Comments on: Apple question

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 19:07:36 +0000

The iPad has landed. But should campuses be throwing it a welcome party? At least two are. Seton Hill University, a Roman Catholic institution in Pennsylvania, announced this week that it would be giving Apple's new computing tablet to each of its 2,000-odd full-time students when they arrive on campus in the fall. How about another italkbbschool

By: Old Grouch

Old Grouch — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 05:17:14 +0000

Unless you’re engaged in audiophile-grade recording, any general-purpose preamp should be adequate. I haven’t used this one, but it has the featureset you’re looking for without costing an arm and a leg. You’ll also need a cable to go from the preamp’s 1/4″ (mono) unbalanced line output to the Mac’s 3.5mm line input. Note that the Mac’s line input is STEREO, so you’ll probably have to get somebody to make you a cable (If you use a mono 3.5mm plug, you’ll only get audio on the left channel.)Constraints:Real professional microphones have low impedance balanced output with a 3-pin connector, usually “XLR” type. These require a preamp that has either an input transformer (best- kills hum) or some sort of active-balancing network on the input (cheaper).The preamp should have an unbalanced output, or be capable of being connected that way.If you have a condensor microphone that doesn’t have an internal battery, then you need a preamp that provides “phantom power”, or a battery adapter (goes between the microphone and the preamp).Dynamic microphones don’t require phantom power, but shouldn’t have problems if it’s present.It’s handy for the preamp to have an adjustable output, to keep from overdriving the computer. (If you find you’re just cracking the computer’s volume setting, you’ve got too much signal.)Well, no preview, hope this formats!

By: Angelos

Angelos — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 22:54:00 +0000

Yes Jonatan, “To interface a standard professional microphone with the Macintosh sound input port, a preamplifier must be used to boost the output level of the mic (typically less than 1 millivolt) to the level required by the sound card (about 100 millivolts).”

But even then, you’re wasting an expensive mic by strangling it with some cheap step-down adapters with cheap solder.

Creative Labs makes wide range of products for PCs, that do excellent sound work. Not sure about their Mac options.

The Digidesign Mbox 2 is a great piece of equipment, a friend of mine uses it.

Like with any electronic products, you can spend a little, or go nuts.

But putting a real mic though a 1/16th plug seems a crime.

By: Jonathan Weber

Jonathan Weber — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 20:07:35 +0000

I have the same problem as Jeff. The USB mic is okay but inferior in quality to the proper professional audio mic that the radio station has given me to use. From what I can tell Saul M. is the one who is answering the question here, which is, if you want to use a professional-quality mic to record on your Mac, what can you do? And the answer is, you need a pre-amp. Is that correct?

By: Angelos

Angelos — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 17:07:20 +0000

You have no idea, huh. It’s just brutal.

By: huh

huh — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 16:48:26 +0000

i thought with a mac you just plug it in, the mac would read your mind, and this would work for you. macs just must not be living up to the hype

By: Safran

Safran — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:31:59 +0000

Ditto on the USB mic. Works like a charm.

By: Steve Rubel

Steve Rubel — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 13:38:55 +0000

Also note, however, that we're having some issues here vis-a-vis podcasting

By: Steve Rubel

Steve Rubel — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 13:37:56 +0000

iMic does the trick for me, Jeff.

By: Berry

Berry — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 11:39:56 +0000

If you want a good USB microphone, Samson just launched the very first USB condensator microphone that gets its power from USB as well (so no extra ‘phantom power’ needed) for about 80 bucks. It’s the Samson C01U, for 79,99 dollars/euros. Not advertising here, I just ordered one myself. And it really is worth the money. You get cristal clear audio that your listeners will appreciate.
For recording Skype: I tried several howto’s out there that failed to work. This one does work, however with an audible echo for the person on the other end, but recording perfectly: http://www.raggedcastle.com/webcrumbs/archives/003724.html

By: Sal M

Sal M — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 02:36:38 +0000

If it’s really a Line In jack and not a Mic jack, you’ll need either a USB mic or a small amp for the mic. Line In connections are non-powered, and need a pre-amp to boost and condition the signal.

By: jr

jr — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 02:14:40 +0000

We has this discussion on #joiito last week. If I remember you need to have some sort of amplified mike. It appears that there is no standard for microphone inputs. You would think that since the jack is the same the requirements are the same.

By: Victor Agreda, Jr.

Victor Agreda, Jr. — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 02:03:18 +0000

I use the internal mic on my iBook for Skype, Gizmo, etc. I record podcasts either using the iTalk or the internal mic in iMovie. Using Keynote, I can make show notes with web clippings, save out as QuickTime, pull them in to iMovie and record VO…

By: alwin

alwin — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 00:59:05 +0000

Aren’t you using a Powerbook, Jeff? Why not use the internal one built-in to your laptop? Just select “internal microphone” from the sound control panel and fire away.

The other solutions offered here work, too. I use an integrated USB headset/mic from Plantronics when I need privacy.

By: PXLated

PXLated — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 00:30:29 +0000

USB mike here. Works just fine.

By: Angelos

Angelos — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 23:57:02 +0000

And if all else fails, verify your disk permissions and reinstall the OS. That’s what Apple would tell you to do.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 22:50:14 +0000

I think you might like the iMic — heard nothing but good things.

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/

By: Rich

Rich — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 22:40:17 +0000

Jeff,

Microphones that plug in through the line-in jack is something that Apple has done a little differently than other computer manufacturers. I’d recommend getting a USB microphone, like Logitech’s USB desktop microphone: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN,CRID=103,CONTENTID=6776

Alternatively, you can pick up an old Apple PlainTalk microphone pretty cheaply on eBay and that will also work, though the sound quality won’t be as great as a USB one.

By: erik

erik — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 22:37:47 +0000

While I haven't played with audio input devices in a good long while, I did see this review on Macintouch last week of the Samson C01U USB mic, which seems to be a decent podcasting device.