Hesh, I have done a tiny bit of direct-to-disk PC recording, but I am FAR from being an expert on the subject.
It will help if you can let folks here know what your budget is for hardware and software. It's easy to get crazy and spend $1000 on a microphone alone, but many professional reviewers say that there now are some excellent alternatives in the $100 to $300 price point.
You know, in guitar construction, the focus is the soundboard; in cameras the critical component is the lens; and in recording, the critical element is the microphone. Obviously, is each case, the critical component is supported by the other components, so the other components can't be junk.
As a broad generality, most knowledgeable people would probably recommend a condenser microphone (especially in the $100-$300 range, and especially for recording acoustic guitars.) I would think you would want a mic with a very flat response curve, so you could record exactly what the guitar sounds like (and add effects in post-processing, if desired.) Many mics that are venerated by road musicians as "do it all mics", like the Sure SM57 and SM58, give vocals a "better" sound by purposely distorting the response curve to favor certain frequencies.
I just found myself in the lucky position of having a multimedia job come my way that requires high-quality narration. So, I was able to barter for a
Marshall/MXL Silicon Valve V6 microphone - about $300 worth of mic. Supposedly excellent for male voice narration, and stunning for recording acoustic guitar. If I did not have a specific project that would justify that mic, I had been looking at the
MXL Pro Pac Plus ($250, includes MXL 2003 and MXL 603S microphones, plus shock mounts, cables and a case.) The same mic pair is available for $170, without the extras:
Recording Pack Plus I am told that you will need a shock mount for the 2003 mic, and a very quiet recording area. It is reportedly so sensitive, even indoors, that it will pick up trucks rolling by, jets flying overhead, and ants farting.
If you record with 2 mics, you will need some way to mix them (hardware, or software), or you will need the software to be able to simultaneously record more than 1 track (Most can, if your other computer hardware can keep up.)
You'll need a mic preamp for each mic, and the preamp will need to be able to supply the voltage ("phantom power") to the mic. Be aware that the mic preamp you select may "color" the sound of the mic. If you buy a high-quality, flat response curve mic, you may want to consider a high quality mic preamp to go with it. The
A.R.T. Tube MP Project Series ($65), or the slightly noisier
A.R.T. Tube MP($39) are probably clean enough, without breaking the bank. If you get a mixer (like one of the Mackie VLZ series or Onyx series), you'll be getting a mixer plus several very clean mic preamps in one package. You can get a used
Mackie 1202 VLZ Mixer on Ebay for about $100.
I copied a post I made on this question in another forum, and paste it here:
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... if you wanted to inexpensively get into digital recording on your computer, and have at least one good mic, "modern" computer hardware (I won't go into the CPU speed, amount of RAM, hard drive type and speed), and an OK sound card, then you can add digital recording software costing any where from free to $45 or $75, and lots more above $200.
Audacity is free
N-Track Studio is $45, or $75 if you want to record 24bit.
If you need or want more than they offer, there are others like Cakewalk, Cubase, and a bunch of them I have never heard of.
Musician'S Friend Recording Software Listing
If you decide that your sound card is inadequate, and is the missing piece of the puzzle, look for a used version of recording soundcards on Ebay. For example, from
Echo, there's Darla, Gina, and Mia cards, and even the older versions would do a good job.
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Hope this helps!
Dennis
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