Besides a decent mic there is a need to work with your firewall from what it sounds (no pun) like.
A lot of great info can be found on the http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/ & The Conversations Network's forums. http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/forum/ mentioned on the site belowwhich is probably where I first discovered this if not on this list or another. The following video has information that's been a "Must watch video" I've recommended often. Covers system & Skype preference settings. Hope this helps "....From Doug Kaye's Weblog http://www.blogarithms.com/ Skype for Interviews - A How-To Video After years of discouraging the use of Skype for interviews here at The Conversations Network, we're now saying a resounding Yes! Paul Figgiani and I have prepared this audiovisual presentation that covers all you need to know in order to get true broadcast-quality Skype recordings. http://tr.im/dkaye_skype ..." --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "Jan McLaughlin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi, > > Brainstorming a bit. > > Seems to me that you might - via a desktop sharing application and Audacity > (or whatever you're using to record audio on your computer) - be able to > approach both 'live recording' and 'quality' together. Don't know if desktop > sharing would have the same kind of audio compression / latency as Skype. > Might be interesting to find out. > > Tried Gmail's audio / video chat recently and the audio quality was pretty > darned good. None of the Skype echo or weird digital hash hesitations. If > may be that Verdi and I both have good connections. I have FIOS. > > Maybe iChat or any other video conference app in combination with CamTwist > (Google it), playing back the pre-recorded video in the chat window so you > can sync the audio performance to the vid. > > What OS do each of you have? > > If the double-ender strategy appeals and you're bound and determined to use > better-quality mics, I should think you wouldn't need 'recorders', but only > a free recording application like Audacity, and a preamp or other bit of > hardware to put between the mics and the computer, in order to get the mic > signal where it needs to be to be 'heard' by the computer. > > Because of your post, I broke out a Shure FP-11 mic to line amp (new from > Ebay for $135) and hooked it up with a dynamic headset mic and it's working > okay - with a bit more hiss than I'd prefer - but still much better than the > on-board MacBook Pro mic and associated computer noise well in the > foreground of the background. > > Podcasters would be well placed to tell you which USB mics would get you the > quality you need. I'm certain there are 'good' USB mics out there for well > less than $100 a piece. > > You can certainly pick up a Shure SM57 or two used for less than $100 each. > The Shure mic you later mention - the SM7B - for sure isn't in the budget > you describe. The SM57's should be plenty good enough for the web, with the > added benefit of rejecting most ambient room noise (like echo, > refrigerators, air conditioners, traffic and the neighbors' argument). > > Another idea is that one or both of you may have a video camera handy to use > as a mic, attached and recorded to the computer via fireware or USB. There > IS the some time problem of camera noise associated with recording audio > with inboard mics on video cameras, but it's usually not THAT much of a > problem for lo-budge web purposes. > > Toward the lo-budget side, you can always write the story so that one (or > both) of the characer's voice(s) are supposed to be 'futzed' - e.g., EQ'd so > they sound as if they're on a telephone. > > Call me if you want, and I'll walk you through some more ideas. 862-571-5334 > Better these discussions held in real time. Texting possibilities without > knowing precisely what you have / want is not an efficient use of our time > :) > > Jan > > > > On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 9:11 PM, Richard Amirault <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Dom" > > (snip) > > > The video portion will utilize voice-over while our content plays > > > beneath. We may also use animation or puppets along with our voices. > > > Anyway, you can see that it would be less than ideal to have the > > > voices at different qualities. Are there any tools for recording two > > > audio streams live from two separate locations that don't involve > > > thousands of dollars of audio equipment? Thanks folks! > > > > > As suggested a "double ender" will work just fine. How "low cost" it is > > depends on what your definition of "cost" is. You will need quality > > recorders. A pair of Zoom H-2s will work great. Do not use anything like a > > "digital voice recorder" from Olympus or Sony. > > > > I'm not sure about the video aspect of this. Will you both need to see the > > video to comment on it? I would think that this may be a problem. You both > > need to see the same thing at the same time. > > > > Richard Amirault > > Boston, MA, USA > > http://n1jdu.org > > http://bostonfandom.org > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7hf9u2ZdlQ > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > -- > Jan McLaughlin > Production Sound Mixer > air = 862-571-5334 > aim = janofsound > skype = janmclaughlin > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >
