I've bought and decided that usb microphones are not going to meet my needs. I will be recording my podcast with Audacity, a simple to use, free program. I'm hoping to have three co-hosts. That means three microphones total. After buying a usb mic, I did a little research and found that while the usb mic is great for one person, Audacity cannot handle more than one usb mic. It only acknowledges the first mic, and ignores any additional usb mics plugged in. So my usb mic will be going back to the store.

I'll need to find three condenser microphones and a mixing board. Condenser microphones are apparently the opposite of usb mics. Where a usb mic draws its power from the usb port, condenser mics require a "phantom power" supply. From what I gather, the mixing board will power the mics. I don't know if that makes a mixing board a phantom power supply by default, or if a mixing board is synonymous with "preamp" and phantom power supply. Both terms are volleyed around on other sites when talking about how to power microphones.

I've already taken a trip to Guitar Center, a big music store where they had quite a few microphones. Problem is, they didn't have anything less than $100. I'm not spending $300 for three mics. That's way beyond my budget. Now I'm looking at online stores to see if I can find something on a shoestring budget.