what should I use to record an audiobook?

[John]

I am looking to record my book as an audiobook. I need something that I can record into that is inexpensive. It needs to have a good sound quality.
Has anyone here had success with a particular microphone and recording device?

[Neil]

I'm in the very early stages of toying with doing an audio of my opus. I know precisely nothing about the subject, but I have downloaded Audacity, free recording software.

I'll probably go for a modestly priced microphone headset with a reasonable number of stars on Amazon.

I have a feeling one can learn too much on this subject and get bogged down in theological detail of sound recording - where two or three audio experts are gathered together there will be splitting of hair and conflicting advice however well intentioned.

So my personal motto on this one - when if ever I get round to doing the audio is to keep it simple - very.

[John]

That sounds somewhat similar to my plan right now. My writing is going well enough that I'm not sure I want to take time out to create a recoding, but we'll see. :)

[Neil]

I know exactly what you mean about time. I'm on the wrong side of 65, with a couple of writing projects to be getting on with - should imagine diy audio would be great fun, but as you say - maybe later!

[Book Frawg]

I agree that a good microphone, maybe a headset for comfort, and Audacity are a great and low-cost choice. I've used Audacity for recordings before and you can edit your audio clip by cutting out long pauses or bad sections, then export it as one whole audio clip. :) I recommend doing a short test recording first to make sure the mic is positioned in a way that you're not breathing into it.

[CaliGirlRae]

I haven't used Audacity but I have some colleagues who love it and have told me it's relatively easy to use.

I also recommend Sonic Foundry/Soundforge...which I think was recently bought out by Sony. You may be able to get some older versions for a good price (I'm using version 6 and it's awesome for recording and editing).

I'm using a mic from a speech recording software and it works pretty well. I'll probably upgrade before I do some heavy podcasting in the near future but it does the job pretty well for now.