2 Qs: lecture recording and video record (analog)

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asf131

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I've got two questions:

1. I've been trying to record class lectures at my university using my laptop. My laptop only has microphone in and headphone out jacks. The laptop has a built-in mic, but it didn't seem to pick up enough, so I bought a cheap ($10) computer mic at Radio Shack. The problem is, I get a lot of hiss/static. It makes it difficult to understand the lecture. It doesn't matter the quality of the wave file I record to, the hiss is there. I do have the record volume of the microphone set very high, as well as the general record volume, so I can pick up the lecture in the large auditorium. I did a test to see if the hiss was the microphone by not plugging in the microphone, but leaving the record volumes at the same levels. Guess what? Same hiss. I assume, after reading around here a little, that it's the preamp of my soundcard. Is there something I can do to improve the recording of these lectures? Something like a cheap mic preamp? I don't need great quality here -- I'll probably record at 8 bit, 11KHz to conserve on file size. Also, I'm short on budget -- I am a college student after all.

2. Second issue. I'm trying to digitize video from an 8mm camcorder using the old and not-well-suited-for-this-purpose Studio 400 from Pinnacle Systems. The setup requires sound to be recorded through the sound card. My camcorder has a mono RCA out for the sound. On my computer (this is my home computer, not the laptop), I get a ton of echo when I record. I have an rca ended cable with a rca-to-headphone jack adapter. I plug the audio into the line-in, not mic, jack on the soundcard. I have the microphone unselected in the record controls, and the soundcard I have is an AWE64. Therein is the problem, I believe (the soundcard). When I record to my laptop using this same setup, (mic in instead of line-in due to the lack thereof) I get clean (well, at least a lot cleaner) sound. My problem would be solved if my laptop were fast enough to record the video at the 15 fps that my desktop can. How do I get good recording sound out of the card on my desktop? I've tried using the mic in, tried using a stereo headphone jack to two rca ends cable. When I use that cable, essentially piping sound to only one channel, since the camcorder is mono, I get the same echo -- unless I record in stereo, in which case, the echo shows up on the left channel with the actual audio correctly going to the right channel. This separation of the echo from the other audio only occurs with this second cable setup. Anyway, unless somebody's got some good ideas, I'm probably just going to have to get a new audio card, it looks like. Any suggestions on a cheap audio card that would do the trick? Seems that some people suggest the SBLive128 PCI. Is that decent enough? Would a cheaper card serve me just as well?

I would appreciate any help that anyone could give me and I apologize for being so long winded.
 
I think you're trying to do too much with that laptop. If it doesn't have a decent sound system, it would probably be cheaper to get some sort of standalone recorder with better built-in mics for this lecture recording chore. Some of those units (DAT in particular) sound pretty darn good. Then- you could import it into your PC at line level and archive the lot to CDR. Monitor the lecture twice like that and you might even get something out of the lecture.... :)

On that video problem- have you tried running the camcorder composite signal into a hi-fi VCR and use the stereo audio outs from there to the PC?
 
Thanks for the reply!

DAT would probably be too costly an option for me, though it would be nice.

As for using the hifi VCR as a way to turn the signal into a stereo one, I'll try that and let you know how it worked. It's a little troublesome to move the VCR -- but it's free. Thanks again for the advice.

-Adam
 
Bad news. I don't have a hi-fi VCR. The VCR I have doesn't even have stereo.
 
The last couple times, I sat half-way up the auditorium on the side (where there's an a/c outlet). I hook the microphone to my shirt (it's a small, clip-on mic). I intend to find a good spot closer to the front. The professor doesn't use a microphone, and he wanders back and forth across the stage. The auditorium probably seats between 250 and 300 people, and each row is about a half-foot above the one before it.
 
asf131,

If you wish to capture the prof's voice adequately, then you'll need to position the mic much closer to him. I would suggest you avoid using the laptop. Buy a small tape recorder and place it on a table or something on the stage. There's no way you can adequately record the prof from where you are unless you use very expensive and sensitive equipment.

Mark
 
I arrived early in class today and found a seat in the second row near an a/c outlet. The recording I made from that position was very satisfactory. I turned the mic volume and the main volume down. While I have to turn up my speakers a lot to hear the lecture, there is not nearly as much hiss in the background, and the lecture is easily understood. FYI, mp3 compressed, which reduces the quality very little using 32 Kbps (starting from an 8 bit, 22kHz mono wave file), a 70 minute lecture is less than 20 megs!

As for digitizing video, I'm going to try my brother's cheap 4DWave PCI sound card and see if I can get good enough results using the rca to mono headphone jack adapter.
 
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