Alesis USB MICROPHONE PODCASTING KIT User manual

USB MICROPHONE PODCASTING KIT
REFERENCE MANUAL
(ENGLISH) ::::: 1 – 15
MANUAL DE REFERENCIA
(ESPAÑOL) ::::: 17 – 31
GUIDE D’UTILISATION
(FRANÇAIS) ::::: 33 – 47
BEDIENUNGSANLEITUNG
(DEUTSCH) ::::: 49 – 63
MANUALE DI RIFERIMENTO
(ITALIANO) ::::: 65 – 79

1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONNECTING THE MICROPHONE.................................................................3
GENERAL SOFTWARE NOTES.......................................................................3
AUDACITY SOFTWARE INSTALLATION .......................................................4
CONFIGURING YOUR PC TO WORK WITH THE USB MICROPHONE ........5
AUDACITY SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION ON PC.......................................6
CONFIGURING AUDACITY FOR MAC OS 10.4 AND ABOVE.......................8
RECORDING INTO THE COMPUTER..............................................................9
ADJUSTING YOUR AUDIO LEVEL (optional) ..............................................10
EXPORTING YOUR RECORDING..................................................................11
LISTENING AND EXPORTING TO WAV/MP3...............................................11
UPLOADING YOUR PODCASTS ...................................................................12
TROUBLESHOOTING.....................................................................................15

2
This page has been intentionally left blank.

3
CONNECTING THE MICROPHONE
The USB microphone is a Plug and Play device, which means that there are no
drivers to install. The first time you plug the microphone into your computer, it will
automatically install all the necessary driver components and will be ready to use
immediately.
When you first connect the microphone, you
will see a few screens similar to the one on
the left.
Once the installation is
complete, you will see the
screen on the left:
Your microphone is now ready to be used.
Please note: If you subsequently connect the microphone to a different USB port,
this procedure may be repeated. This is normal.
GENERAL SOFTWARE NOTES
Your USB microphone is compatible with any recording software that supports USB
Audio devices. We have included Audacity, however you may prefer to use a
variety of 3rd party software packages.
Audacity is free software, distributed under the General Public License (GPL).
More information as well as open source code can be found on the CD included or
on the web at http://audacity.sourceforge.net
Audacity works on both Windows (98 and greater) as well as Mac OS (X and 9.2+).
Software for Linux can be found on the Audacity website.
Go to http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/tutorials for additional tutorials.
The website also has information for separate add-ons to Audacity to enhance
performance and features.

4
AUDACITY SOFTWARE INSTALLATION
Before Starting the Software
Make sure that your USB microphone is plugged into the computer with the
supplied USB cable, and that your computer is plugged in and turned on.
To Install Software (PC)
1. Connect the USB port on the USB microphone to the USB port of your
computer.
2. Turn your computer on and allow it to boot fully if it is not on already.
3. Your computer will say that Windows detects a new device and that it is
available to use.
4. Insert the CD that came with your USB microphone.
5. Double-click the Audacity Recording Software to open it.
6. Double-click the Windows folder to open it.
7. Double-click the Audacity folder to open it.
8. Double-click the audacity-win-1.2.4b.exe file to begin installing the
application.
9. Follow the on-screen instructions to install Audacity.
10. Once the installation has completed successfully, you can open the
Audacity application by clicking on Start, then going to All Programs ->
Audacity.
To Install Software (MAC)
1. Connect the USB port on the USB microphone to the USB port of your
computer.
2. Turn your computer on and allow it to boot fully if it is not on already.
3. Insert the included CD.
4. Open the CD icon on the desktop.
5. Double-click the Audacity Recording Software folder.
6. Double-click the Apple folder.
7. Drag the Audacity folder, located inside, to your hard drive. We
recommend that you move the folder to your Applications folder.
8. A window will come up which shows the files copying.
9. When copying has finished, EJECT the CD. Audacity is now installed.
10. To open the application, go to your Finder and click on Applications.
Then, double-click the Audacity folder to open it. Lastly, double-click the
Audacity icon to launch the application.
Note: if you copied the Audacity folder to a different location than your
Applications folder, simply find the Audacity folder and double-click on the
Audacity icon, located inside the folder, to launch the application.

5
CONFIGURING YOUR PC TO WORK WITH THE USB MICROPHONE
1.) With no programs or windows
open, click on [START] –Settings -
Control Panel.
2.) In the Control Panel, double-click
on ‘Sounds and Audio Devices’.
3.) Ensure your computer’s soundcard
is shown in the ‘Volume’ tab.
4.) Click on the ‘Audio’ tab. Ensure
your computer’s soundcard is
listed as the default Sound
Playback Device, and ‘C-Media
USB Audio Device’ is listed as
your default Sound Recording
Device.

6
5.) Click on the ‘Voice’ tab. Ensure
your computer’s soundcard is
listed as the default Sound
Playback Device, and ‘C-Media
USB Audio Device’ is listed as
your default Sound Recording
Device.
6.) If active, press the [Apply] button
and then press [OK]. If the [Apply]
button is not active, simply press
[OK].
7.) Close the ‘Sounds and Audio
Device Properties’ window.
8.) Ensure your headphones or
speakers are plugged into your
computer’s soundcard’s output to
monitor your recordings and edits.
AUDACITY SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION ON PC
1. Go to [START] –> All Programs –>
Audacity to launch Audacity.
2. Select the “Edit” menu and then
“Preferences”.

7
The “Audacity Preferences” window will come up. Select the C-Media USB Audio
Device under the “Recording” selection as shown. Select “Software Playthrough”
to hear the audio while recording.
Note: The USB microphone may show up with a different name in the preference
window. This may depend on your computer model and operating system. 99% of
the time it will contain “USB” in the Name.
Note: Please also make sure that your default sound card is selected in the
“Playback” section. Otherwise, you will not be able to hear any audio output from
the program.
Click ‘OK’.
Now that your preferences are set, you are ready to record.
If you are still having difficulty finding the USB microphone, try opening up your
system settings or control panel to adjust audio input settings from the sound
control panel. Also see the troubleshooting section at the end of this manual.

8
CONFIGURING AUDACITY FOR MAC OS 10.4 AND ABOVE
When using Audacity with OS-10.4 and above, first open the Apple AUDIO MIDI SETUP
control panel which should be located in your UTILITIES folder. Using the buttons at the
top, select the AUDIO DEVICES window.
Connect your USB microphone, DO NOT open Audacity yet.
You will notice that some of the settings in the AUDIO MIDI SETUP window change to
reflect settings for the USB device. (If not, go to PROPERTIES FOR => and select C-
MEDIA USB AUDIO DEVICE in the pull down window.)
You can now open Audacity. When Audacity loads, you will again notice that the format
settings for both the inputs and outputs will change in the AUDIO MIDI SETUP window.
These settings will be in error, and will not give you proper audio performance. In fact,
each time Audacity is opened this reset will occur.
To work around this problem, wait until Audacity opens and performs the erroneous
format reset outlined above, then you simply have to select the desired format settings
manually in the AUDIO MIDI SETUP window.
1) FIRST make ALL of your desired format settings in Audacity. These are found under
AUDACITY MENU =>PREFERENCES => AUDIO I/O => Set Channels for 2 (Stereo),
and playthrough on or off (Choose “On” if you want to listen while recording.)
2) Next, while still in AUDACITY MENU =>PREFERENCES, click the QUALITY tab and
set the default Sample Rate and the default Sample Format (44100, 16-bit)
3) Click OK to save all of the preferences settings.
4) Next set the PROJECT RATE in the lower left corner of the Audacity window to match
your desired sample rate (usually 44100 or 48000).
5) In the AUDIO MIDI SETUP window on the input side, first select 2 ch-16 bit, then
select your sample rate. (Usually 44100 or 48000 Hz). Then do the same on the output
side.
NOTE: These settings must match exactly to the format settings in Audacity. If not, Audacity will perform
the same reset routine on the AUDIO MIDI SETUP window when you activate the recording function in
Audacity. If your settings match, then you are ready to begin recording.
The basic rule is, after Audacity is open, use the AUDIO MIDI SETUP utility to manually select format
settings that match the format settings in Audacity. If you make any format changes in Audacity, you need
to also go back to the AUDIO MIDI SETUP window and make the same changes. (It is usually easiest to
leave the AUDIO MIDI SETUP window open on the desktop.)
A NOTE FOR INTEL-BASED MAC USERS:
Please visit http://audacityteam.org/mac/ to download a version of Audacity for
Intel-based Mac.

9
RECORDING INTO THE COMPUTER
1. Press the Record Button
2. Speak into the microphone.
3. Turn the VOL control up on the microphone until you are getting a good
signal reading in Audacity. Make sure that you are not reaching the red
on the level meters and “clipping” the signal.
4. You will see the waveform of the audio on the screen as it is recording.
You will hear the audio coming from the output of your computer’s
soundcard.
No Audio? - go back to the preference menu and make sure you have
“Software Playthrough” selected and the speaker volume up on your
computer. See troubleshooting at the end of this manual for more help.
5. Press Stop when you have finished recording.
6. SAVE YOUR FILE NOW by clicking on ‘File’ -> ‘Save Project’. Select the
destination and file name for the project and click ‘Save’.
7. You have completed the recording process.

10
ADJUSTING YOUR AUDIO LEVEL (optional)
1. Select your entire recording by selecting “Edit”, then “Select…”, then click
“All”. You can also use Ctrl+A on a PC or APPLE+A on a Macintosh to
quickly select all.
2. Select the “Effect” menu and choose the desired effect.
a. There are various types of effects which are described further in
the software’s help section as well as on the web.
b. Normalize should be used to have the correct volume on the
recording.

11
EXPORTING YOUR RECORDING
This section explains how to export your recording to WAV format to burn to a CD.
You may also choose to convert to MP3 requiring 3rd party software downloaded
from the internet. Refer to the software help section for more information.
1. Now that you have finished recording
and editing your session, you have to
export the audio to your hard drive.
Please note that if you would like to
export to MP3, you may need to
download an MP3 codec from the
Internet – many are free and widely
available.
Please also note that if you are
recording for the purposes of
podcasting, you will need to export
your session as an MP3 file.
2. Select the “File” menu and then select
“Export As WAV…”.
3. Lastly, name your session and select
the destination folder for the file.
LISTENING AND EXPORTING TO WAV/MP3
To listen to your digitized audio, you will need a third party application that can play
WAV files. There are a variety of applications built into many operating systems as
well as free downloads on the internet. You can also use any standard audio CD
burning software to burn your WAV files to an audio CD.
There are many free software applications that can play, burn, as well as convert
WAV files to MP3. Once a file is in MP3 format it can be placed on any MP3
compatible mobile digital device.
As we already mentioned, if you are recording for the purposes of podcasting, you
will need to export your session to an MP3, or convert the exported WAV file to an
MP3. The reason for this is that MP3 files are considerably smaller in size than
WAV files and are, therefore, better suited for transmission and streaming over the
Internet. There are many MP3 codecs available on the Internet – many are free
and easily available.

12
UPLOADING YOUR PODCASTS
As part of the Podcasting Kit, Alesis includes a free 30-day hosting of your podcast
through Cyberears.com. Once you have finished recording and saving your session as
an mp3, you will need to upload it to our custom Alesis website which will host and
promote your podcast to major podcast syndication websites.
ACTIVATING YOUR ACCOUNT:
1. Go to the Alesis Podcasting Center at www.alesispodcast.com – this is the
custom website that has been created to help you promote your podcasts.
2. Click on Register to create a user account. The registration process will
provide you with a secured login ID & password so that you can manage your
audio files that have been uploaded.
3. You will be prompted to fill out some information about yourself. Enter this
information and then type in a Login ID and password that you would like to
use with this account. Then click on Save & Next..
4. An email from [email protected] will be sent to the address that you
provide with the sign-up information. You will need to open your email and
unlock the Cyber Ears account you just created. Just simply click on the link
that is included in the email.
5. Now you are ready to upload your podcasts!
Tip: Once you are logged in, you may wish to go through the available
tutorials on Podcasting.. These tutorials explain how to use the site in depth
and how to get the most out of your podcast experience. Click on Tutorials.
UPLOADING:
1. Once you have activated your account by clicking on the link provided in the
email that you received, go to www.cyberears.com and log in using your
Login ID and password that you created.
2. After you have successfully logged into Cyberears, you will be taken to the My
Audio section. This is where you will upload and manage your podcasts. In
addition other functions are provided to assist you with managing the
download statistics on your Podcasts, etc.
3. Then click on Upload to upload your audio files.
4. You will be asked “What type of audio is it?” – since you will be uploading an
audio file that is part of a Podcast, choose Podcast. Otherwise you might
wish to select another option. Then click Next.
5. Click Create to create a new podcast.

13
Tip: Your audio files are not Podcasts. They are episodes of a Podcast,
so if you haven’t created a Podcast yet, you can’t upload the audio files
until you do this. By clicking Create, you are creating a record of the
Podcast with all the necessary information needed to register it with the
search engines. Once its created, you then simply attach your audio file to
the Podcast. Since a Podcast typically has many episodes, subsequent
new audio files you create can easily be uploaded and associated with the
Podcast.
6. You will be asked to fill out information including the title, author, description
and category information of your podcast. You can optionally also upload a
photo image of the host, or some graphic about your Podcast. This image will
be included in search registries for your Podcast. Fill out this information and
then click Save & Next.
7. On the next page you will be given information to allow you to directly promote
your Podcast. Also, you can choose to have Cyberears.com register your
Podcast with numerous Podcast registries. Choose the registries that you
would like your Podcast automatically submitted to and once you are done,
click on Save & Next.
Note: Registries are databases which hold information about where the
podcast is located on the web, descriptions, and so on. Registries work
much in the same way as an Internet search engine (e.g. Google.com).
They don’t contain the audio files – they just register your Podcasts so
that others can find you. These registries are checked by programs
called aggregators (such as iTunes), which update their podcast listings
and make them available to the program’s listeners. Any podcast that a
listener is interested in can be ‘subscribed’ to which then tells the
aggregator to check for new episodes of the Podcast periodically.
Usually the aggregator programs check registries about once every hour
or so.
8. Now you can choose the file that you would like to upload. Click on File |
Select file(s) on the applet on the screen.
9. Find the mp3 that you recorded with Audacity and click Open..
10. The last step is to describe your episode. Type in the filename and a
description and click on Save & End.
Tip: MP3 files have embedded information in them (called ID3 tags) that
describe the audio file created. This includes information such as Artist, Track
Name, Album, etc. This information is automatically updated for you by
Cyberears.com so that any person downloading the audio file will get the
information ‘tagged’ on it that is consistent with the Podcast information you
have submitted.

14
11. And you are all done! You have successfully published your podcast. Now
listeners around the world can check out your podcast and subscribe to it if
they wish.
Tip: Make sure that your podcast was properly uploaded and registered
by using an aggregator program such as iTunes to find your podcast.
Remember, however, that some aggregators might not be checking certain
registries. This is why it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the
different podcast registries and aggregators on the Internet in order for
your podcasts to reach the largest audience possible. Also keep in mind
that registries take some time to update their listings of new Podcasts. Its
not uncommon for registries such as iTunes to take weeks to add your
Podcast to their listing. Typically you will be sent an email letting you know
that they are reviewing your Podcast to see if it is acceptable to them
before they add it. Each registry has their own operational procedures for
this, and they change regularly. Make sure that you familiarize yourself
with their individual policies so that you know when to expect to see your
show appear on their listings.
Tip: Cyberears.com have bundled a free 30 day account with your Alesis
Podcasting Kit. At the end of this 30 day period, you will receive
notifications from Cyberears.com to allow you to purchase a subscription
account directly with them and extend your hosting while the subscription is
active. There are different levels of service subscriptions available. Check
with www.cyberears.com for more information on your subscription options.

15
TROUBLESHOOTING
Please contact Alesis or your retailer before returning this product.
See the Safety Guide for more information.
•NO SOUND:
oIf you are not getting any sound into the software application, go back to the
preferences as shown above and make sure you have selected the USB input
for the recording device.
oIf you cannot hear the audio but you do see the waveform on the screen, open
your preferences and make sure that your “Playback Device” is set to your
internal computer soundcard.
oPower Cycle: Close Audacity and unplug the USB Cable. Then plug in the
USB Cable, and reopen Audacity.
oCheck that the VOL control on the USB microphone is turned up to a suitable
level.
oCheck the microphone slider in Audacity to make sure that it is at full volume,
all the way to the right as shown in the figure below:
•POOR SOUND Quality:
oIf a recording sounds distorted or garbled during playback, you may need to
adjust the input volume in Audacity. Try moving the Input Level slider in
Audacity to the left to lower the input volume. You can use the normalize
effect as described above to bring the volume back up to normal after the
recording.
oIf you experience any odd sounds coming from the recording, try closing all
applications, restarting the computer, and only run Audacity while recording.
For technical support, please contact
Alesis at [phone]

16

17
ÍNDICE
CÓMO CONECTAR EL MICRÓFONO......................................................................19
NOTAS GENERALES SOBRE EL SOFTWARE ......................................................19
INSTALACIÓN DEL SOFTWARE AUDACITY .........................................................20
CONFIGURACIÓN DE LA PC PARA FUNCIONAR CON EL MICRÓFONO USB..21
CONFIGURACIÓN DE AUDACITY EN PC...............................................................22
CONFIGURACIÓN DE AUDACITY PARA MAC OS 10.4 Y SUPERIORES............24
GRABACIÓN EN LA COMPUTADORA ...................................................................25
AJUSTE DEL NIVEL DE AUDIO (OPCIONAL) ........................................................26
EXPORTACIÓN .........................................................................................................27
ESCUCHA Y EXPORTACIÓN A WAV/MP3 .............................................................27
CARGA DEL PODCAST ...........................................................................................28
SOLUCIÓN DE PROBLEMAS ..................................................................................31

18