6 things you need to know about home recording (3of 6)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- This video is the third of six free tutorials for recording audio at home. It covers the setting up your equipment. No recording experience is necessary, this video is for beginners. Part 3 of 6 more info at www.homerecordi...
/ homestudiorecording
2/2019👍 your video is still helping others. Thank you!
This is an excellent point you brought up. Dynamic microphones a less sensitive than condenser microphones, making them ideal for certain applications. I have a video in my channel that does a comparison between a dynamic and a condenser microphone to show the differences. The benefit of a condenser microphone, which is essentially it's dynamic range and sensitivity can also become a problem when recording in a noisy environment.
2020 still relevant🙏
Very very
YOU ARE THE ANGEL I WASH WISHING ! OMG ! OF ALL THE VIDEOS THAT IVE WATCH HERE AT TH-cam ABOUT SETTING UP RECORDING STUDIO AT HOME. I ONLY LEARN ON YOUR VIDEOS !! SIMPLE BUT EASY TO UNDERSTAND.
very good videos.
Hi , check my video about home studio recording
@losoutlaw Sure - First I set the gain and the channel volume knob for the microphone input so when I spoke into it loudly, the little green LED was blinking or lighting up, but the red was not. Then, using the main output level knob, I set the level so that my recording software was showing good level on the meter bars, but not clipping. Hope it helps - if you need more info let me know.
I would highly recommend an Audio Interface of some sort, or use the "line in" socket instead of a "mic in" socket that I used in the video, if your pc has one. The Audio interface will also help with any latency issues that may arise from using the standard on-bard audio device and it's driver, so it's by far a better idea. If you have an audio interface you probably will not need a mixer. Although mixers do come in handy sometime when you have to patch the signal in certain ways.
Finally someone delivering clear concise useful info. Ty
Glad you enjoyed it!
Being in front of the laptop, gives me a clue as to what might be happening. It might be that audacity might be using the internal microphone of the laptop. Maybe you can look a the settings of Audacity to see which device it is using for recording. I don't have a clear picture of what you have connected, your descriptions are very disjointed. So it is difficult to help. You mentioned FireWire, this is news to me... What is connected via FireWire to your laptop? Or what do you think should be?
@jdocey The XLR is a microphone input on this mixer, however if you have a device that has a line output, you can definitely use the line in. If you plug in a microphone into a line in it may not work, because the level of the microphone is too low. Mic inputs have amplification stages in them to bring up the low levels.
LOL indeed, I can't remember what that was, but if it was worth downloading then it portably made me LOL a fair bit.
A mixer usually does not have an way of communicating with the computer, they are capable of providing the correct inputs for you mics and instruments. They are able to blend the different signal sources together to a stereo pair or send them to other auxiliary outputs. There are some mixers that have the computer interface capability so they are a bit of a hybrid. Audio interfaces usually lack the ability to mix on the hardware side, so the mixing part is usually done in a software application
Who is still watching in 2019? 👍👇
@dominicakadc I connected the little mixer to my computer via a cable I made up. but you should be able to find one already made. It was a 1/8" TRS stereo to 1/4" TRS mono jack cable. If you put that description into amazon search it will show you what it was.
Have you considered a USB audio interface? I have a couple of videos in my channel about the topic. Perhaps they might help.
@Gunbardo The mixer is neither. It is a device that is used to blend sound sources together and direct them to different outputs. There are small amplification stages on the mixer channels as well as EQ, but it's not like a power amplifier. Some mixers do have compressors built in, but this is not that common.
Can mixer is instead of audio interface
It's a cable i made myself, but you can buy an equivalent of that. The cable is a 1/8 TRS stereo to two mono 1/4 TS connectors. Both of the cables are the same, however if you have not purchased a mixer yet, consider whether you actually need one, in most cases a decent audio interface will suffice.
Thanx for making the tutorial....i have a query though.
I understand you have a laptop with 2 ports for audio and microphone..
My laptop has a single port...then where/how to attach the 2 cables in the laptop?
There is a much better way of interconnecting audio with your laptop these days. And it has come down in price significantly. I would suggest that you look at getting a USB audio interface. Now if you do persist with your single socket laptop. It might be that it is only an output jack or that it is a dual purpose item. Dual purpose jacks have the special 4 point plug that carry the recording mic connection one of the pins and the output for the headphones on others. In order to make that would it is a bit of a mission. Especially because it might be difficult to find appropriate cabling for that without making your own. The USB audio interface might be a better solution for you.
+AudioBytes alright thanx...
i got one more question sir.
which do u think is better ,a mic via an audio interface sound or a usb condenser mic?
i mean which sound is better?
you have to prepare usb sound card..
Yes you are correct, more sensitive microphone will pick up more background noise. Ideally you should look for a quiet location to record and extend the microphone away from your computer as far as possible. You can try running the mic cable under the door to the next room, to isolate the noise. You can also try hyper cardioid microphones, which have a narrow pick-up polar pattern. However the best solution is creating a quiet recording space.
Hi! I did all of the stept in the video but my laptop still uses the build-in mic to record, which is very low quality.
Mac or PC?
PC
Gerrit Fischer OK have a look in your sound setting whether there is an option of an external microphone. Usually you can access this from the little icon in the bottom right hand side in the task bar. Right click the little speaker and select recording devices. Have a look at the list to see if there is anything there other than your built in mic. If there is. Is iid you can select a device in the Audacity preferences for Recording devices. If you are still unsuccessful consider whether you want to spend some money on a USB audio interface. These devices make the inter-connectivity between audio devices and the computer much easier and cleaner. I've made a video on this. You should be able to find it in my channel.
In the list are the build-in mic and 'stereo mix' which is unactivated. if i activate it, nothing changes. I am using an Asus and the problem is that I have only one output. There is an icon next to this output which shows the headphone output and the mic input together.
I have thought about just buying an adaptor to USB, but I want to be sure that it would work that way.
Ok, I think in your case your laptop audio input jack uses a 3 ring mic/headphone connection. I would guess that when you stick in a headphone/mic headset, you are able to record from that device. However plugging in a standard mono or stereo jack would not work, or work very poorly. I would also guess that when the mic/headphone headset is plugged in another device would appear in your recording devices. I'm not sure what you mean by adaptor. By the way what are you trying to record? Vocals or Instruments?
If your desktops has a speaker output then I would suggest using that, it is usually the green port on the back. However if you are connecting to an amplifier rather than speakers directly then the blue "line output" would me more suited for that application.
lets get this guy to 1,0000 subs
Thanks mate!
AudioBytes
Mark Mclellan no he sucks
from where we get this features get my number 7506295884
DearMark! I am really thankful and appreciate this generous favor that will help many armature singers, clueless of getting help as they are mostly taken for a ride. I would like you to be in touch shortly. Thank youiu! Nimal
The BCF is a controller that is used to control functions of a software mixer in your recording software. It uses MIDI "code" to communicate with this software. It's similar to a mouse controlling a cursor on the screen, you move the mouse and the arrow moves on your screen. On the BCF2000 you move a slider or knob and the corresponding thing moves on the screen.
i loved it when u said "the female end of the mic" lol
@c3arts321 Not only a quick question but a very good one at that. I was actually wondering myself why I actually did that. Most of the time you could just use the headphones like you suggested. But the reason why I make this connection is because it allows me to bring the output of the computer back though the mixer and then I can route it to the AUX or use EQ on it. Also it allows me to pull audio from other programs that you cannot patch internally though windows.
Hey.. I would like to record my voice and guitar with quality and I already have a mic. What else do I need? Interface?
An equaliser.
Audio interface like M Audio M track
This info is brief but very beneficial... Thanks for all of your uploads.. Now I can start my home studio recording!
I just subscribed!! Ur video is helpful
I use 3 different ones. The main one is a Prism Orpheus. The little one i use to take with me to do basic 2 channel recordings is a Tascam US-122L. But for large recordings Where I would be recording 24 channels at one time i use a Soundscape Red 32.
I have studio master ER 31/EM31/EL31 (The Studiomaster Professional ER 31 series is a high quality duet VHF microphone system designed to suit the needs of various professional applications.) set in my university and i want to insert the cable with the connector converter into CPU (3.5 mm) to record voice for youtube videos is it possible to record ? help me please its urgent
All of those channels would most likely be mono, unless specified otherwise. "Line Level" is actually referring to the voltage level that the input is designed to take. However if you pan the output in centre the level will be distributed evenly between the left and right hand Line Level output on the mixer. There wouldn't be any stereo components to the signal. If you are connecting a stereo source to you mixer you need to use 2 channels and pan each away from the centre in opposite directions.
wow thank u sir this is very useful.
Hi , check my video about home studio recording
Absolutely loving the "How It's Made" (the show) style of your videos. I'm not sure if this is what you were going for but either way it's a pretty spot on imitation and it's awesome.
what cables did you use to plug the mixer with the laptop?
I use a Twin Male 1/4 Mono Jack to Stereo 1/8 3.5mm Jack Cable/Lead like this one.....
www.ebay.com/itm/Twin-Male-1-4-Mono-Jack-to-Stereo-1-8-3-5mm-Jack-Cable-Lead-6-5ft-2M-/361454673245?hash=item5428609d5d:g:fRMAAOSwHPlWen~d
Yes there is, and it is probably the more appropriate way of connection audio to a computer. You can look at something like a USB audio interface. There is a couple of videos in my channel that discuss this in more detail. Using a USB audio interface allows for better connectivity for all sorts of electro-acoustic devices. The remaining mixer functionality can all be done with the inbuilt mixer of the DAW software you are using for recording.
The music put me off watching this.
@ArtificialInfinity for mac, it is basically learning the software and selecting the right input under system preferences. the software how to use the rest of the gear aside from the computer are what takes the most to learn. garageband, audacity, cakewalk, cubase, and logic are what my recommendations are for you as far as software.
What's with the porn music ???
I set out to make a porno, but the instructions were no clear so an "Audio Instruction" video came out. Still have no idea how it happened. Hope you understand.
Ohhh... Yeah, that happened to me once =\
Well Jr Phew! Glad I wasn't the only one. Thanks for understanding.
I see you were paying attention. If you have a line level input on the back of your computer, (Usually blue socket) then plug into that port. However ideally you need a proper way of interfacing with the computer, so a dedicated audio interface is a better way to go. There is a video in my channel about that. Audio interfaces, besides having proper audio ports, are less noisy, and also help solve latency issues with their dedicated audio drivers.
It's 2018
You would have to monitor the microphone level off the computer you plugged it into. Or the headphone Jack you mentioned. Normal stage applications all of the microphones go back to a mixer and can be sent to either the fold-back on stage or the main front of house. I guess USB microphones might be a little impractical for live PA applications.
There are a lot of people using the Samson as a pod cast microphone. I'm guessing you are looking at the USB version. The USB version has the advantage of not requiring anything other than a USB cable to connect to the computer. The reason why the USB Samson microphone is so successful with pod casters is because it works well with close up vocal recording, which is usually the case for pod casting. If pod casting is all that you want to do then you probably picked correctly.
No, and sometimes Yes. A dedicated audio interface usually does not have all the routing features that a mixer does. All of those mixer features are done provided in the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software you are using to record and edit your recordings. A mixer usually can route the signal in and out of itself, and sometimes comes in with a USB audio interface port built in. But there are number of input to output track issues that some people find inconvenient on some of these mixers.
@6packswithin Hum and Buzz are generally cause by poor termination and shielding. It can also be caused by bad gain structure.You could check the quality of your mic cable first, there is a video on that topic in my channel.Guitar noise can sometime be cause by oxidisation on the ground terminal of the socket. You may need to give that a clean. Also check to make sure that the shield on the cables is OK.The Audio Interface should be sufficient enough to make a good clean recording.
I did some checking an you are correct, the levels from the microphone are vet low. Boosting though conventional methods also brings up the background noise. However I found that one user had installed ASIO4ALL and they claim it gave them an improvement in the level. The level issue is probably due to the design of the microphone rather than UBS powering issues. I have also found some other solutions people tried with apparent success. I have send you a PM with the details.
Latency has a fair bit to do with the audio software driver you use. Most ASIO drivers which are used to communicate between the Audio Interfaces and the computer are designed to run the shortest latency as possible. You can improve standard PC hardware latency by using ASIO4ALL driver to sort out your internal audio card latency issues, if not at least improve them. The Audio Interface also provides the correct inputs for mics and instrument to you computer, (Properly balanced inputs)
In this video I use a Rode NT1, it is an early model, not sure if they still make the NT1, but I know they make a new version called the NT1A. I do use different microphones for different recordings but the NT1 has been an excellent microphone for me.
On a desktop PC the blue hole is the line in which should be used to connect your mixer. Usually you would use 2 x mono 1/4" TS jacks to a 1/8" TRS stereo jack to connect to this socket. The remaining holes, pink, is a un-powered microphone input, and the green is a line level out. Please note that on a laptop you only have a mic (Pink) input. Which is not really as good as a blue line input. Ideally you should be using an Audio Interface instead of those Holes.
Yes, it is the Main Mix fader knob, but you can also use the mic channel volume knob to achieve this.
Indeed, Focusrite make some great stuff. The main difference that the Saffire Pro 14 has is it's conectivity. It uses a Fire Wire connection. You need to make sure your computer has such a connection available, it sometimes goes by the name as IEEE1394. I believe you can still buy PCI IEEE1934 card for destops, but I've noticed that laptops are not coming out with this port as much as they used to. FYI my main audio interface uses a IEE1394 connection.
I must say that these tutorials are a fantastic public service for recording noobies. I've been into sequencing electronic musician (in-the-box) for a while, but continually feel the need for more "real instruments".
With the amount of ambient noise I get plowing through my paper-mache apartment, I'm beginning to wonder if I should ditch my dreams of recording my classical guitar with a mic, and simply purchase one with quacky-sounding-pickups.
Usually used to record the sound from the computer back into itself. This is not necessary for recording, but does come in handy sometimes. Naturally you have to disable the play-though feature in your software to avoid a feedback loop.
@CountryMaster16 I don't think you will need a mixer, you have a USB microphone (AKG 120) so that does not even require the phanom power. You would use the US122 MKII as for your monitoring and other mic/line inputs, and the AKG120 though the USB. You should be able to find both devices in your software and assign them to different channels. I think you are pretty set to make some tracks.
It's not a compete necessity if you are capable of recording without it. But if you are just starting out and have not gone shopping yet, it is a good point to start. An audio interface will address connectivity issues between the PC and the different audio devices you might want to record. Also the software drivers will help with latency issues that might arise from connecting to a motherboard sound-card alone.
@louis2477 Yes, it appears the multimix 6 is in fact a mixer and an audio interface. Hence it negates the need for you to buy a stand alone audio interface.
The UFX1204 is a hybrid mixer/fx processor/audio interface. It would most likely be used for live performances, because of it's FX capabilities. However it does have USB connectivity which carries audio signals, so it can be used as an Audio Interface too. Which may be handy for the live performance if the artist wants to record their performance.
Normally most vocal or instrument recordings are mono in nature. This means only one track. This track can be panned (moved) from one speaker to another if it is on a mono channel. However ir it has been recorded on a stereo track, there it will generally end up on the left or right side only. You can correct this by going to Edit->Preferences and under devices change the recording channels to 1 (mono), this should allow you to record a single channel which by default comes out of both speakers.
Yes, a keyboard is one of the basic instruments used to make a beat, you can use MIDI to "write" a beat sequence. You might want to look at some synth software. I hear a lot of people use FL studio to make beats, but I have not used it myself. Personally I use Propellerheads Reason for my music production, it is entirely up to you what you decide to use, there a many options. Perhaps you can look at some examples on you tube for different software that allows you to construct beats.
@Gunbardo The shock mount should hold the microphone securely, it should not slip out. This will allow you to position it at any angle you desire. As you can see in the video I was able to hang my microphone upside down.
Very nice way to guide sir,thank.just a question, would we make track record and mixed in laptop in this way ?
Request to you sir, guide us for tracks recording, thanks #kureful tv
Well, yes, but I think you'd be better off with software that is a bit more developed than audacity currently is.
Thanks sir obliged on you#kureful tv
@MsZuboo Hi Zuboo, I think you might have misunderstood the concept. It's not six things you need to have, it's six things you need to know. The items you need depend on what you want to do. For example a singer would need a microphone, an audio interface some headphones a computer and the appropriate cables to connect those devices. The price of all of that really depends on the quality you want and the budget you have. The best way to work out what you need is to "try before you buy".
2 x mono 1/4" TS jacks to a 1/8" TRS stereo jack. If you have a line-in socket (usually blue) use that instead of the pink mic-in socket, this should yield better results. Alternatively consider buying an Audio Interface if you have not purchased any devices yet. I have a video in my channel discussing this option in some detail.
@joshuakegconnection The problem is that the mic input is designed to handle a much lower signal than a mixer provides at its optimum level. If you have a line level input on your PC then this is the better option. The internal sound card is not very good as far as AD convertor as well as having jitter and WDM latency issues.You are better off with an Audio Interface instead of a mixer. If you really want a mixer then maybe you can look at a USB mixer that has an Audio Interface built in.
It's not bad especially if you like working with loops. I also thing their time stretch algorithm is quite good, but as always everyone has a preference. Suggesting that it's the best really sets you up for severe criticism.
Indeed. I actually used it on this video series since I had a noisy recording environment. However the best efforts should be made for every recording to improve the signal to noise ratio prior to recordings.It is true that gates are handy, but gates can create a some distracting effects if someone is using straight spoken voice. Usually the trick is to mask it with backing music or use a frequency dependent downward expander.
@TeeDjayyy Good question, Yes there is a possibility that this could happen, however in my situation I was able to turn off the play thru inside of my software, therefore cutting the loop. The return cable is not really necessary, I used it because I needed a way to record from the speaker out, because I was not able to patch it in the software.
The cable does not really have a name, I made this particular cable. However perhaps you can search for the following cable.. .2 x mono 1/4" TS jacks to a 1/8" TRS stereo jack. If you have a line-in socket (usually blue) use that instead of the pink mic-in socket, this should yield better results. Alternatively consider buying an Audio Interface if you have not purchased any devices yet. I have a video in my channel discussing this option in some detail.
Most computer will have a "sound card" built in, they are usually part of the motherboard. However as you are probably eluding to a dedicated sound device which will do a much better job. It is also true that you can replace the mixer in the setup shown in the video. The most effective solution would be some sort of USB audio interface.
@FauxHawkism Can you specify which sound board you have? I have fund that small sound boards usually mix down to a stereo pair of tracks, in this scenario you will have to record each instrument as a separate pass, you could not really multi-track in one go. With larger sound boards you get bus sends and direct out too, which can be used to split the tracks. However your Audio interface need to have multiple analogue to digital input to capture those separately.
I was not able to find the information on the microphone. But I was able to find some suppliers in Japan and China that were selling a microphone by this name. It appears to be a condenser microphone, which needs phantom power in order to operate. If you want to use this for recording into your computer you should consider getting a USB audio interface that has a mic input with a phantom power supply. There is a video in my channel that explains more about this.
@DosEquisIAM You could have possible latency issues, it might be that are not using the right driver in Audacity. It might be set the the Microsoft Sound Mapper, try using the direct sound mapper, or if the dialogue box has the SB driver showing there try forcing it to use that. It should the preferences under Edit, Preferences, Devices. Also you sometimes the software that comes with the card can have latency adjustment too.
You should look into how you will connect the devices into your system, a USB audio interface should allow you to connect most devices properly into your system for recording. There is a video in my channel about USB audio interfaces and how to choose one.
Wow. This is the best example I have seen of how and why poor setup / equipment results in poor vocals. Amazing how much the mixer does. That saves you from having to fix so much noise in the recording.
Thank you for the kind comment, I have to say though that the mixer is not the quietest thing I've ever used. It is certainly true that it will provide a better signal to noise ratio than just a mic jack on a computer, but there is much better options now. These videos are getting a bit old now.
@BlackBarred In most applications for basic home recording an audio interface will yield better results then a nicer plugged into a mic or line input. Generally the latency issues are much smaller and input impedance mismatch is taken care of.
It is most likely that the sound coming from your processor is still changed by the amplifier circuit in your amp. Additional factors would also be the amp cabinet and speaker size. It sounds to me like those factors are what is missing from your recording. This is why guitarists still prefer to use microphones in front of their amp and capture that sound rather than a direct line level sound out of the amp. Others get around this problem using software cabinet and mic emulators in their DAW.
It is not really required, but is is sometimes handy for dubbing Audio from your computer. Say you do not have an external CD or MP3 player, you can use your computer as the music source and send it through the mixer to mix with your voice. This is a way of recording a mixed take without any latency. It is true that this method has it's own problems but it's just another way of doing things. And and I mentioned it is not always necessary.
2 x mono 1/4" TS jacks to a 1/8" TRS stereo jack. If you have a line-in socket (usually blue) use that instead of the pink mic-in socket, this should yield better results.
The cable does not really have a name, I made this particular cable. However, you can search for the following cable.. .2 x mono 1/4" TS jacks to a 1/8" TRS stereo jack. If you have a line-in socket (usually blue) use that instead of the pink mic-in socket, this should yield better results. Alternatively consider buying an Audio Interface if you have not purchased any devices yet. I have a video in my channel discussing this option in some detail.
Don't know, I cannot find any information on fastrack kpII. I suggest you look at the Avid website for details on their audio interfaces. It appears that the latest version of the Fast Track has +48V phantom power, according to their website. But they do not mention a fastrack kpII.
Perhaps you should consider a USB audio interface. These devices are designed to work with computers for recording sounds. Hence when they design the electronics circuits they take into consideration the electrical interference that is all around us. They use techniques to eliminate the noise prior to converting it to a digital signal that the computer can understand and let you manipulate in your DAW. They should also address most of the driver latency issues a motherboard sound card has.
@ckLe0n122 It's a Behringer Eurorack UB 802, I think the new version of it is now called Xenyx 802.
@TheFluzzyOne Ok, For your microphone you will need 1 x Male to Female XLR cable, this will connect your microphone to your Clarion. This is as far as I can go until you tell me what type of piano you have. I will look it up and see what type of outputs it has and then advise accordingly. However hold on before buying the mixer, I noticed it has no phantom power, are you planning to use a condenser microphone or just a dynamic one? If you tell me the model I can work that out.
I just has a look at it's features. The free version is not to shabby for an entry level package. I suppose it's also worth mentioning that Reaper 4 is also another comprehensive DAW package that people might like.
The XenyX1002 is just a simple mixer, it has no USB inter-connectivity with a computer. It's used to mix and route signals.
@starscreen52 If you are not intending to record any other devices that require connections into yor PC, such as a keyboard for example, than the USB microphone should be sufficient enough to record with. A usb microphone has a built in "Audio Interface" stage built in. The only issues I see is possibly latency when you are multitracking, since I do not think USB mics usually address this problem. The other issue is sensitivity, they work well close up but not so well futher away.
Hi Helen, yes it should be very simple to do this. Which program did you use to record your voice. I need to know this so I can instruct you on how to turn this "mono" file into a pseudo stereo file that plays out of both speakers. Essentially the process is to copy the file to the right channel link it as a stereo pair and export it as a stereo file.
Which mixer do you have? Usually there are multiple outputs on small format mixers, but you still need to tell me which make and model to I can investigate for you.
@aidotuyet It's a cable i made myself, but you can buy an equivalent of that. The cable is a 1/8 TRS stereo to two mono 1/4 TS connectors. Both of the cables are the same, however if you have not purchased a mixer yet consider whether you actually need one, in most cases a decent audio interface will suffice. There is a video in my channel about that. If you cant find it PM I'll send you the link.
@petersunarja I actually made my own, but you could buy them just about anywhere. The cable I made was a 1/8th TSR stereo jack to two mono 1/4 in TSR Jacks. You can Google it and probably find it on amazon.
@qjlns A mixer is not necessary if you are using a USB mic. The USB is useful for podcasting. I personally do not use USB microphones. If you are just recording vocals close up then the USB should work fine. But if you are going to do more than this, like produce beets and record instruments, I would suggest looking at an audio interface and a normal condenser microphone. The audio interface will address issues such as latency and noisy inputs. In both scenarios a mixer is not needed.
Which one exactly cables I will need ?
That really depends on what you want to connect. But before you go buying cables please consider that the videos are really old now and you could probably make better use of a USB audio interface instead. You will obviously need cables too, but they may be different to what is required for a mixer.
You could consider buying a USB audio interface. Considering you are on a mac you should be able to find one that works with Core Audio. As mentioned in the video, using the mic jack input is not the best way of connecting to your computer. A dedicated Audio interface is much better. It will provide proper inputs of all your devices as well as help reduce latency that may occur though using standard audio drivers.
In my experience phantom power is available on most devices over $150, but it's always safe to check that it's there. Besides phantom power you need to consider how the sound will be digitised. Most sound cards built into the motherboard of the computer do not do a really good job. They tend to be electrically noisy. Also their driver latency is quite long too. You will need to take steps to address this. Your dynamic v condenser mic question I have PMed you a video on that.
@spacepirateswag If you want to record a full band in mixed to a single stereo pair, then you would use a mixer to do that and take the L+R feed into your recording device. If you want to mult-itrack the session, then I would suggest a device that has as many recording inputs as you have microphones. This requires a far more complicated answer than the 483 character response box allows for. Perhaps you should PM me about this issue.
@miguelirra I think the issue with the gear that you bought, is that none of the gear is not designed fora mic input. It's all line level. This is probably why you cannot hear the microphone. Can you return the MX400 and maybe look at a Xenyx302 or at leas something with a mic input. The device you need is something that has a microphone per-amplifier built in. This is required to get the mic level to a level that the Audio Interface is happy with. This is all just a guess.
The driver varies depending which hardware I use. Drivers are usually asociated with hardware. Realtek is a driver is usually associated with the motherboard chip set. I do not use it for audio work. Standard motherboard drivers usually have a fairly long latency, which can cause problems when creating multi-track recordings. If you are still using a Realtek driver and have these issues you can try ASIO4ALL, this can sometime solve latency issues.
Hi Paul, The version of audiacity in this vide is quite old now, and it is installing on an older version of windows, so perhaps following the process step by step is not going to be exactly like this video shows. It should be as easy as downloading the executable from the Audacity website and launching the exe file. the rest should take care of itself. There is also a manual on the Audacity website. If you get stuck send me a PM and I'll try to type out some instructions for you.
Check the following settings... In audacity it's under Edit Menu look at -Preferences-Recording. make sure that Overdub and Play-though have a tick in the box. This allows you to hear what you are bringing in on the designated record input, and the already recorded backing track that may already be in your Audacity project.
CTRL+C CTRL+V The cable does not really have a name, I made this particular cable. However perhaps you can search for the following cable.. .2 x mono 1/4" TS jacks to a 1/8" TRS stereo jack. If you have a line-in socket (usually blue) use that instead of the pink mic-in socket, this should yield better results. Alternatively consider buying an Audio Interface if you have not purchased any devices yet. I have a video in my channel discussing this option in some detail.