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Giso Grimm edited this page May 21, 2021 · 1 revision

What to buy

We have no economic interest or other relationship with the linked hardware vendors. We provide the links only for your convenience.

You will need a Raspberry Pi 4B, a Class Compliant USB sound card, a microphone, headphones and cables.

Raspberry Pi

Version 4B is recommended, the 3B+ might work but has significantly lower performance. 2 GB RAM and a 16 GB SD card are sufficient.

Reichelt offers bundles with case, power supply and SD card:

Das Raspberry PI 4 B 2GB Black-Bundle

Das reichelt Raspberry PI 4 B 2 GB All-In-Bundle

You will also need a network cable, e.g.,:

network cable

Another hardware vendor option is Berrybase:

microSD card, network cable, power adapter, case and Raspberry Pi 4B

You may also ask your local electronics shop.

Audio interface

Most Class Compliant USB audio interfaces should work. See also Soundcards for a list of tested sound cards and their hardware delays.

One of the best cards in terms of delay is

Focusrite Scarlett solo

Also the version with two microphone inputs works well:

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2

When using the 4i4 you will need an external power supply, because the Raspberry Pi USB power does not provide sufficiently high current.

A cheaper solution:

Behringer U-Phoria UM2

Headphones

The best headphones depend on the instrument and genre you play. We prefer open headphones, e.g.,

Superlux HD-681

Microphone

The price of microphones is mostly determined by the manufacturing quality. Cheap microphones are often more sensitive to faulty phantom power, electrical noise sources (e.g., cell phones) or bad cables. However, cheap microphones may be sufficient for a good ovbox experience. Some options are:

t.bone EM 700

Røde M5 matched pair

Neumann KM184

Or any other, depending on your taste and budget.

Please do not forget to buy a cable and a microphone stand. Often microphones are offered in a bundle.

The microphone which is part of the Focusrite Scarlett bundles sometimes produces a loud hum due to bad shielding, especially after mounting and dismounting it from a stand. If that happens you need to firmly tighten the thread at the bottom of the microphone.

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