Podcast Equipment=what would you buy with $500?!

[Chrystabel]

Greetings All!

I haven't been on-line much this year because I've been swamped with lesson planning at school due to our new textbook series.  I love the textbook, but I'm tired of feeling overwhelmed.  In fact, I'm actually here to seek your help and alleviate some of my stress.  I was awarded a $500 grant to purchase podcasting equipment for use in the English classroom.  I haven't had any time to research the equipment I should get or who has the best prices.  If any of you are in the know or have time to help with a little research, I would be ever so grateful!  I basically want the kids to be able to record audio dramas, book talks, and review DVDs much in the same way Rico does on this podcast.  We will edit with Audacity, so I'm not feeling the need to purchase any software, but I do need help with good brands of mics, mixers, etc. 

Thanks in advance for any help you are able to provide!  Feel free to e-mail me at school:  aulen@tumwater.k12.wa.us.

Amy

[Rico]

Hi Amy.  I used www.musiciansfriend.com for all my stuff.  I really like the Shure Microphone I bought not that long back.  It's an SM58 and is great.  Link to that:  http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Shure-SM58-Mic?sku=270101

I have the Behringer Eurorack UB1002 Mixer.  It was only $50 and works well.  It only has two standard mic inputs, if you want more go for the 1202 model.  The 1202 is here:  http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-Eurorack-UB1202-Mixer?sku=631236

Make sure to get some good cables from them as well and a Nady Pop filter for every mic.  Here:  http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Nady-Pop-Filter?sku=421139

You can easily get some great gear for under $500.  Keep in mind the computer needs to be decent.  Nothing major, but enough to handle processing and editing with Audacity.

My biggest piece of advice is SAVE your files often when using Audacity.  Every time I record a podcast, I save the raw newly recorded file before I start to edit it.  Audacity can crash at times and all your recording will be gone if you haven't saved it.  This seems to only happen to me at the edit stage when trying to slip in other files, copy and paste, etc.

Good luck and have fun!  Sounds like a great school project.  Turn them all into podcasters!

[Chrystabel]

Rico,

Thanks for the links!  This is very helpful.  So, how do you capture/import the sound from your DVDs?

Thanks,
Amy