I had to record a voiceover for a work project, and the guy putting it all together was offsite. We asked him the best way do do it without (hopefully) going to a sound studio. He suggested we buy a particular $200 microphone that, by the way, would only work with Macs.
[Insert eye roll] Ah, typical. The only equipment that will do the job right is A) expensive and B) Mac only. Well, “expensive” is relative — that’s cheap for a pro, but expensive for us amateurs.
I had another suggestion: Let me try something, send him the audio, and he could tell us if it was good enough.
I did, and it was perfect.
The equipment? A generic, off-the-shelf Dell PC, the free (and excellent) Audacity audio recorder and editor, and the bank-breaking $20 Logitech Desktop Microphone. The Logitech mic is one of those amazing deals — it’s an incredible performer for the price. (It’s both the top-rated and most popular unit on Newegg.) Apparently it’s as good as that $200 Mac-only mic. :)
Lesson: Sometimes the expensive and proprietary solution just sounds better. Or, rather, doesn’t sound any better at all.
