well......no
ok
there are several different kinds of microphones.
most of the time on stage, you see dynamic microphones, the ones the singers hand hold and sing in to.
In the studio, you see the bigger "fancier" mics. There are ususally condenser microphones. One of the reasons we use these condenser microphones, is because they are generally more sensitive than the dynamics. A contributing factor to their sensitivity is the fact that they are acitve "powered" as opposed to a dynamic which is just a passive mic. The power, comes as "phantom power" usually 48V. THis is supplied by most mixers, pre-amps and some stand alone units.
Microphones in general, produce a VERY small signal (voltage wise). So, the mic is plugged into a pre-amp to bring the signal up to a more usable leve. A lot of the characteristics of the sound of a microphone come from the "pre-amplifier" circuit it is routed through.
Here lies your "bottle neck". It is the signal passing through the pre-amp on your sound card that degrades the signal (not the 1/8" jack). These little pre's on sound cards are far from the best things out there.
The tried and true method for defeating this "bottle-neck" is to run your mic through an external pre-amp, and then feed a LINE LEVEL signal (the other input, LINE, not mic) into your sound card, there by passing the mic pre's, and a much cleaner input signal.
Just one other thing for your information. The XLR cable is a "balanced line", meaning that is has positive signal, negative signal, and a ground. Electrical magic removes most hum and noise from these signals.
The input on your sound card uses a TRS input, which is the 1/8" equivilent of an XLR connector. However, the connector is wired differently, and is not a balanced input. The cheap little head set mic's that we use to chat with, also happen to be "condenser" element, and thus they require power to operate. On the sound card, you have a positive signal, a small power supply ( a couple of volts, not near enough to actually be considered a phantom power supply) and a ground.
The voltage on the RING of the connector usually won't harm anything, just be aware that it is there, and that the MIC input is a MONO input eventhough it uses a "stereo" connector.
hope this info helps you get started off!
good luck
