they told me my mic cant go into my computer

haha well that encouraging

still, if i have the need to, i will go buy that stuff, i do have enough money. its jsut that the less money i have to spend to et a decent recording setup, the more money i have to get a new guitar and amp and such

but, another question, as u guys were saying, the sound card is too weak to give enough power to the mic, then i should jsut get a new sound card right? one that is stronger and can provide that power and stability?

i get that, but then where does the preamp come in? i was always under the impressiont hat preamps were only for when u want to go line in with your guitar to avoid all the extra noise and all that
 
SuperVic said:
ahh..that sucks

wish someone would have told me that when i wanted to record stuff not only would i need a preamp but a soundcard as well..
Click to expand...
You have a soundcard - that's what you use to get sound out of your computer into the speakers. It also has jacks you can plug stuff into to get sounds into the computer.
It's probably a cheap soundblaster type, but it will do you just fine for now. All you need is the preamp and cables.
After you mess with that stuff, you will learn a lot and figure out what else you need. So start putting some money away every paycheck..:)
 
well as i jsut said in that post above yours, i do have a decent amount of money at my disposal. its just that i need to get so much i need to set my priorities and see which one i need the most. so like i said, the less money i need to spend on decent recording setup, the more i got to get a better guitar and amps and such
 
Oh, and when you get the sound into your computer you'll need a software program to be able to record it.
 
SuperVic,

Go over to the newbies forum and look at the different threads about soundcards and getting started recording.

Actually, you're in pretty good shape. There are some cards that are very good quality for around $100.

Oh, one more thing.........Read, Read, Read. There's a ton of information here and elsewhere.

larry
 
What a nice guy. You have shown patience and empathy for the new kid. I applaud you sir. Now, kid, do what he said, you'll be glad you did
In His Name
Big Kenny
 
kdoggity said:
That's correct. The sm57 is a dynamic. However, every mic without a battery needs outside power. "
Bullshit.
"Most of the time a soundcard (or anything that a dynamic mic is attached to) will provide the mic with that power, but it is also possible that the source will not provide enough power to produce an audible signal"
More bullshit.
"I understand that, technically, dynamic mics don't require phantom power, and the sm57 is no different. But I can tell you first hand that my soundcard did not provide enough power to run the mic."
Click to expand...
Close. Microphones require a PREAMP to take the very low voltage generated by a microphone (this has NOTHING to do with phantom power) and amplify it to LINE LEVEL. CONDENSOR microphones require phantom power to polerize the backplate of the diaphram and to power it's internal preamp WHICH STILL REQUIRES AN EXTERNAL MIC PREAMP TO AMPLIFY ITS OUTPUT TO LINE LEVEL. Electret condensors are permanently charged but still require phantom power (or in some cases, an internal battery) to power its internal preamp.
 
I'm gonna try to distill this down to the points:

Dynamic mics like the SM-57 do not require, nor do they benefit in any way from phantom power. They don't get any kind of power from a sound card or preamp, they generate their own very small signal by way of a coil induced emf. The only power required is sound waves moving the diaphram.


A soundcard's primary function is to provide analog to digital conversion to turn the sound into bytes that the computer can read, and digital to analog conversion to turn bytes into sound coming out of the computer.

All mics put out a very very small signal that needs to be pre-amplified by a preamp before the analog to digital conversion takes place. Some soundcards, those with both a line input and a mic input, have a preamp built in. As a general rule, these onboard preamps are poor quality, and are working in a very noisy environment inside the computer. Good quality recordings are nearly impossible to achieve with them.

An external mic preamp is a HUGE improvement over most onboard preamps like the ones found on soundblaster cards. They can provide much more gain (preamplification) without adding noise and distortion. If you don't have one, it should be at the top of your list.

Most mixers also have mic preamps that offer the same benefits as above.

Lastly, if you want to get a SM-57 into a soundblaster type card, you have two problems. The first is that the 57 has a balanced output, or two signal wires and a ground wire. The soundblaster has an unbalanced mic input, just one signal wire and ground. If you use a mic cable with an XLR connector on one end (to fit the SM-57), and a 1/4" mono plug on the other end, you'll only get half the signal from the mic, which will provide horrible results with the soundblaster's already problematic preamp. The solution to this is a balanced to unbalanced transformer connected to the mic. The second problem is getting from 1/4" mono phone jack to 1/8" phone jack, which Radio shack can solve with an adaptor.

I don't know what the balanced to unbalanced mic transformers go for these days, but FAR better is to spend a little more and get an external preamp.

Hope that helps. :) RD
 
well Robert, u are basically telling me what to do once i get a soundblaster card, which im not sure im willing to spend for it

i just wanted to get my mic into my computer, and then record from there

from what i knew before i even came here, getting a preamps was only needed if i wanted to go directly line in from my guitar to my computer, and get better quality in that (by getting a POD or a V-Amp or soemthing) and i was also told that if i just wnna mic my stuff, i didnt need a new sound card. the only reason i would need a soundcard is if i go directly line in through a POD or preamp, becasue otherwise, a crappy sound card wouldnt be able to handle what goes in

that was my impression on this whole deal before i realized that there was a world of knowledge left in recording that i didnt know about, and now im pretty confused. is what i already knew from waht i said above wrong?

i have about 400 dollars (US) to spend, and i barely have anything. i dunno which would be the best way to go: new soudncard? mixer? preamps? new guitar? new amp? an accoustic guitar? i dunno

i guess things arent as simple as i expected. all i wanted was for my stupid SM57 to go into my computer so i can start recording something
 
Let me try to distill it a little more.:)
1) You have a soundcard (if your computer is less than 10 years old)
2) All you need right now is a cord from your mic to a preamp, a preamp, and a cord from the preamp to the line input of your sound card
3) You need some kind of recording software on your computer - there's lots of adequate free and cheap stuff out there - we can give you links if you need them.

So buy the preamp and cords and get started!
 
alright then. so i guess ill need a preamp over a soundcard?

and yeah, i know i have a soundcard already, im just takling about a better one, like that soundblaster that someone else mentioned
 
Actually soundblasters are not considered great soundcards, even their best ones.

Let me see if I can clarify.

Nearly all consumer sound cards have two inputs. Mic in and Line in. With the mic in you are using the sound card's preamp to boost the mic signal to 'line level' nearly all soundcards have crappy noisy preamps.

With the line-in you are presuming that the signal has already been boosted to line level by the preamp. The card at this point is just doing the analog-to-digital conversion. Most cards have fine analog-to-digital circuitry. You can go pretty far before that becomes the weak link.

So put your money into a preamp and then the necessary cables to get from the mic to the preamp and from the preamp to the 1/8 line input to the sound card.

As for a mixer, you need that, instead of just a preamp, if you need to be recording multiple sources at once.
 
Soundblaster cards are for listening to CD's or gaming.

They sound like ass when used for recording.

These guys have said it repeatedly: You need a decent soundcard and a decent preamp. Otherwise you're just wasting your time.
 
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i guess ill be the judge of that..cuz im a newbie...will i really be able to hear the difference or be able to tell whats bad quality or not? cuz it took me a while to notice the difference in guitar tones

whcih is a good preamp i should be looking for? and a soundcard? since i shouldnt get soundblaster, then what?
 
You gotta do YOUR OWN research on that. When you READ AND UNDERSTAND how convertors work: latency, sample rate, bit depth, jitter, etc you'll KNOW which soundcard is right for your needs.

Same goes for preamps and mics. When you understand some of the basic principles behind what preamps are supposed to do, and the various schools of thought on how it should be done, you'll know which way you want to go. Preamps and mics are like crayons. They can have very little to no color to them, or a lot of color, and everything in between. Combine the wrong colors and all you get is gray mush. Combine the right colors with a good player in a decent room and you get a nice picture of what you're trying to record.

The minute you get a soundcard and a preamp you're gonna be right back here asking how come it still sounds like ass because you won't have done YOUR HOMEWORK regarding mic placement, amp placement, guitar placement, and any number of other issues.

These guys can tell you all day long what to buy. Just like somebody told you to buy a 57. But you didn't have the first clue what to do with it after you bought it.

Before you waste any more of your hard-earned money educate yourself A LOT MORE.

Otherwise you'll be back saying you got bum advice here from well-meaning guys that are trying to explain some fairly complicated stuff to someone that lacks very basic understanding of the concept of digital recording.

Sorry if that seems a bit harsh. It's just the facts of the matter.
 
heh..fair enough

i guess theres no easy way out of this. ill just get my cable to connect me mic to my computer and then i'll take it from there i guess

thanks for your help everyone..coming here has done me good and sure has humbled me in knowing that theres so much out there for me to learn about
 
Jeez, I gotta watch my wording more carefully. GAWD NO, I was not recomending a Soundblaster card! I mentioned them as the leading example of crappy soundcards with crappy on board preamps.

Listen Super Vic, you do need to do your homework, and it will be well worth the time. It should be something you want to do. Successfull home recordists, ones that turn out good quality recordings, are enthusiastic about consuming all the knowledge they can on the subject, and fortunately there's a lot of knowledge for the taking. In the mean time, I'm sure you're anxious to just plug your mic in and do some recording. I'm afraid though that you may become discouraged if your first efforts sound like shite, as they're likely to do if you just try to wire up that 57 to an unbalanced computer mic input. For probably $50 you can get a used mic preamp on EBAY, something like an ART Tube MP will sound immeasurably better than trying to jig up the 57 directly into your computer's unbalanced mic input. Then just use a regular mic cable from mic to preamp, and then a 1/4" mono (like you use on a guitar) cable from the preamp output, through a 1/4" to 1/8th inch adapter, and into the line (not mic) input of your computer.
Good luck, and happy recording. RD
 
Try the M-Audio Delta 66 Combo

SuperVic said:
heh..fair enough

i guess theres no easy way out of this. ill just get my cable to connect me mic to my computer and then i'll take it from there i guess

thanks for your help everyone..coming here has done me good and sure has humbled me in knowing that theres so much out there for me to learn about
Click to expand...

I think you can get that package for about $300, you get a nice pre-amp w/ phantom power (if you ever need it) and a pro-quality sound card Delta 66 to record into. Trust me I did the Soundblaster thing, it's not worth the time. You might as well get a tape recorder.

http://www.themusichype.com/store/items/recording/audio_interface/83
 
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