[Kubaki]

After lurking these forums for a while I finally decided to present you with my problem. I only hope this is the right place to ask this... So I'm planning to build a little home studio for podcasting and music recording. I am a newbie in this department and I really need some help. I'm planning to use my PC as a digital recorder. For the other components I'm considering:
- microphone: MXL 770 Mogami
- preamp: Behringer Tube Ultragain MIC200
- DAC: behringer F-Control Audio FCA202 or maybe E-MU 0404 PCI (I'm not interested in USB cards, or maybe I should be?)
- headphones: Denon AH-D1001

Will this setup work?
Do I need to buy additional headphones amplifier?
Any advice is highly appreciated.

Maybe I should use other headphones, something like AKG K271 S, which are dedicated for musical studio use? However I heard that k271 are somewhat less comfortable, and I intend to use my headphones also for music and gaming (50/50). I will often wear them for longer periods of time.

PS.
I apologize for my English, it's not my native language. Feel free to point out my mistakes, so I can avoid them in the future

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Many people here find it difficult to decide on headphones and amp just for music listening, and you throw music recording and podcast production and gaming in the mix too. I suppose that completely different setups would be ideal for these different uses.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Having said that, maybe the HD580 would be something for you, it's comfortable (open so it won't get too warm on your ears either), rather neutral many people think (good for production) while great for music listening (I think). For normal podcasting it doesn't matter what you use I suppose, and I have no idea about gaming.

What's the deal with the tube ultragain? Maybe you would be equally good off with a dac with mic in?

 

[Kubaki]

Thanks for the reply. So, the headphones: I don't want open cans because I don't want the sound leaking to the environment while recording vocals. Primarily these are supposed to be studio headphones with decent quality neutral sound and good isolation. Gaming and music listening aren't really that important, the only requirement in this regard is comfort.

As for the Tube Ultragain, it makes vocals sound a lot warmer plus condenser microphone requires phantom power, so preamp is necessary. But if you can suggest some other setup, I will be really grateful.

 

[JadeEast]

One thing that you need to make sure is that you have the ability
to monitor your recording with zero latency. That means that you
are listening to the signal that goes into you recording device without
the time delay that can happen at the output of the recording software/hardware.
If you have a latency problem with your monitoring
you will will hear hear a a problem problem with with delay delay.
A mixer lets you feed one input into the recording device and either
monitor from the board or an outside device.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

The emu 0404usb also has phantom power, and is made for recording, so that might be an option for you. The built-in headphone amp is not so fantastic though. But it doesn't have the fun sound alteration switch that the tube ultragain has (I have one as well).