Hi Guys,

I want to buy a proper PC microphone. I have a Philips Microphone that's not built for computers so the signal is really weak. So, although I can use it I have to boost the signal a lot and then get hissing. Even with filtering you can't get rid of it completely without affecting the sound.

So, I had a look at some PC microphones. But I'm not an audio person so the only specs I could see on the back was the frequency range and the amount of ohms (?)

One Microphone was also advertised as a digital USB mic, as it plugged straight into a USB port. But doesn't this just mean that the signal is converted from analogue to digital in the mic itself rather than the PC?

I don't want a top of the range mic, just a decent PC one.

Any advice on what to look for?

Thanks JH, I'm looking more to record things rather than use it for skype or messenging.

Does the amount of impedence matter for all these low-impedence microphones?

I have a Logitech Quickcam Fusion webcam. It works as a mic, too, and rather good one, compared to most mics meant for the 3.5 mm computer input. Probably it's the AD inside the webcam that is better than the AD inside the computer.

hmm.. if the mic is a "powered" mic and it doesn't have any power (its battery is drained) then you'll typically get a very soft sound, after which you boost the volume it becomes very hissy.

I'm not sure if the mic you're using is a "powered/unpowered" mic or if that on off switch is for something else.

Is it a battery or plugin or something else?

hmm... any idea what the switch is for?

Something makes me think you could get that one to work well. Otherwise I'd recommend buying a mic that has some kind of battery or power plugin/charger to give you a strong, clean signal.

Exactly. Some are better than others. Recording studios typically prefer mics without power so they can run it through a higher quality amp.

The speakers I have are amplified, because it was cheaper than buying unpowered with separate amp+cables.

not to my knowledge. I wish there was some way I could research the mic you're using. Maybe it's a custom mic trying to draw power from the mic port.

It's the power button which perplexes me.

Looks like a decent microphone.

I say try messing with your sound card settings, then. Make sure it's in the right mic port (you might be getting cross-talk with another port). A hissy sound could also be caused by a low level (mic volume way down) being mixed into a high level (windows global volume way up).

What kind of card do you have?

what does the recorded wav look like?

In my personal experience I've found that a super soft and hissy recording is usually caused by something in the signal flow and not the mic.

check your settings, check your setting's settings, and then after that check their settings. (stupid audio control wrappers>:()

Buy a Shure SM-58 and an affordable Behringer mixer, and that's all what you need to make some decent recordings.

[Edit]
It seems Shure now is offering a SM-58 USB, so go with this one as this doesn't need a mixer.

I disagree. But if you think that it's a piece of crap you can replace it with any pre-amplifier unit.

You have to be very careful with cheap audio interfaces, some of them comes with crappy ADCs. But the expensive ones are great, of course.

Yeah, it's a dynamic mic. No battery. The switch shortcuts the lines, shutting the mic off. When the switch goes bad, the mic usually stays on in both positions. If the mic had a battery, it would most probably be a condenser mic, where the switch actually turns on something that consumes the battery. But these kind of mics go completely mute when the battery dies.