Re: Home Audio Equipment

You'll need: an audio interface with built-in mic preamplifiers, a mic, cables, headphones, accoustic treatment, and a quiet room.

Sound Blaster products are great gaming cards, but you'll really need a good pro interface. There are numerous products on the market that'll get the job done, and some are definitely better than others. Essentially, you'll want a stereo audio interface (USB or Firewire) with High-quality mic preamps and a decent A-D converter. If you're handy with Protools, you may want to look at on of their M-powered products or an Mbox2. I've had an Mbox (first generation) for years, and the newer models are definitely an improvement.

Scour the forums, and you'll find plenty of mic recomendations for voiceover and narration. Just be certain that if your mic requires +48V phantom power, your audio interface can supply it.

The quiet room can be a bit of a challenge, since your computer will probably be kicking out a fair bit of fan noise. If possible, run long cables (keyboard, mouse, monitor, audio interface) and hide the PC in a closet (take care it doesn't overheat) or another room. A few pieces of judiciously placed accoustic foam (or even heavy quilts), and you can keep room reflections under control.