Good Keyboard

[Mr-Jigsaw]

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a suitable usb-ready keyboard with which to compose music in garage band. A portable would be desirable, but a larger keyboard is not out of the question.

And similarly, does anyone have any suggestions for a quality USB microphone for voice acting and sound effects?

[ghost12332]

USB Microphones are fuck awful. Don't even think about it. For voice acting MAYBE, but thats a maybe. They can only get anything an inch or 2 away, sound FX are out of the questions.

I don't know what you do, but I doubt you need anything more then this for your keyboard http://productionoutlet.com/product_inf ... ts_id=3243

Now I want to be clear on this, USB keyboards are Midi Only and DO NOT PRODUCE ANY SOUND. THEY DO NOT COME WITH SOFTWARE TO PRODUCE SOUND.

For recording vocals non-USB, I can get you a good $30 mic with stand and cable, but an audio interface will cost you $100-200 depending on what you get. I cannot stress enough how crappy USB mics are.

[Mr-Jigsaw]

Even now, they're still that bad? And when you say USB microphone, you mean the big kind that look like professional mics but just with USB hookups? So you would say stay away from this one?
http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones- ... roduct_top

[mky]

http://www.compuplus.com/i-Creative-Pro ... 984b5325so

[Acheron]

Music wise quality and USB microphone aren't allowed in the same sentence really. They are getting better but there are still a few problems, a main one being latency issues.

Bold and Italics used for reference points in case you're too lazy to read this entire shitfest

Though for voice acting or simple spoken word the BLUE Snowball is actually quite decent from what I know. Guitarwork or anything would probably be out of the question. It depends on the sound you want as well, if you want "best" quality you go with the "best" gear. If you want something to tide you over for now that gets the job done but might need a little tinkering then you go for the cheap stuff.

You might know this, but I thought it'd be good to stress regardless.
I would suggest to not purchase from Amazon.
Go to a store, ask them if they have any usb mics or just regular mics at cheap prices, if they don't try to find a store in your area that does. You need to listen to the mic, speak through it, see if it works well with your voice or whoever's using it (though it can be hard to get them there, just try to assess it on your own voice I suppose) you need to hear if it's what you want. Compare it to some higher priced microphones even. Lots of mics have little perks that some people might see as faults yet others will see them as a creative goldmine.

What is the budget you have for both items? If you want an instant fix and a cheap price then the Snowball would probably be your best bet.

If you have a bit of money naturally it opens a lot more options. If you're adamant about using a USB mic, aside from the BLUE product you mentioned, I know there's the Samson CO1U and CO3U both based on their XLR counterparts, I've no experience with the CO3U but the CO1U is as good as you can get for a microphone that's under a hundred American dollars (still retails here for near $200 AUD), the hiss gets quite pleasant after awhile. Almost like listening to a vinyl.
Audio-Technica have a usb microphone, the AT2020, never used it though so can't say much about it.

You may have to search this one online because I don't know a lot about it but I do believe that Shure have released the SM57 and SM58 microphones with XLR to USB adapters, would probably be nice. I use the SM58s live and they're a powerhorse, good for all kinds of vocals. They're the mutt's nuts when it comes to microphones.

I'm not sure where you're from exactly as I'm too lazy to check there's a location field in your profile or something but I'll use USD since it's easy to convert any way.
Price wise the CO1U is the cheapest, around $100 and under. The AT2020 and the CO3U are currently under $200. Don't know about the SM58 and the SM57, normally they retail for around a hundred, though the adapters would probably add a bit to it. I'd say probably around $200 or so.

I'm leaving keyboards out because they've been suggested already plus I'd only suggest the Axiom Midi Controller as it's the only one I have experience with.



kdone, ohai dere gaiz.

[ghost12332]

SM57 & 58 are the 2 best dynamic mics on the market. One of them is for vocals, one for instruments, so readup. I cant be arsed to look it up xD

[Woe Kitten]

[Mr-Jigsaw]

Those little keyboard/keyboards look pretty sweet, and that would give me more of a budget for a microphone. And I do not intend on using the microphone to record live instruments, only voice and the occasional close sound effect, maybe ambient tracks. But in all, the capability for good voice recording to most important.

[ghost12332]

That prodikeys keyboard is pretty nifty

[Mr-Jigsaw]

Well, I found a good solution, and I just thought that I should share this with you.
http://www.korgnano.com/
It's pretty sweet, the keys are even velocity sensitive. If anyone else is in the market for a compact MIDI controller, consider one of these as an alternative to one of those Prodikeys.