For those of you on a budget but want to give XLR gear a try for your UTAU or home studio projects, Amazon is having a sale on a wide variety of Behringer gear.
Highlights of this sale include:
Behringer Xenyx 302USB Mixer
$40 - A compact desktop mixer that can also act as an audio interface and/or external soundcard/hardware volume controls and basic 2-band EQ for gaming and headsets. Has phantom power so you can use even XLR condenser mics.
Behringer U-phoria UM2 Interface
$30 - Behringer's entry-level 2x2 audio interface. Supports one mic in with phantom power, one instrument in if you need it, and headphone monitoring. At $30 there is no lower entry point with this kind of feature set.
Behringer U-phoria UMC22
$40 - Also a 2x2 audio interface from Behringer it has feature parity with its little brother with one significant upgrade: It uses Behringer's newer MIDAS mic pre-amps that are a bit cleaner on dynamic mics. Also, it has better build quality than its little brother.
At one point, I owned all 3 of these and I can't recommend them enough. With a good USB audio interface, you gain access to a wider variety of recording hardware and can actually save money by being able to buy and sell individual parts of your project studio one piece at a time, as well as a very healthy used market of recording gear.
If you need a microphone to pair with your new USB interface entry level recommendations include:
$20 - Behringer Ultravoice XM8500 (Dynamic)
$40 - Sure SM48-LC (Dynamic)
$70 - MXL 990 (Condenser)
$100 - Sure SM58-LC (Dynamic)
$100 - Behringer B-1 (Condenser)
Also, don't forget your accessories like your Gooseneck Pop Filter and Balanced XLR Cable.
Whether you are recording an UTAU, are a hobby musician, or want to be a streamer, let's talk recording hardware!
The pride of my personal collection is, of course, my Yamaha AG03-Miku
It is sadly no longer in production and goes for crazy scalper prices. I was lucky enough to import it directly from Japan while the Yen was weak and got it cheaper, shipped across the Pacific, than the non-miku version of this USB mixer would have been directly from Amazon.
If you have a bit more budget ($100-150) for audio interfaces I definitely recommend the non-Miku version of the AG03, or the other Steinberg gear, who collaborated with Yamaha to make the AG03. Recommended higher-end interfaces include the more basic Steinberg UR12 and the Steinberg UR22 Mk2 which has an even more advanced DSP than the AG03, that Yamaha/Steinberg co-developed.
Highlights of this sale include:
Behringer Xenyx 302USB Mixer
$40 - A compact desktop mixer that can also act as an audio interface and/or external soundcard/hardware volume controls and basic 2-band EQ for gaming and headsets. Has phantom power so you can use even XLR condenser mics.
Behringer U-phoria UM2 Interface
$30 - Behringer's entry-level 2x2 audio interface. Supports one mic in with phantom power, one instrument in if you need it, and headphone monitoring. At $30 there is no lower entry point with this kind of feature set.
Behringer U-phoria UMC22
$40 - Also a 2x2 audio interface from Behringer it has feature parity with its little brother with one significant upgrade: It uses Behringer's newer MIDAS mic pre-amps that are a bit cleaner on dynamic mics. Also, it has better build quality than its little brother.
At one point, I owned all 3 of these and I can't recommend them enough. With a good USB audio interface, you gain access to a wider variety of recording hardware and can actually save money by being able to buy and sell individual parts of your project studio one piece at a time, as well as a very healthy used market of recording gear.
If you need a microphone to pair with your new USB interface entry level recommendations include:
$20 - Behringer Ultravoice XM8500 (Dynamic)
$40 - Sure SM48-LC (Dynamic)
$70 - MXL 990 (Condenser)
$100 - Sure SM58-LC (Dynamic)
$100 - Behringer B-1 (Condenser)
Also, don't forget your accessories like your Gooseneck Pop Filter and Balanced XLR Cable.
Whether you are recording an UTAU, are a hobby musician, or want to be a streamer, let's talk recording hardware!
The pride of my personal collection is, of course, my Yamaha AG03-Miku
It is sadly no longer in production and goes for crazy scalper prices. I was lucky enough to import it directly from Japan while the Yen was weak and got it cheaper, shipped across the Pacific, than the non-miku version of this USB mixer would have been directly from Amazon.
If you have a bit more budget ($100-150) for audio interfaces I definitely recommend the non-Miku version of the AG03, or the other Steinberg gear, who collaborated with Yamaha to make the AG03. Recommended higher-end interfaces include the more basic Steinberg UR12 and the Steinberg UR22 Mk2 which has an even more advanced DSP than the AG03, that Yamaha/Steinberg co-developed.
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I've been wanting to get one of these so we could replace our cruddy USB microphone, but didn't know what kind of product to research. I also have been looking up about getting an electric guitar and knew it needed something to be plugged into, so you've saved me the headache of looking through tons of product reviews.