Quality PC Microphone

Can someone recommend a source for a high quality PC microphone?

I'm looking for something a little better than the standard $10
BestBuy piece of junk.

Thanks,

John

OK. I just found some info. It looks as though the limiting factor
here is the sound card, so a quality mic really won't achieve much.

I guess the solution is a quality mic with a digital recorder. After
recording, transfer to the PC for analysis.

Any suggestions on a reasonably priced way of doing that?

Thanks,

John

jecottrell65@gmail.com wrote:
> Can someone recommend a source for a high quality PC microphone?
> 
> I'm looking for something a little better than the standard $10
> BestBuy piece of junk.

You can get junk for a lot less than $10. Electrets are pretty good. 
most lapel mics used in live TV interview shows are electrets. Aside 
from the connector, what determines that a microphone is a PC 
microphone? If I knew what you want and why, I could probably recommend 
something. Frequency response? sensitivity? Directional pattern?

Jerry
-- 
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

jecottrell65@gmail.com wrote:
> OK. I just found some info. It looks as though the limiting factor
> here is the sound card, so a quality mic really won't achieve much.
> 
> I guess the solution is a quality mic with a digital recorder. After
> recording, transfer to the PC for analysis.
> 
> Any suggestions on a reasonably priced way of doing that?

How about a better sound card?

Jerry
-- 
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

jecottrell65@gmail.com wrote:
> OK. I just found some info. It looks as though the limiting factor
> here is the sound card, so a quality mic really won't achieve much.
> 
> I guess the solution is a quality mic with a digital recorder. After
> recording, transfer to the PC for analysis.
> 
> Any suggestions on a reasonably priced way of doing that?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> John
> 
Is this for mobile (location) recording, or in studio/lab (where power 
supplies no problem)? If the latter, best combination is condenser mic 
(balanced output, usually via XLR connector) through a small mixer that 
can supply phantom power to the mic (some of the better semi-pro 
external (USB, Firewire) soundcards will also do that). Good to avoid 
direct mic-level inputs on cards internal to the PC. The electret 
suggestion can be useful for location recording (e.g. battery-powered 
mic, laptop, no mixer). The balanced output from the mic is essential to 
minimize noise, interference etc.

Or even: use one of the new-generation USB microphones (e.g. Samson). I 
guess that could be one definition of a "PC microphone".

Beyond that it all depends on what level of audio quality (dynrange, max 
SPL, bandwidth, response pattern, etc) you are looking for.

Richard Dobson

>How about a better sound card?

Laptop..... (portable recording)

>Frequency response?

5-1000Hz

>sensitivity?

Best possible.... within reason. (sorry not more precise)

>Directional pattern?

Omni




Thanks,

John

> Is this for mobile (location) recording,

Yes.

> Or even: use one of the new-generation USB microphones (e.g. Samson). I
> guess that could be one definition of a "PC microphone".

I just wandered across them.


Thanks,

John

jecottrell65@gmail.com wrote:
> 
>> How about a better sound card?
> 
> Laptop..... (portable recording)
> 
>> Frequency response?
> 
> 5-1000Hz

5 Hz will be difficult. 50 is more realistic. 20 is hard. All but 
specialty mics will go much higher than 1000. Will you need to filter? 
Consider a low sample rate to make the files small.

>> sensitivity?
> 
> Best possible.... within reason. (sorry not more precise)

You should use an external preamp if you can, so enough signal to swamp 
the internal noise is all you need. Balanced low-impedance microphone 
for best noise immunity.

Jerry
-- 
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Jerry Avins wrote:
> jecottrell65@gmail.com wrote:
> 
>>
>>> How about a better sound card?
>>
>>
>> Laptop..... (portable recording)
>>
>>> Frequency response?
>>
>>
>> 5-1000Hz
> 
> 
> 5 Hz will be difficult. 50 is more realistic. 20 is hard. All but 
> specialty mics will go much higher than 1000. Will you need to filter? 
> Consider a low sample rate to make the files small.
> 

The only device I know of that is specified to that low is the microflown:

http://www.microflown.com

It is a true particle velocity device (or rather, a whole family of 
devices); highly specialized, and rather more than $10.

Richard Dobson

On Mar 5, 6:30 am, Richard Dobson <richarddob...@blueyonder.co.uk>
wrote:
> Jerry Avins wrote:
> > jecottrel...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> >>> How about a better sound card?
>
> >> Laptop..... (portable recording)
>
> >>> Frequency response?
>
> >> 5-1000Hz
>
> > 5 Hz will be difficult. 50 is more realistic. 20 is hard. All but
> > specialty mics will go much higher than 1000. Will you need to filter?
> > Consider a low sample rate to make the files small.
>
> The only device I know of that is specified to that low is the microflown:
>
> http://www.microflown.com
>
> It is a true particle velocity device (or rather, a whole family of
> devices); highly specialized, and rather more than $10.
>
> Richard Dobson


You need an external sound card - say M-Audio USB. Also you need a pre-
amp and feed the signal(s) to the line input. You can use the Audio
Buddy as a pre-amp for instance.

F.