Digital mic and home recording

[skiddaw]

Hi all,

I'm very confused about what setup I should use for recording. I'm using Adobe Audition and want to record acoustic guitar and possibly add a few extra tracks over the top. The other day I ordered a sony ECMMS957 digital powered mic , thinking that I could simply plug it in direct to my sound card without the need for a pre amp. I don't really want to spend a lot of money on pre-amps and stuff.
My problem is i'm not sure if my sound card supports digital line in, so i was thinking of upgrading my pc to one that comes with a dedicated creative sound card with digital line in. Does anyone know if this setup will work? Will the mic levels be ok direct to the pc? I need to know because if it's not going to be a good solution I will send the mic back because I haven't opened it!
Any alternative solutions? I just want a mic that'll pick up guitar and ambience really well.

Many thanks.

 

[virtualvisions]

That mic isn't in any way digital. Its a purely analog mic with probably plug-in power. Which means you could probably plug it into the mic in of your current sound card, but I doubt you'll get good results with that.
From what it looks like, getting a MiniDisc recorder might be a good option, they're generally better sounding that computer soundcards.

 

[skiddaw]

Thanks for your reply. I'm a bit confused though because its listed on amazon as a digital mic, or maybe they just mean it can be used for digital recording?

 

[pohaku]

I believe that latter is what they are claiming. This isn't a digital mic in the sense that it has a built in converter and emits a digital, rather than analog, signal.

 

[skiddaw]

Well after doing a bit of research I think I've come up with a solution. If i purchase a Tascam US-144 audio usb interface I can hopefully plug my mic into it using the XLR inputs (the mic is listed as having a "Cannon XLR connector".) Hopefully this will work.
Any ideas if this will be a good setup for instrumental recording? Any help much appreciated as I don't really know much about this kind of stuff! Thanks.

 

[mshilarious]

Well after doing a bit of research I think I've come up with a solution. If i purchase a Tascam US-144 audio usb interface I can hopefully plug my mic into it using the XLR inputs (the mic is listed as having a "Cannon XLR connector".) Hopefully this will work.
Any ideas if this will be a good setup for instrumental recording? Any help much appreciated as I don't really know much about this kind of stuff! Thanks.

It is unlikely the mic will work via XLR into a standard mic preamp. It is a stereo mic designed to use its supplied cable. That means that the XLR won't be mono balanced, it will be stereo unbalanced, and if you plug it into a standard mic preamp, you will get a summed mono signal with one channel reverse polarity. You should certainly avoid using phantom power with the mic, as it is powered by internal battery and could potentially be damaged by phantom power.

I think you should be fine if you plug it into your PC's line input (which could be the same jack as the mic input, but if you switch to line input in Volume Control, you will get a stereo line input).