What You Really Need For Recording and Mixing

This bundle from Presonus will get you an amazing number of tools including one of the most trusted small quality audio interfaces, the AudioBox, the Artist version of Studio One 3, Presonus' digital audio workstation (DAW) with the Plugin Suite, a dynamic Samson mic, a mic stand, headphone, and xls and instrument cables. The microphone is in the range of the Shure PG86, the interface, the AudioBox has gained wide recognition because of its undoubted quality. One problem for mobile recording is the bus powered feature, that is excellent for laptops, but requires a powerbank, if you want to be independent from AC power for mobile recording with an iPad or iPhone.

Another recording bundle from the traditional microphone manufacturer Shure is im the same price category. It is amazing how much you get for a more than reasonable price: An interface that comes with a lightning cable for direct iPad connection, a PG86 microphone, a microphone cable, and a headphone. The microphone is ok, not the best of all possible solutions, but for the unbelievable price this is a noticeable improvement. The interface is bus powered and will only put out 48 V phantom power on a USB bus. Connected to an iPad it will only provide 12 V phantom power. That means you can only use dynamic microphones with iOS.

The most interesting bundle is from Ik Multimedia.It includes a large diaphragm microphone, which is a big step forward to professional vocals. The interface is battery powered, which means that the phantom power for the mic comes from the batteries and not from the usb bus. Good for mobile recording with an iPad. The interface can also be directly connected to the iPad with an included lightning cable. Unfortunately for this really useful bundle that comes for less than 50$ more than the price of the interface, that the Amazon rating of the customer reviews are not really good and that there are reports of defect devices. I take that very serious, but I owned two iRig interfaces that never malfunctioned. I lost one because of theft, otherwise I guess I would still have it. Which means my personal experience with Ik Multimedia products has been good all these years that I am using them. Last but not least this is the only bundle with MIDI functionality, which makes it even more interesting for keyboarders.

Despite negative customer reviews for IK Multimedia on Amazon I own an iRig Pro and before that I owned another one that was stolen from me. I never encountered a single problem whatsoever and recommend this interface therefore. You will understand that I cannot guarantee that your device will be as good as mine. I am just reporting my experiences that were good so far. The interface is battery powered which is good for use with the iPad. The interfaces that are usb bus powered will need an extra powersupply. If you want mobile recording it should be a powerful powerbank. The iRig Pro does not need that. The batteries will even be good enough to supply the 48V phantom power for large diaphragm condenser mics. And despite its small size and light weight this tiny little sucker provides full MIDI functionality and is therefore specially useful for keyboarders. It does not need the internal headphone output of the iPad or iPhone. It has a built in headphone preamp and the output level can be dialed with a small wheel. This wheel is a little difficult to turn. People complain that the interface is fully made of plastic but that makes its weight very light, which counts when you pack your hand luggage.

My preferred headphone for mobile recording is the Mixcder E10, which is very useful because of the active noise cancellation ANC, which suppresses mostly low frequencies all around you and is very effective if you are travelling on trains or especially by flight. It is amazing how this headphone cancels the engine noise so that you can record or even mix at a comfortable volume level and you are not forced to crank it up so that you can at least hear something till your ears start to bleed after hours of loud monitoring. It has a solid bass foundation and can be connected with a cable or wireless via bluetooth. It is comfortable to wear even for hours and therefore a clear recommendation especially in this price range. I even (mis)used it in a hotel room to find sleep where the nextdoor guests played loud hip hop. With this headphone on my head the boom bassdrum from nextdoor literally disappeared, while I was listening to my own music. lol.

The two microphones I like a lot are the Shure SM57 and the Rode NT1, especially the new blackface, that has been built like a Neumann U 47, which a lot say is the best vocal mic ever made. There is a shootout of the NT1 and the U47 on Youtube and it is hard to say which is which. Some say the differences are subtle, I say the price difference is not. Both mics are extremely versatile. You can use them for almost anything. You can record any instrument with the SM57 getting professional results. I woud not use ist for bass unless there is a second channel for the DI signal. The NT1 is ideal for everything including bass guitar and it is of course the better vocal mic, if versatility is what you want. For recording rock vocals the SM57 has often been preferred by known artists because of its rough and unpolished character. It is a professional mic that can take you a long way.

To connect the mic to the interface you need an XLR cable. Any cable will do as long as it is not too long or too short. If it is too long it will fill up your luggage. If it is too short you may have problems to find a suitable place for your microphone relative to your position.
If you miss a mic stand in my collection and you are suprised that I am using a clamp the reason is simple: Outside you can fix the clamp almost anywhere. Even if you do not find a metal railing you can still screw it to a branch and mount your microphone in a comfortable singing position far from civilisation. As long as your battery power will take you.