OK, this week we’re back talking about geeky author related tech toys (I posted about mechanical keyboards in November last year). This time it’s microphones.

I’ve set myself a big learning task this year to get up to speed with audio for authors and specifically recording audio versions of material I’ve already written. I’m starting out small, recording a few snippets for my website, before moving on to have a go at self-recording a few of my short stories. After that? Hey, one step at a time!

Anyway, I decided this means that I need some new tech toys, starting with a microphone. What joy! And it has been just that, joy, spending hours of my precious time reading up on what’s best, what’s right for me, and what I can afford.

But I’ve been good and, after binging out on article after article and video after video, I decided to take the sensible approach and splash the cash on something that’s good enough for what I need now and for the foreseeable future. And that’s all. I left the really expensive kit well alone.

So, what did I go for? There were two very similar mics that made it on to my final short list and in the end I went for the Samson Q2U. £80 here in the UK from the Zon plus £10 for a pop filter (apparently you need one of those).

Since my new toys arrived there has just been the small matter of having to get used to listening to my own voice. Yuck. It’s still making me feel uncomfortable every time I have to play back something I’ve recorded.

What about you, have you done any audio recording? If so, what did you let your geeky self loose on when it came to kit?