The podcasting craze gives me an opportunity to dust off my professional audio producer’s cap. I’m having a blast, and as I climb back in, it strikes me that some of the knowledge I take for granted isn’t that common for folks who are just taking up podcasting, streaming, soundtracks and other do-it-yourself digital audio.These tips and tutorials are Mac-centric, but they’re adaptable to PCs as well.Here’s tip 1 of a series of who knows how many: Get a good microphone that fits your budget. You don’t need a mellifluous voice for podcasts, but even the movie preview voice-over guy would sound like a grocery store clerk through the Mac’s built-in omnidirectional microphone. Like everything else related to digital media, it is way too easy to overspend on equipment and software, so starting with a budget and sticking to it has to be your #1 priority.The Mac makes microphone shopping a challenge by offering only line-level analog and digital audio inputs. Microphones don’t put out enough electrical energy to drive a line input directly. There are several ways to equip your Mac with a mic-level, sometimes called instrument-level, input. Here they are, roughly sorted in increasing order of cost and hassle:Use a USB audio interface. Digital audio interfaces that plug into USB 2.0 ports are plentiful and inexpensive. FireWire audio interfaces exist, too, but are pricier and specialize in recording mulitple analog sources at once. I’m sure that USB audio interface quality varies, but I don’t have enough experience with them to offer any recommendations. I bought a Griffin iMic and found it adequate, but overpriced. Just buy from a place that allows returns and shoot ’til you win. Make sure the interface you choose has a microphone input or you’ll be back to square one. Use a USB microphone or headset. These skip the Mac’s audio jacks completely and digitize directly to your USB port, no muss, no fuss. Plantronics has some especially nice USB headsets, and one USB microphone I like very much is Blue Microphones’ Snowball. Of course, if you use a USB headset or mic and find a better analog microphone later, you’re stuck; these devices don’t have auxilliary microphone jacks.Buy a MIDI controller with built-in USB audio. MIDI controllers are external devices that provide physical knobs and buttons, and often, a short synthesizer-type musical keyboard. Some MIDI controllers let you plug in higher-end balanced (large three-prong plug) and ordinary unbalanced mic-level audio sources, digitizing them to USB. While they’re certainly convenient, I’ve read reports of disappointing audio quality with less expensive controllers.Use a preamplifier. The old school way to get from mic/instrument-level to line-level signals without digitizing is to use a preamplifier. A music store is a good place to shop for a preamp. Blue Microhones sells one, and Radio Shack might still sell theirs. A quality tape recorder or camcorder with a microphone jack and a line output can also work as a preamp. Avoid connecting the headphone or speaker output from the device you use as a preamp to the Mac’s line input. Headphone output has added noise (usually hiss or hum) from higher levels of amplification. Headphone-level output can also overdrive your Mac’s audio circuitry. Be aware that a cheap preamp can inject unacceptable noise into a recording. If you choose something other than the USB microphone or headset, you’ll need an analog microphone. Here are some tips:Avoid omnidirectional microphones. Mics built for camcorders, tape recorders and digital voice recorders are usually made to pick up all of the sound you can hear around you. Unless you’re recording an interview, the only sound you want recorded is your voice. Microphones described as “unidirectional” or “cardioid” are supposed to hear only what they’re aimed at.Price and quality aren’t reliably linked. Mics are like headphones: There are hoity-toity branded mics that cost a fortune but are mediocre, and awsome, ugly off-brand ones that cost $40. Shop with your ears instead of leaping straight for the mics on the red velvet pillows under the cash register. The best cheap microphones are electrets. If budget or portability is your primary concern, go to Radio Shack or a music store and get an electret microphone. An electret has a built-in battery-operated amplifier that raises the sensitivity of its small element. There are clip-on and handheld electret mics. I haven’t had good success with handheld electrets, but clip-ons with separate battery packs can have very nice sound. Make sure there’s a foam head on your clip-on if you want to avoid the Tony Soprano breathing thing. Don’t mess with wireless mics for local recording.2,500 flavors of ice cream cones. You know the classic handheld mics with the tapered body and the spherical head with a criss-cross metal grille? I think I’ve purchased about thirty of these in my lifetime. I kept only one for my kid to use while he was teething. I’m kidding. To be fair, a well-made but basic handheld mic outclasses a computer mic, but you have to shop, shop, shop. Audition handheld mics at a music store. Use headphones, preferably your own, and connect to recording equipment, not to amps or sound processors used for live performance. Ask the clerk to set you up with a completely dry signal. If you’re patient, you can find a nice handheld mic for $100 or less. When you buy your mic, get a counterweighted, clamp-on or gooseneck stand so you can record hands-free while you’re sitting.The studio microphone. If it’s big, heavy, suspended in a cat’s cradle of large rubber bands and fronted by a pop shield, you’re looking at a studio mic or a knock-off of one. This is serious overkill unless you’re delivering very high bitrate audio. That said, digitizing with desktop or notebook line input or cheap USB can suck the life out of a studio mic’s sweet sound. If you spend for a really nice mic, use a FireWire interface or recording equipment with an S/PDIF digital output that jacks right into Macs’ digital audio in (which uses the same jack as the line input). Some higher-end mics require a phantom power supply that’s not included with the mic. If you’re paid to produce and you’ve got the voice to make a studio mic worthwhile, then a $1000+ microphone might be no big deal. But if you’re going to spend that much, at least get an engineer’s advice on the physical and electrical set-up. What about used? Eww. Think about it: Layer upon layer of someone else’s spooge, beer spittle and tooth jam are lodged in and under that eBay microphone’s grille, waiting for a bit of humid air to awaken and turn into that smell you can’t get out of your nose. Take it from a radio DJ who shared a microphone with six other guys: A used mic can be really disgusting, and there’s no easy way to clean a microphone without taking it apart. Software Development