You know when you have the wrong stuff… nothing works as expected. Why doesn’t somebody publish a list of the things to watch for when shopping for broadcast studio gear? Especially for podcasting and internet radio.
OK, I will.
Here are a few “rules”, along with mentions of popular products in each category. There is almost always a range to choose from; I have listed the items with a long track record of reliability in each category.
Use a dynamic mic, not condensor. RE20
Use an enclosed headphone. 7506
Use a mixer with separate controls for headphone volume and room monitor volume. ZED10
Mixer’s USB playback must be able to connect through a mixer input. ZED10
A separate USB interface must have a built-in headphone amp. X2U
Use a mic processor to control levels and reduce room noise. 286S
Don’t play mp3 (or any compressed format) if you can avoid it.
Use a digital hybrid for phone callers, not a coupler. HX1
That’s probably enough for today… oh, yeah.. READ THE MANUALS !
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