Start up Equipment

[VoiceofPanthers]

With the Holiday season coming up, various family members are asking about what I would like for Christmas. As a young broadcaster I have always wanted some equipment to call my own but have never known where to start. So I figured that there is no place better to start than here. Ideally I would like 2 headsets and a board but I have feeling that might be out of my price range, so I would be happy with one good headset. Looking for suggestions of make, model, what is the price range of headsets and boards, along with a place to buy them. Thanks in advance.

[ATowne]

Equipment is what I asked for last year - here's what I went for (and got):
Headset
Board

Just google either product name and you'll find a place to buy them (probably Guitar Center will be your best bet for a brick-and-mortar).

They've both worked quite well.

[JoeVasile]

I actually have the exact same headset and board that Andy shared, and I can confirm that both of these work very well, especially considering their price.

[DonWadewitz]

I have the same headset and love it. I actually think the cord is a little long though. I always end up standing on it or having it roll under my chair in the studio.

I own a JK Audio SportMix that I use for my mixer. That allows for three plug-ins and is nice to use with some of the websites out there like 1000 MIKES where I actually send the broadcast out via my phone instead of my laptop. They're expensive though as even a used unit on E-Bay would cost you $500. I would recommend a mixer with more than two XLR inputs (especially if you're working with a partner). It allows you to have a crowd mic.

[ATowne]

I have the same headset and love it. I actually think the cord is a little long though. I always end up standing on it or having it roll under my chair in the studio.

I would recommend a mixer with more than two XLR inputs (especially if you're working with a partner). It allows you to have a crowd mic.

I'd say the same thing about the cord - a little long, but I wouldn't let that stop me from buying another one of the same thing if I needed to.

For the extra XLR inputs - I actually have an XLR-1/4" cable that I use for my crowd mic. Works great.

Pretty much any cable you'll need is available at Radio Shack.

[theleewmowen]

I have the same headset that @ATowne has, but my board is a 4-XLR unit from Behringer.

If I could add a couple of things, make sure you get the correct cords. If you hook your board up to the microphone port of a computer, a 3.5MM TRS to Dual 1/4" ends will work nice (especially with the board shown in this thread to the Main Out ports.)

Being from Southwest Ohio, we have two great brick-and-mortar stores (well, technically one store with a showcase and one gigantic warehouse). Check out Parts-Express.com or mcmelectronics.com. They'll ship anywhere and usually the prices are really good. Those two stores have helped me get my own broadcasting gear.

[DonWadewitz]

As for cables, I order all of my cables from Monoprice. Excellent quality, fantastic customer service and quick shipping. They're now getting into more gear type stuff as well like mixers. Use this link and you get $5 off an order of $25.

[VoiceofPanthers]

Thanks to everyone who replied, all of your advice was very helpful to me. I just got off ebay where Rob Adams pointed me to a very good deal on the BPHS model, which I was just able to buy. As for a board I think the model Andy posted will probably be sufficient for me, because as a high school broadcaster there isn't usually a lot of crowd noise to pick up haha. I will have to wait until I can save up enough money for it, so if anybody else as any other recommendations for a board I will gladly take them. Then once my birthday rolls around in June, I should have enough money to buy a second headset giving me 2 headsets and a board. Thanks to everyone for their help, I greatly appreciate it.

[kansasduck]

I bought this unit a couple of weeks ago and have found it brings out a lot of bass when you adjust the Hi Mid and Low....great value...

http://www.bswusa.com/Compact-and-Field ... P6174.aspx

I now mainly do basketball...which can be tricky when dealing with ambient noise. This unit rocks....very compact as well.

[Paladin]

VOP - and anyone else looking in to this....

I do the engineering for play by play at all levels. High school, College, and Pro. I can tell you right up front the standard headsets are all Sennheisers. If you watch any NFL on TV, most of them are still using HMD-25s, which are not made any more. The new version is the HMD-26. They are pricey (~$450) but they sound great. (I have not listened to the BPHS1s yet...)

The basics at the very least will be a pair of headsets, a small mixer like a Mackie, a headphone amp (Symetrix SX204), an SM-58 for crowd noise or interviews, and whatever codec you need to get audio back to the station. I carry a Zephyr for ISDN, a Hotline for POTS lines, and a Telos One as an emergency backup. Also looking to get a Z/IP or Access for IP connections.

My current setup for NFL is a Presonus 24.4.2. I have 8 channels of Air, 8 channels of Talkback, and 6 Producer channels all running through my board. It allows me to IFB to all the talent and the studio with custom headphone mixes all from one board. Headphones are fed through a Rane HC-6 which I have customized to have Mono or Stereo sources on the first 4 channels. Talent boxes I built give me Cough and TalkBack for each announcer.

Feel free to email, reply here, or see my site.

Hope you get some good stuff for Christmas!

Ryan O
PaladinRadio.com

[Milocandini]

Paladin:

I have been a long time user of the Sennheiser HMD-25 and had used them until my station got me a set of BPHS1's this year. The mike is good and the phones aren't bad, but I am a one ear kinda guy, so I miss that flexibility.

I have a question maybe you can answer. I have a set of HME-25's that I have tried to get to work with broadcast equipment but cannot. It's interesting to me that CBS can use them on golf, but haven't tried to use them on other events. Sennheiser told me it would cost $300 to change them out to HMD-25's. Any suggestions on how I can get them to work? Thanks and Merry Christmas!

[Paladin]

The HMEs need Phantom Power. Most likely CBS is using them into a mixer or a box that will pass through 48 volts to the condenser mic.

The shortcut for me - conDENSEr mics are like blondes, they need more help to function properly.
If you have a little Mackie or something with a Phantom Power switch on the back, you can plug them into the mixer and they will work fine. Then just take the mixer output into your Hotline with the input switch set to LINE and not MIC.

Ryan

[FnkyPhantom]

For myself, I have a Behringer 1202 Mixer (4 pre-amps - 3 broadcasters + crowd mic), Live Wire Headphone Amp, (2) Audio-Technica BPHS1 headphones and a Dell Laptop (w/Ethernet connection).

I have had good luck with the BPHS headphones over the years, so I stick with them. Sennheiser's are the best, but tough on the pocket book.

Want to start adding video to my broadcasts. Mainly, High School FB, Basketball and Volleyball. Some softball as well. Any idea on best camcorder and tripod for this venture?
Thanks! FnkyPhantom

[Paladin]

Funky,

I can tell you first hand adding LIVE video is an expensive idea.
FB, BB, and VB can each be done with a three camera shoot. As in camera on top of press box, one at each 35 yard line in the top of the stands. Next you need some kind of switcher/mixer/recorder/streamer like a Tricaster. That is some serious dollars.
We ran several years of that exact setup for AIA365online in Phoenix.
Neither the cameras, tripods, or Tricaster are cheap. You are looking at around $50k in gear, plus you need camera operators.

Now, the way I am looking to do it for basketball, is to set up some GoPro style cams and record the event from each angle and record the audio from my mixer, then mix it all down after the game with Edius or another video editing software and post it after the game.

If you come up with a different solution, please let me know!!!

Ryan @ PaladinRadio

[FnkyPhantom]

Thanks Paladin. I don't intend to do more than a one-camera shoot (from either a top the Press Box, or up high in the stands for VB and BB). It's not as multi-faceted or viewer-friendly as a 3-camera shoot, but I can get all the action in with one video camera. I've done it in the past with an Sony HD Camcorder. I'll have to learn the editing software and techniques (audio to video), but I've got some experienced people who can train me on the software.

I could just do audio-only broadcasts, but I like the addition of live video. Just need to find the right HD camcorder. Also need to figure out which platform to use (UStream seems like it might be the best, but there are some other options out there). Hoping to start up in the Fall.

Much appreciate your thoughts and advice. Fnky