dynamic mic directly to laptop or through a sound card?

[Rahul Tiwari]

I am planning to buy JTS TK-600 http://www.jts.com.tw/english/products/detail.php?fid=1&subid=5&pid=64 microphone which is a dynamic microphone. It needs a XLR to 3.5 mm cable and I guess I can directly connect it to my laptop. I wish to record vocals and record it into Adobe Audition or Audacity. The microphone and a cheap sound card together will cost me 31$ and that's my budget(I live in India,way lower GDP than America). Do I need any other piece of hardware? What will be added benefits of using a preamp or an audio interface(I dont have budget to buy these)?

 

[garww]

You might look for a USB MIC. In the US I could be happy with the USD 30 Samson Go

 

[arcaxis]

This cable 'might' work........ Microphone Cable - Hosa Technology

....but you have a couple things working against you.......

- The laptop may have a MIC jack that is a 4-pole/TRRS type and may not work correctly with a standard TRS type plug
- The mic you linked 'may' have an unbelievably low output (If I'm reading the specs correctly. Usually mv/PA is what I'm used to) and if you can get enough gain from the soundcard it will likely have a lot of background noise.

TK-600
Type Moving Coil Dynamic
Frequency Response 50~15,000 Hz (TK-600)
80~12,000 Hz (TK-350/TK-280)
Polar Pattern Cardioid,rotationally symmetrical about
microphone axis, uniform with frequency
Sensitivity (at 1,000Hz) -75dB*(0.18mV)*0dB=1V/μbar
Impedance 600Ω

Follow garww's recommendation and get a USB mic.

 

[Steenamaroo]

+1. There's quite a few active threads right now with people using dynamic mics and computer line inputs, and having noise issues.
In the long run a usb mic/usb mixer/dedicated interface is a much better way to go.

 

[Rahul Tiwari]

thanks everyone for your replies.. I see USB is the way to go. This is an "XLR to USB cable" http://amzn.in/gDlSrIw will this suffice?

 

[garww]

A dynamic MIC isn't the way to go on your laptop unless you have a decent preamp, in my opinion. A certain skill level can do it, but that might take some work.

The Blue Snowball ice microphone is 3999

If your singing is old school MIC in hand while dancing around(singing should be fun), the USB cable might be worth a shot, but without a preamp, the USB condenser MIC will give you a better signal.

I see the lowest cost Behringer mixer is 5345

 

[Steenamaroo]

Yeah, it's not so much the fact that a device has USB - It's the quality of the components before it.

Any half reputable USB mic, USB mixer, or USB interface is going to have a reasonable preamplifier in there which your dynamic mic will need.
A lot of times even that might not be enough.

Dynamic mic straight into laptop/desktop, or via a no-name adapter or converter isn't likely to please you.

USB mic is probably the safest and best option, if single-channel voice recording is what you're going to be doing.