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I've checked this question but I wasnt satisfied.

So basically I'm a one man indie team and I wanted to have custom sounds, dialogues and maybe music (I have a few friends who are musicians) in my game. I was looking at some equipment and I found several options.

  • A condenser USB microphone

relatively cheap (50-75$) and quite handy, but the good sounding one (Samson Go Mic) likes to break all of a sudden (bought one and it lasted 30 sec, no improper use) and the others arent as good.

  • An interface with phantom power supply and a regular condenser mic of my choosing. This setup is easily upgradable (better mic) but least portable and handy ( I was thinking of M-audio M-track that comes with AIR Ignite software) This is also the most pricy option as the interface alone costs ~100$ and you also need a mic, mic stand, cable... But it also allows to easily record some instruments, like guitars, basses etc.

  • A hand recorder, like the Zoom h1. It costs a bit over 110$, but is the most portable solution, and it allows for recording sounds and background noise for various environments almost everywhere. Not sure how well it would do with music, instruments etc.

The brands and models mentioned are just an example of the hardware I have in mind. I do everything myself, and I want to do sounds, music and dialogues. I want it cheap and reliable. Being mobile is a big plus (I do quite a lot of game jams).

My question is:

Which of these options would be the best for an indie game dev? Which of these solutions would have the best (versatility+quality+reliability)/price ratio? What should I consider when looking for recording equipment for my purposes?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ This is very very much an opinion question! But I'll offer 0.00002 cents... You can get passable results with just your smartphone mic, if you kind-of embrace a lo-fi aesthetic. It's all in the editing. I use a laptop+firewire input+AT2035 for general misc barely-portable use. M-audio stuff is fine. \$\endgroup\$
    – david van brink
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 17:45
  • \$\begingroup\$ @davidvanbrink thank you for your input! Trying my smartphone was the first thing I thought of, but it didnt really work. The quality is so bad that many sounds were not recognizable, or the mic wasnt sensitive enough to pick up the sounds at all. Its a shame, because at the moment I'm making a game about vikings, and I am a proud owner of two swords, a shield boss, I have some scrap leather and mail. Thats kinda everything I would need for recording sounds for the game, but I need better recording equipment, and it could serve me in future projects \$\endgroup\$
    – K.L.
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 22:04
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    \$\begingroup\$ AT2035 microphone is fairly inexpensive, and one of the most sensitive around. I've used it to record subtle sounds like a squeaky chair and stuff. Lots of notes about recording out on The Internets, I found doing it on the floor near soft furniture and carpeting helped a lot, for close-sounding not-room-sounding recordings. :) \$\endgroup\$
    – david van brink
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 23:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ @JoshPetrie well, according to this: blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/11/qa-is-hard-lets-go-shopping Id qualify my question as a good shopping question. I said what I wanted to do, I said what I tried (my own analysis of the pros and cons ofvarious options) and asked, quoting 'What should I consider when looking for recording equipment for my purposes?'. While it's arguable and we could continue this on meta, Im of the opinion that my question is an example of a good "shopping" question. \$\endgroup\$
    – K.L.
    Commented Jan 8, 2015 at 7:53
  • \$\begingroup\$ Meta would be a better place to raise this issue, as the community has already established the precedent that we don't consider these sorts of questions on-topic on GDSE specifically, due to the subjective nature of "the best option," the list-generation/which-of-these-options aspect of the query, and the timeliness of such recommendations for posterity. Adjusting that precedent will be better handled over on Game Development Meta. If for nothing other than space reasons. \$\endgroup\$
    – user1430
    Commented Jan 8, 2015 at 15:42

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