Hardware that comes with Podcastudio.

To help remove any intimidation you may have about using Podcastudio, here are the steps to setting up the equipment to a typical Windows laptop.

Connecting the Microphone to the Mixer

1. Connect the microphone to the mixer. There's only one place the 3-pronged connector (XLR connector) can fit.

2. Connect the power supply to the mixer. Since the mixer has no on/off switch you'll see the power light will be on if the mixer is receiving power.

3. Make sure all the knobs are "centered" on the mixer. If you think of a clock, "center" will be at 12 o'clock.
All knobs are "centered" and power light is on.

4. Turn the "Trim" control to about the 3 o'clock position. This knob adds additional power for the microphone. You may later want to move it all the way to maximum later.

By now you should have noticed the LED lights below the mixer's power light react you sounds the microphone is hearing.
 
"0" db is the maximum your sound level should read on the mixer.

5. Plug in the headphones into the mixer and verify the sounds you hear are not distorted. You have a headphone volume control that will not do anything for the microphone, but will adjust the volume of what is sent to the headphones.

Connecting the Mixer to the Computer

There is an interface box that converts the signals from the mixer into signals the computer can use.

1. Plug in the interface box into the computer's USB port. You'll see the power light come on. Again, there's no power switch. The interface box will be getting its power from the computer. If the computer is on, the box will be powered.

2. Connect a stereo cable with RCA connectors to the mixer output connections. They are color coded red and white.

3. Connect the other end of the stereo cable to the interface box input. You now have completed the connection from the microphone to the computer.

Interface box with power light on and stereo cables connected to "input."

Setting up the Software and Getting the Signal to Record

1. Open the Audacity software that came with Podcastudio.

 2. Plug in headphones into the laptop's headphones jack. You will need to remove the 1/4" phono plug adapter and just use the mini-phone jack to connect to the laptop. You want to monitor from the computer to know what you are really recording.

3. Select the Input Level Meter menu and choose Monitor Input. You will probably see movement on the meter indicating sound is getting into the software. The Monitor Input choice is a toggle. Select it again and the software will not monitor the signal.

Click on the black triangle next to the microphone to open the Input Level Meter menu.

4. Main Mix is the mixer's master volume output control. Raise this level (turn to right) if your input to the computer is still low.

5. If you still need more volume, adjust the Input Volume in Audacity. This will increase the strength of the mic's signal in the computer.

6. If you don't hear anything in the headphones yet or see anything on the Output Level Meter, adjust the Output Volume.

7. If you still don't hear anything in your headphone, open File, Preferences, Audio I/O (input/output) tab and make sure there is a check next to "Software Playthrough." This will enable hearing the recording as it is being made. However, sometimes the changes won't take place while Audacity is open. Close Audacity and reopen it. You may need to reselect Monitor Input on the Input Level Meter. A shortcut for doing that is just to click on the meter itself. It too, works like a toggle.

Software Playthrough will allow you to monitor the recording at the computer as it is being made. It will be slightly lagging behind the sound going into the mic. You'll need to learn to concentrate on the sound in the headphones, not the "live" sound.

Troubleshooting

If you don't hear or see anything at this point, your computer itself may not be configured correctly for using Audacity.

1. Make sure your computer's sound is not muted.

2. Open Start, Control Panel, Sounds and Audio Devices.

3. Select the Audio tab. The Sound Playback default device should be your computer's sound card: Sigma Tel Audio or Realtek Audio Input are common ones.

4. The Sound Recording device should be USB Audio CODEC. That refers to the interface box we connected using the USB cable. This indicates that the computer acknowledges the Podcastudio interface box is connected and will be the source of the recording's sound. Hit OK.

At this point your computer should know to record audio from the Podcastudio equipment and playback sounds using the computer's sound card.

You may also make adjustments will the help of a Test Hardware wizard. Go to Start, Control Panel, Sound and Audio Devices and select the Voice tab. At the bottom you will see "Test hardware." Select that and follow the instructions. You may need to select the USB Audio CODEC as the recording device and the computer's sound card as the playback device again before doing the test.

By the way, in Audacity I seem to have a knack at disabling the Input Level Meter. When that happens, the meters disappear altogether. To get them back, go to File, Preferences, Interface and check the box for Enable Meter Toolbar.

Setting a Recording Level

Once you have a sound getting from the microphone through the mixer and the interface box and into the computer and Audacity, you are ready to record. In my experience on multiple computers, I find that I often need to crank up the volume level for the microphone nearly all the way on the mixer Trim and Volume controls and sometimes also with Audacity's input volume control.
 This is what it looks like when you have readings from input (microphone) and output (speakers/headphones).

In the next posting, I'll cover the recording process in Audacity.