microphone static

[killthesoundboy]

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hey guys currently i'm recording songs using one of those cheap 99cent store mic's, those small mic's you find in a telephone head-set (the quality is actually good). Now i have a few hundread dollars ($200) and want to buy a condenser microphone and a mixer that has 48v phantom power. when i record with the cheap microphone in a quite (no sound) room i hear a very small amount of static. when i buy the condenser microphone and mixer (and do the same thing) will i hear alot of static?


I'm planning on recording vocals for a radio show i am producing and will not have any back ground music to cover up any statck.



Question 2. i have a standard sound card (the cheap one that is built into my pc). To get the best quality should i pluge the out audio signal from the mixer into the line-in jack on the sound card, or the microphone input jack?

 

[aciddart]

xxxstactixxx

If your stock soundcard is like most... that's probably where a lot of your static/noise is coming from (although the description of your mic doesn't sound so promising! ). Besides not having very good sound quality, the cheap soundcard that comes with your computer is not very well shielded from RF noise inside the PC and from the monitor.

You can even see this. Just set up to record through your mic with the same volume levels as normal (loudest sound close to 0dB), and then enable Options/Monitor Record Levels so you can see it on the meters. Then unplug your mic so there's nothing going into the soundcard... You will probably have a constant noise reading of -60dB or worse. If you monitor or record/playback that noise it will probably be most of the 'stactic' you are describing! There are ways to cut down this noise after you've recorded but it's not the best way to go.

IMHO, for the kind of recording you're describing, instead of buying a mixer the best bang for your buck might be to buy a good soundcard/interface and a good mic. If you want to use a condenser mic you can get a soundcard/interface that has phantom power. That's what I did and I'm really happy with the set up.

If you do use a mixer into your stock soundcard, use the line in. -A

 

[Mr Nice]

Question 2. i have a standard sound card (the cheap one that is built into my pc). To get the best quality should i pluge the out audio signal from the mixer into the line-in jack on the sound card, or the microphone input jack?

Like aciddart said that is most likey what is giving you the static sound, the generic sound card is crap and it produces noise in the recordings. And no matter what high-quality mic you plug into it you will still get noise with that card. If you are serious about recording you should upgrade to a better sound card.

Hope this helps.

 

[DigiDunce]

I do voice recording in Audition, so I need the recording to be as free from background noise as possible. For my purposes I found using an external sound card with a mic booster worked really well. I got the Creative Extigy Soundcard, which has worked for me.

It means I can have my soundcard away from the PC (meaning no fan noises) and so far my recordings have been pretty good. Using the Extigy card also means I can use my laptop with it too.