How do I hook up my condenser mic to my sound card?

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fin13

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I have a C 1000 S AKG Condenser mic.
I'm using it through my sound card (SoundBlaster Live - 16 bit) and creating music in Acid Pro 2.0 (Sonic Foundry).

Please help me out.

My mic has XLR cables and obvoiously can't go directly into my sound card, which has 1/8" slots.
To convert I'm doing the following...

I'm converting my XLR cables with an XLR(Female) to a 1/4"(Male) adaptor.
Then, I'm converting my 1/4" adaptor with a 1/8" adaptor.

Now that I've made an XLR cable convert to a 1/8" I insert the 1/8" adaptor into my mic jack on my soundcard.

What am I doing wrong or right in this procedure?

Am I suppose to be plugging my mic into the mic jack on my sound card?

Should I be plugging my XLR cable directly into an external mixer (and then the mixer into my sound card)?
(Note: I don't need to use Phantom Power)

Please help.
 
I presume you are using battery power for the mike so check it otherwise I would suggest that the fault is occuring when going from the XLR to the 1/4" plug. You want the two +ve and -ve leads of the XLR to become tip and sleeve of the 1/4" with the shield not connected or connected to the sleeve.

cheers
john :)
 
get a little mixer or mike pre

Behringer has a little mixer for $100.As an alternative,the ART tube MP or the Presonus Blue Tube are both inexpensive ($100 and $150 res.)ways to keep your signal low Z.A passive adaptor changes your mike to high Z (high noise)so don't do that.
I've heard good things about the small condensor C 1000 S!Either (or both if you got the bucks)of the options above will give you a clean hot way to get your signal to the card.By the way,they will put out a line level signal into the line jack on the card,giving you stereo record capability as well.Good luck.
Tom
 
Thanks for some of the info.

What is the difference between low Z and high Z signals?

Currently, when I put my C 1000 S condenser mic into the mic jack on my soundcard I'm getting massive feedback.
Why is this happening? Is it because of my conversion process?

To convert I'm doing the following...

I'm converting my XLR cables with an XLR(Female) to a 1/4"(Male) adaptor.
Then, I'm converting my 1/4" adaptor with a 1/8" adaptor.

Now that I've made an XLR cable convert to a 1/8" I insert the 1/8" adaptor into my mic jack on my soundcard.
 
Your feedback problems may be stemming from your monitor speakers. When recording your mic, using headphones will be helpful in elimination of feedback. After you have recorded, turn off your mike and turn on your speakers to listen to what you have just put down.
 
The Z refers to impedence,or the resistance of the electric signal to travel down a wire.Regular guitar cords are high Z and consist of two wires (plus and minus).High Z cords have three wires,plus minus and ground.
There are several important differences including allowable cable length and hum rejection.The XRL or 3-pin connector on your mike cord indicates low Z operation.But all your adaptors remove the hum rejection charactoristics BIG TIME.
Ideal signal path stays low Z as much as possible.But your soundcard (assuming you have the typical 16 bit cheapo card)has high Z mike and line ins!What to do?
Get rid of the adaptors first.Plug the mike into a pre amp or mixer.Take the RCA line out to the 1/8" line in on the card.
Part of the trick is adjusting levels in a theory known as "unity gain".That means at each link in the chain you want the signal as hot as possible before clipping occurs.Or rather, since we are talking about digital components also that would be referred to as an "over" rather than a clip.This style is also known as "max headroom".
Follow these few rules and your tracks should clean up nicely.
Tom
 
Thanks bball Jones. I tried the headphones and it's working well.

Tom Hicks, thanks for taking the time to write and help me out. I have a few more questions for you or anyone else that can lend me a hand.

What's better to plug my mic into, a pre-amp or mixer?

Tom Hicks wrote:
Take the RCA line out to the 1/8" line in on the (sound)card.

What do you mean here?

I don't have a mixer or a pre-amp right now. I'm using an adaptor, for the time being, should I plug my mic into the mic slot or the line-in slot on my soundcard?

Is it bad if the adaptors I'm using remove the hum rejection characteristics of my mic cord?
 
mike pre vs mixer

Fin
Mixers have mike preamps built into each channel strip,providing up to 60dB gain to your XLR input signal.The advantage to mixers are the signal routing possibilities.Lots of different ways to move the signal around without having to swap wires around.
Dedicated mike preamps are usually much higher quality circuits.They just plain sound better.They lack the mixer's ability to act as a central switchboard though.
As to RCA out etc;if the output of a unit is a 1/4" jack,check the label for the letters TSR.That stands for tip-sleeve-ring,a method of sending and returning a low Z balanced signal.Otherwise it is a high Z (less desireable)output.RCA jacks are the stereo-pair cords you see in home hi fi setups.The sound quality is a little better than unbalanced 1/4".Better still is XLR,or the nickel-sized circular jack that fits your mike's 3 pin plug.
However,although this is the best sound quality,it would require an adaptor to go from there to your sound card's 1/8"jack.Whenever possible avoid using adaptors.They leak in all kinds of noise to the signal chain.
Get from Radio Shack a cord with two rca plugs at one end an an 1/8" stereo plug at the other end.The rca plugs go into the line out (or record out or tape out)jacks of the mixer or mike pre and the 1/8" plug goes into the line in (NOT mike in)of your soundcard.
For now use the mike in jack because the voltage of the mike is too low for the line in.The pre or mixer gooses the signal of the mike up to line level,so continue to use mike in untill you acquire a line level device.
Tom
 
Hey Tom Hicks and others,
Thanks for your time. I really appreciate the help!
 
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