Quote Originally Posted by westend9 View Post
Thanks guys, good info, so far. I was looking at the Behringer ECM8000. Do you think a calibration is necesary?
What are the advantages of the M-audio product? As for phantom power, can this be as easy as just providing a power source? I do have some stand-alone power supplies in the 24v.-30v. range.
I'll take Bfish's advice on not trying to bottom-feed this to fruition. I've learned the hard way about not having good tools. I will probably start with one of the freeware software products just to get my feet wet, though.
I would like the gear to be able to interface with a laptop, for convenience. What is the typical connectivity, USB?
I use an off-the shelf ECM-8000, but I preload the provided calibration file. There's certainly nothing wrong with calibration, every aspect of the hardware should be calibrated. You'll end up testing your testing system in order to trust it.

Integral phantom power can't be beat, especially for laptop/portable use.

USB 2.0 or Firewire ports offer the needed bandwidth.

The specs of your external card determine the resolution of your test. Pay close attention to the duplexing ability (simultaneous input/output), many units say "full duplex", but when you read the fine print, they only duplex at low to medium bit rates.