniques.

Yea I appreciate the support man. What kind or recording you do?

Im new to Mac and new to equipment like you said. So Im trying to learn with garage band (used to use Audacity). So far I love it, if I could figure out how to get it un-muted . The box for mute IS checked and ghosted out so I cant UNclick it. But thats for another forum lol