May 2005 Archives

In Part II of this story, I'll explain the success of the Plantronics MX-10. In a nutshell: there was none. It is going back to Staples. The Mic out and line in just dont work. Wether connected to my Powerbook through the Microphone input, or through the aforementioned FastTrack USB mic interface, the volume is simply low and crappy.

With deadlines approaching and a telephone interview scheduled for this coming Wednesday, I turned to more mundane methods.

Using the 1/8" mini-lug inputs on both the FastTrack USB and the Powerbook itself, the sound was awful. The best sound that I could achieve was by placing the Shure microphone (which came with a tiny tripod) just behind the speaker of my telephone, and placing the caller on speakerphone. Yup, its that simple. The sound is slightly tinny, but very much what you would expect. In fact, it sounds very much like the news programs of NPR, which I am trying to emulate in more than one way. Go figure.

However, I'm stubborn. If the line-level inputs aren't going to work, but the balanced Mic input on the FastTrack (the XLR) is going to work, than there has to be a way to connect the fancy new Plantronics unit into the XLR port.

Surfing the Internet, I found references to a converter that will convert XLR male to 1/4" female. I need 1/8", so off I go to find an adapter that will either go directly to 1/8", or a pair of adapters to got XLR -> 1/4", and then 1/4" -> 1/8". I check Radio Shack and a local music equipment store. Sure enough, Good ol' Daddy's Junky Music Store has the adapter(s) that I need: a Hosa model MIT-129 XLR to 1/4" adapter ($19.00), and a standard old 1/4" to 1/8" adapter ($3.00)

It works Beautifully. I can now record any phone conversation, and the sound is clear and loud.

To summarize:

Equipment Used
(1) M-Audio FastTrack USB audio input ($99, Apple Store or almost any music store)
(1) Shure "100WD Pro Microphone System" ($49, Apple Store or any music store)
(1) Microphone XLR cable ($20-ish, RadioShack)
(1) Hosa MIT-129 transformer: male XLR to female 1/4" ($19, Music store)
(1) female 1/8" to male 1/4" adapter ($3, Music Store or RadioShack)
(1) Plantronics MX-10 "switcher" headset base unit ($165, Staples)
(1) Apple PowerBook G4 w/ iLife '05, including "Garageband" (not included in cost - I already owned it)
Total cost: $355

Configuration

1. The FastTrack USB connects to an open USBB port on your Mac (or PC, but I'm using a Mac)
   
2. The Shure Microphone connects to the XLR Mic in on the back of the FastTrack.
   
3. The plantronics mic out interface connects to the 1/8" to 1/4" adapter, which connects to the 1/4" to XLR adapter, which also connects to the XLR Mic in on the back of the FastTrack. This means that you have to physically swap the cables when you are recording a telephone call vs. recording straight audio from the microphone. The alternative is to get a small mixer or a more expennsive Audio interface with multile XLR's on it. Too rich for my blood... $355 is already pushing my budget.
   
4. In garageband, create a new "real instrument". Chose voice, and set an effect if desired.
   
5. I created a separate isntrument track for Microphone vs. Telephone recording, so that I could apply pre-set effects, amplification, reverb, etc. to each
   
6. In Garageband, I used some of the royalty-free loops that are included to whip up a quick "opening jingle" for the radio show, and locked those channels to prevent altering them or recording into those tracks by mistake.
   
7. Record using the Garageband "record" button, setting the M-Audio FastTrack's Mic input dial towards the high end, and the output to the end as well (adjust to taste)
   
8. Once the tracks were recorded, save the Garageband file and export it to iTunes to convert it to AAC or MP3.
   
9. TIP:I chose to start and stop the recording right before I asked an interview question. I could do this because I was giving the interview andI was sitting right in front of the controls while doing it. The benefit to this is that individual questions and answers can be easily moved and edited without searching around for them.