Need Help on Microphone Input for Laptop

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by ALAN E NORTH

I went back and did place a bid.

Seems that you stay up as late as I usually do.

From one Night Owl to Another---Thanks !

Good luck on the bid. I am fairly sporadic on the late nights. I never know when the insomnia will come The nice thing is the house is quite this time of day.

[ALAN E NORTH]

Mark,

The soundblaster card arrived yesterday and installing it was quick & easy. I get the sound out of the laptop all right-but couldn not get the mic to put out any sound.

When I tap it, I hear a 'pop'-but no sound comes out when I speak.

When all else fails, I believe in 'reading the instructions'-so I loaded the software disk and read the manual (didn't load the software-just the manual).

The whole manual has only one line in it concerning microphones. It says 'connect a condenser microphone" and that's it. No troubleshooting comments.

Now I don't know a 'condenser' mic from a hole in the ground-so I went to the internet to find out what it was.

I quickly found out that there are two basic types of mics-condenser and dynamic. The rest of the technical stuff didn't mean much to me.

It turns out that the mic that came with my karoke machine is 'dynamic-so I assume that's the reason it doesn't work with the Soundblaster card.

Does that sound about right to you ? I will look for a 'condenser' type mic on the internet-but I would like to know if I'm on the right track before I do so.

There is also the possibility that the soundblaster card is defective-but I think the problem is the wrong type of mic.

Your thoughts-or anybody else's ?

Thanx for your help !

[ddouglass]

Sounds like you are on the right track. You need a Condenser type of microphone.

[marklwood]

Yep, right on track. I had one from Radio Shack that cost me about $15. It was an incredibly crappy mic, but it worked. I would spend the extra $$ and get a decent one. My suggestion would be to use something like this

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com...one?sku=277522

I am not suggesting or endorsing this specific mic or vendor. I am merely giving a suggestion as to a way to go. This mic will get you where you need to go. It has a battery power supply so no power from the sound card is needed to run the condenser. This kind of condenser mic without it's own battery is why you have a "phantom power" switch on your PA.

[ALAN E NORTH]

I ordered a Vocopro Mark-CV1 from some outfit in New York; it will take a week to get here.

This is what I ordered:http://www.savinglots.com/lotprod.asp?item=MarkCV1

Like Mark I ran over to Radio Shack and picked up one of their mics-just to see if it would work.

It didn't !

I'm not sure it is even a condenser type mic; it acts just like my Dynamic mic-and the package does not even say 'condenser' although it does require a battery and the guy in Radio Shack assured me that it was.

At any rate, when the Vocopro gets here next week, I'll try that one out.

I hope the problem is not the Soundblaster card.

However this plays out, I want to thank all of you guys for putting up with a relative novice and giving me the benefit of your advice and experience.

Al North

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by ALAN E NORTH

I ordered a Vocopro Mark-CV1 from some outfit in New York; it will take a week to get here.

This is what I ordered:http://www.savinglots.com/lotprod.asp?item=MarkCV1

Like Mark I ran over to Radio Shack and picked up one of their mics-just to see if it would work.

It didn't !

I'm not sure it is even a condenser type mic; it acts just like my Dynamic mic-and the package does not even say 'condenser' although it does require a battery and the guy in Radio Shack assured me that it was.

At any rate, when the Vocopro gets here next week, I'll try that one out.

I hope the problem is not the Soundblaster card.

However this plays out, I want to thank all of you guys for putting up with a relative novice and giving me the benefit of your advice and experience.

Al North

Al, I will make it a point to find that old mic this week and hook it up like your setup. I actually have 3 of those soundblaster externals. (I found another one while cleaning out my storeroom) If it is in fact a problem with your soundcard and mine works OK, I will trade you even swap. I don't need the mic input for my shows, so it wouldn't matter to me. I am currently working on a house I am moving in to and I have stuff scattered over 3 different locations right now, so give me a week to find it.

[ALAN E NORTH]

Mark,

I appreciate your very generous offer; let's wait and see how this plays out after I get the Voco Pro-in about a week.