Is mixing board necessary

[Phelonious]

Am I understanding this correctly, if I use a sound card such as the Ardvark Q10, I do not need a mixer. I produce radio and TV audio using Cool Edit Pro. I am looking at building a small home studio and would like to know the pros and cons of whether I need a mixer or not. Any help would be appreciated. Also any advice on the best voice over mic, cost not an issue.

[macouno]

No you would not need a mixer.

But it's a handy thing to have, and normally the mic pre's in a soundcard are not that brilliant. For what you do a simple but good quality sound card combined with a small mixer (look at my tiny mixers thread in studio gear section for instance) would work as well if not better. A mixer gives more controll and well... that's worth something. In the end it's about personal preference. Also though, if you want to do everything on the soundcard, then getting one with a headphone out would help... which you don't have to worry about if you use a mixer.

Good mic, cost no issue? In that case... Neumann U82 (or was it 87? I can never remember, 1 is great, the other does not exist hehe). Go for a Neumann TLM if the U82 is too costly.

[Phelonious]

macouno:

Thank you for your suggestions, I've always heard that neuman made the best voice mics, this being my first excursion into audioforums I appreciate your prompt and informative reply, I am sure I will posting more questions, tech is not my stong suite, but am eager to learn from experienced professionals as yourself.