Sound card question

[spacejunk]

Hey, quick question for anyone who is in the know...

I'm just wondering how much of a difference the quality of your PC sound card makes when recording a podcast. We are using Apex 435 mics and a Phonic MU 1002 mixer, and when feeding the mixer output into the laptop, it seems to be coming in at a very high volume. In fact I have to turn down the input level on the mic in the Windows control panel pretty much all the way in order to get sound that isn't clipping.

I use my laptop to record the podcast, which just has a crappy on-board Realtek sound chip I believe. Would it be better to try and use my desktop PC, which has a SB Live 5.1 card, instead? Does anyone out there use a professional level sound card?

Thanks!

Sean
spacejunk.org

[Yotto]

When you plug a mic directly into the laptop, do you have the same problem? If not, it sounds like the mixer is the problem. If so, then it's the laptop. Not to state the obvious, but why not just try the computer and see if the sound is better?

I personally use the onboard sound card on my computer and laptop. They are both of comparable quality (the laptop's a bit better, actually, but it's also newer than the pc) that is, imo, good enough to use for my show.

[spacejunk]

Well I can't plug the mic in directly since it's not a 1/4" plug but if I try it with a crappy PC mic I don't have the same problem. I guess I'll try it out on the other computer, I was just curious what other people's setups are like.

I can also just lower the levels on the mixer itself but I have it set up to be at the default 0 dB level. I thought going lower than that might lose some of the sound quality before it even gets to the PC.

Thanks for the response ;)

[revupreview]

Many people recommend the Griffin iMic as a cheap external soundcard. No frills, just the basic neccessities: 3.5mm line out (to headphones or mixer); 3.5mm switchable line in/mic; USB powered connection to PC or Mac. When switched to mic, the input does appear to supply 'plug-in power' to the mic.

[Steev]

I have a problem with my laptop's sound card too. Whenever I use a microphone (any microphone, I've tried a few), the center-line of the recorded waveform isn't on 0 dB. I don't get it. Here's what it looks like:

http://spineradio.com/blog/2006/Waveform.jpg

Anybody have any ideas?

[SoundTrip]

Hi,

These condensor mic's tend to be really hot. A lot of mixers have a pad to prevent such problems. In fact that will help eliminate floor noise as well.

You can buy pads seperately. Do a google search on "microphone pad phantom power". Some of the better ones have built in phantom power, for instance:

pad and phantom (http://www.bradleybroadcast.com/2001/micproc.htm)

Read the reviews on these before buying.

[JohnnyWB]

I'll let you know in a few days.

Just ordered one of these http://www.soundblaster.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=204&product=10769 with my new notebook.

I can tell you that upgrading my stock desktop sound card made a huge difference in our sound so it's probably the same for notebooks.

John

[roadrageradio]

I have a problem with my laptop's sound card too. Whenever I use a microphone (any microphone, I've tried a few), the center-line of the recorded waveform isn't on 0 dB. I don't get it. Here's what it looks like:

Anybody have any ideas?

That looks like something called "DC offset", where a small direct current voltage is added to your audio somewhere in the signal path.

Some audio editor programs (Audition, for example) have an option to eliminate DC offset, but it is far better not to have it in the first place.

[Dr. Trey]

One thing that the first poster asked was weather or not sound cards make a difference and the answer is yes. The soundcard is where the converters are and in digital recording, converters are very important. Look at it though, you don't really need great converters to do a podcast, so test what you got and use the better sounding of the two.

[Steev]

That looks like something called "DC offset", where a small direct current voltage is added to your audio somewhere in the signal path.

Some audio editor programs (Audition, for example) have an option to eliminate DC offset, but it is far better not to have it in the first place.
Sweet! Audition has this option (I never knew what the hell it did before). Worked like a charm. Thanks!

[pwfenton]

Hey, quick question for anyone who is in the know...

I'm just wondering how much of a difference the quality of your PC sound card makes when recording a podcast. We are using Apex 435 mics and a Phonic MU 1002 mixer, and when feeding the mixer output into the laptop, it seems to be coming in at a very high volume. In fact I have to turn down the input level on the mic in the Windows control panel pretty much all the way in order to get sound that isn't clipping.

I use my laptop to record the podcast, which just has a crappy on-board Realtek sound chip I believe. Would it be better to try and use my desktop PC, which has a SB Live 5.1 card, instead? Does anyone out there use a professional level sound card?

Thanks!

Sean
spacejunk.org

Using the output of your mixer into the LINE INPUT of the soundblaster card will give you tremendously better results. The problem with your laptop is that it's single input is probably set up for a microphone. Microphones have very weak signals (electrically speaking). Your mixer's "line out" is a much stronger signal and will overload any mic input. So the solution is definitely to use the desktop, OR as someone suggested get a Griffin iMic USB interface that has a "line in" to plug your mixer into. Then you can use the laptop again.

[spacejunk]

Ahhh yes that totally makes sense... there's always a difference in sound between the mic jack and the line-in, and of course laptops usually don't have line ins.

Thanks for the responses all...

[JasonVanOrden]

I have a problem with my laptop's sound card too. Whenever I use a microphone (any microphone, I've tried a few), the center-line of the recorded waveform isn't on 0 dB. I don't get it. Here's what it looks like:

Anybody have any ideas?

This is a common occurence. It's called DC offset and is caused by discrepencies in voltage levels in the electronics (probably more than you wanted to know). Sufficient to say, it's a problem because it causes the waveform to clip faster on one side than the other.

Many audio editors have a feature to detect and remove DC offset. I believe that Audacity has such a feature. Go to Effects and then to Normalize. There should be a check box to detect and remove DC offset. This is the first thing I do to my WAV files since allowing DC offset to remain will screw up effects such as compression.

Hope that helps,

Jason

[JasonVanOrden]

I'm just wondering how much of a difference the quality of your PC sound card makes when recording a podcast.

Your sound card makes a HUGE difference. The biggest reason is that most internal sound cards, especially on laptops, instroduce a lot of noise into the audio as it comes in. This is just due to all those compact electronics buzzing around the audio line.

One of the best things you can do to improve your sound is to get an external sound card/device and bring the audio digitally (e.g. through USB). The Griffin iMic is a cheap and easy way to do this. I highly recommend it.

However, it sounds like you are also having another problem...

We are using Apex 435 mics and a Phonic MU 1002 mixer, and when feeding the mixer output into the laptop, it seems to be coming in at a very high volume. In fact I have to turn down the input level on the mic in the Windows control panel pretty much all the way in order to get sound that isn't clipping.

It sounds like you have the mixer output up pretty high. It's not necessarily bad to have your audio hotter (louder) earlier in your audio chain like this. The only danger is if the mixer output starts to clip (get louder than the input can handle) the laptop input. Otherwise, you should be fine.

Do you hear any distortion? If not, you are probably fine.

If you have to turn the recording level up a lot in windows, you're also just turning up all that noise I mentioned earlier that is coming from your sound card input. So you are probably doing the best thing for your setup anyway.

Jason