After lengthy consideration, I finally shelled out for some recording gear, so that I could produce audio content. You can see the complete set up for Diamond Bay Radio in the photo above. The basic necessities are the digital audio interface (an M-Audio Mobile Pre, which I got on Ebay for $80) and a decent vocal microphone (a Shure PG-48, also purchased on Ebay for $15). Since the Shure came with an XLR to 1/4″ jack, I had to go to Cambridge Music and pick up a Whirlwind XLR to XLR cable.
The Mobile Pre just looked like a better piece of gear than the Fast Track, and generally cost less than the similar models from Edirol, Tascam, etc; and also was the only model that boasted Windows drivers going back to Windows 2000. As it turned out the drivers did work on my Fujitsu lifebook, running Win2K. Once I had the drivers installed, and figured out how to turn on the input device monitor in Audacity, I was up and running! In fact, Audacity is so totally amazing, I was ripping some background music and recording separate voice tracks for the intro in minutes!
As a result, I can proudly present the premiere podcast of Diamond Bay Radio! A short reading from the Life of Mayakovsy. Hope you like it!