Sound advice?

[dionysus1999]

I want to record myself reading for Librivox.  I discovered after a little experimentation that the microphones that just plug into the front of the computer with the standard (1/8?) jack are for crap.  I suspect, from the research I've done, it's the sound card, though I don't think the microphones I have are quality, either. 

From a bit of research, I found that a USB microphone/headset has its own built in soundcard, and will produce much better recordings.    According to readers from Librivox, the USB headsets that are designed for gamers usually have decent microphones. 

I have a few audiophile friends on my list, anyone have something that's just gathering dust I could take off your hands?     I'm willing to pay a fair price for used equipment.  

Comments

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

I did try a couple test recordings with two different mics. Too quiet was the main problem, they need amplification. From what I learned reading on Librivox and other online sources, they do indicate that most standard sound cards in computers don't have what takes to get a decent recording.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_earthshine_/]

Too quiet was the main problem, they need amplification.

Ah, yes, then that makes sense. Plugging even a decent dynamic mic into a line input (even on a computer, where the line in often doubles as a mic in) doesn't work too well. Having upstream pre-amp of some kind (standalone pre-amp, mixer, etc.) would solve that part of the problem.

... most standard sound cards in computers don't have what takes to get a decent recording.

Wow... that's a bummer. Maybe they've really dropped in quality in the last few years? I've got a MacBook that's only 1-2 years old, and my line input works fine, even for music, when i've got a good signal inbound. Are you on a PC? Maybe they cut back on the PCs because they figure most people will upgrade their hardware for specific applications? Wild.

Well again, good luck, and if you decide you want to experiment with anything on the audio side, feel free to ping me if you think i can help.

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

I suspect that one of the things you get for the premium price of a Mac is a quality sound card. My PC is definitely in the budget category, even though they advertised it as a multimedia machine.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_earthshine_/]

Hrm... you may be right about that. Mac walked away from the hardcore all-in-one AV machines back in the mid-/late-90s, but i wouldn't be surprised if they recognized that their market still preferred strong capability in that department even in the off-the-shelf machines.