Dynamic Mics Pic up more than Condensers?

Bobbsy said:
Yeah. That too. I used to be a great fan of KVM extenders and computers move farther away.

But some soft surfaces would be good even if the computer gets quiet. I've never seen a radio studio or voice over booth that didn't have a padded desk and some acoustic treatment on the wall behind the mic.
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Could you link m with a how to or what kind of foam to use
 
although not technically the kind of foam i think people were talking about, something like this auralex package might be very useful in your situation.

and steen, my initial urge was to reply with by saying "make the compeer quieter", but seeing as he had no problems with the blue snowball i figured some sort of mic fix may work better. however, and this may not be ideal, i had a friend with similar problems with a loud computer and he ended up slinging a duvet over the computer to try and make it quieter. he said it worked fine, but did have to remove it between takes or the computer got very hot (this was 10 years ago though, i'd like to think computers are quieter in general nowadays)
 
It's one of the great misconceptions that dynamics are less sensitive than condensers. *Some* dynamics are less sensitive than *some* condensers. By and large, sensitivity is more related to the size and mass of the diaphragm. Dynamics do have lower output, which is how the myth got started. But- when you turn up the gain to produce equivalent line level output, the results are about the same. When you turn up cheaper preamps, they produce more *self* noise, not to be confused with ambient (background) noise. My best suggestion- Use somewhat longer cables or even wireless connections, so you can get the mic, the keyboard, and the monitor farther from the CPU. Even better- get the CPU into another room altogether.
You said you have to be close to the computer, and I understand why, but the truth is- you don't need to be anywhere near the CPU and it's annoying fan. Also, do a search for low noise fans for computers, and consider replacing the stock fan with one that makes less noise. It won't make it go away, but it will help. Then get as far from the damned CPU as possible. Good luck.
 
Might be a dumb ass question But why do you need to be near the computer when recording.
Can you not write up your commentary and record it later.
Im willing to bet the fan has to work harder when in gaming mode than in recording.
And i understand a little better why you have ambient noise problems since you posted the pic.
Every surface is reflective and that glass table top wont help with mouse clicks and the like.
Maybe you should do as someone said and decouple the mic from the workbench too.
to be fair most of the other suggestions made here will also help.
Except the off with his head comment.
 
Eventually, yes.

Heat is brought away from the case by movement of air.

Sound is brought to your ears (and the mic) by movement of air.

You can't have both.

I recommend 'silent' fans, water cooling, or creating distance between computer and mic.
 
Richard Monroe said:
It's one of the great misconceptions that dynamics are less sensitive than condensers. *Some* dynamics are less sensitive than *some* condensers. By and large, sensitivity is more related to the size and mass of the diaphragm. Dynamics do have lower output, which is how the myth got started. But- when you turn up the gain to produce equivalent line level output, the results are about the same. When you turn up cheaper preamps, they produce more *self* noise, not to be confused with ambient (background) noise. My best suggestion- Use somewhat longer cables or even wireless connections, so you can get the mic, the keyboard, and the monitor farther from the CPU. Even better- get the CPU into another room altogether.
You said you have to be close to the computer, and I understand why, but the truth is- you don't need to be anywhere near the CPU and it's annoying fan. Also, do a search for low noise fans for computers, and consider replacing the stock fan with one that makes less noise. It won't make it go away, but it will help. Then get as far from the damned CPU as possible. Good luck.
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Except, of course, the "sensitivity" spec for most mics is given as the output (usually in mV) for a particular input in Pa. I've yet to see a dynamic mic with an output that wasn't a small fraction of a typical condenser.

However, the rest of what you say is spot on. As long as all else is equal, turning up the gain on a dynamic mic to get sufficient output also raises the level of any background ambience to be as bad as a condenser--and adds electronic noise too. There is one other factor adding to the myth though: it's not unusual for dynamic mic users to be right up against the grill (hence the ball on an SM58 and the LF roll off to mitigate the proximity effect) while people recording with condensers are usually farther away--eight inches to a foot is not unusual. This change WOULD affect the ratio of background ambience to voice and probably contributes to the "condensers are more sensitive" myth.

As for moving or silencing the computer, yup, that's the way to go. I was always a fan of KVM extenders to keep the CPU and disk unit in another room--generally cheaper than specialist fans and disks!
 
Where would be the best option to apply acoustic foam? Also im going to lower my fn speed in the bios to see if tht hlps with noise. sorry for typos im on a mobile device.
 
jumping in late on this threrad..
but are you sure it's ambient noise, and not electrical noise?
seems odd a dynamic would ever be more sensitive to a condenser that
is at least as large in diaphragm, and quality..

my .02
 
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