hooking up a microphone [[REALLY DUMB QUESTION]]

holden_frost · 01-08-2003, 07:42 PM

I should probably don a flak vest about now... I searched for microphone on the boards and I only found threads that were obviously past this point. Here goes...

I have a shuttle FV25 and I just recently got Dragon Naturally Speaking. I got a regular microphone today--it's just a mini-jack connector--it doesn't go through the USB port. The first thing I tried to do with it was use sound recorder on Windows 98SE. I plugged in the microphone mini jack into the computer--it's right on the board--I don't want to get into whether this is an SBC, but the microphone input is there on the board. I can run the sound recorder, press record, say something, and then press stop, but it just doesn't record anything. I realize I must be doing something wrong, and I'm 99.9 percent sure that it's something stupid, and I'm hoping someone here will tell me what that is in what I expect to be relatively colorful language about my self-confirmed incompetence.

Do I need a sound card?

I also tried it with my laptop--same thing--put the microphone in the microphone jack and fired up the sound recorder... No sounds were recorded that I could see/hear.

Am I using the sound recorder wrong?

I press the red circle for record, (it starts counting seconds recorded) then I say something, then I press the black square for stop, and then the black triangle to play what I just thought I recorded. Nothing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

ddt · 01-08-2003, 08:09 PM

Make sure you don't have your line in muted.

holden_frost · 01-08-2003, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ddt
Make sure you don't have your line in muted.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I checked all the playback and recording volume controls--I unmuted all of them, including Mic, Line-In, Aux, Wave, Synth... Nothing.

1300mer · 01-09-2003, 12:09 AM

You need to make sure 'mic' is selected as your primary recording device. You do this by going into sound properties--->recording--->then click the box under the 'mic' slider bar

.

Dex4now · 01-09-2003, 05:03 AM

Look at the literature for your mic and make sure its a "dynamic" and not an "electret", which requires phantom power. Some sound cards supply phantom power, some don't.

Here's a link that explains it a bit more in detail:

Powering electret microphones

Dex

holden_frost · 01-09-2003, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 1300mer
You need to make sure 'mic' is selected as your primary recording device. You do this by going into sound properties--->recording--->then click the box under the 'mic' slider bar .

On my sound recorder, I go into Edit -> Audio Properties -> Recording -> Advanced Properties

and all I have in Advanced Properties is a Hardware Acceleration slider and a Sample Rate Conversion slider. I get the same behavior for all settings of the two sliders.

When I go into Volume Control, I select Recording in the Adjust Volume for panel. I then show all of the recording volume controls, including:

Line, CDAudio, Aux, Video, Mic, Phone In, and Mixer.

I tried selecting each one and getting a sound from every one of them and nothing...

Could I have a broken microphone?

I just bought it. It's a Telex H41 Noise Cancelling microphone and high performance speaker Ultralight Computer Headset.

Someone else out there has got to appreciate the acute frustration associated with not getting one of the most basic of your computer components to function.

Dex4now · 01-09-2003, 08:02 PM

Holden, I just did a Google search for this mic. It is an electret microphone, which means it requires phantom power. The manufacturers specs call for a Sound Blaster compatible card which does supply this. Your on-board sound card probably doesn't. (In fact, it certainly doesn't, since your mic doesn't work.)

You need a different sound card or a different mic.

Dex.

holden_frost · 01-10-2003, 01:12 AM

Dex,
Thanks for answering this--it was really frustrating not knowing what was the matter. I had no idea what an electret microphone was before yesterday. For future reference, is there any way I can tell it's an electret microphone BEFORE I buy it? I mean, is there a special word that gives it away? Can you point me at the information you found on the web? Anyway, thanks for answering this frustrating question.
thanks,
holden

Dex4now · 01-10-2003, 03:34 PM

Holden, I just copy-and-pasted your model no. from your post into a Google search.

Try this link: Telex microphone

It may not be the exact Model number, but all the telex's I saw were like this, scroll to the bottom of the page. You'll see it say "Bidirectional, noise cancelling electret."

"Requires Sound Blaster card."

For future, it should say somewhere on the package "electret".
Usually in small print.

Don't feel bad though, I discovered this problem the same way you did many moons ago.

Dex

holden_frost · 01-11-2003, 01:58 AM

Dex,
Thanks again... I only feel $3 bad--it was on a clearance rack at OfficeMax. $3 is the right price for an experiment. It's those pesky $100 mistakes that really get ya.
best,
-holden-

holden_frost · 01-28-2003, 08:45 PM

Dex (or anyone else with the answer),

Any idea where I could get one of those "dynamic" microphones? When I go look for them at Circuit City or WalMart or BestBuy, they all say electret, and if they don't say that, they don't say anything about them being dynamic--if you could point me at a vendor you think would work, that'd be well-appreciated.

I also found these two mp3car postings:

It appears from this discussion that some people were able to get sound to work with their FV24 or FV25 boards by rewiring the mini jack somehow. Didn't really understand it. It looked to me like I needed to amplify the signal from the mic into the line in--apparently that's what goes in that bottom mini jack on a shuttle FV25.

These are the posts:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...threadid=10313

and

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...&threadid=7097

Can anyone with experience shed more light on this?

best,
holden frost

bosstone74 · 01-28-2003, 09:25 PM

I just went through this whole situation about a month ago....
If you have the manual of the board, it will point to five pins...
well that is what you are going to have to make a connection to. Because on the FV/25 on the back of the mother board is only speaker out and LINE IN....NOT MIC. IN... That's where it gets a little tricky, this is what I did...I called shuttle and told them that i the other cable that I had was defective and didn't work, and asked is I could buy a new one...they said they don't sell them, I asked how could we resolve the situation, he told me he would find one and send it out and he did....Well after he sent it out I was all ready to hook it up....When I got it, it didn't look like I expected, both sides of the cable looked the same (five female pin connection). so I thought, I'm going to have to hack something together, I cut that baby in have, and bought some mini jack recepticals from rat shack and soldered them up.
Now I have the other half of the cable...if you would like I will solder it up and send it out to you...for a small fee, or you can try your hand at it too...

holden_frost · 01-28-2003, 10:01 PM

Dicky Barrett,
Thanks for the info. No need to send the soldered up jigger. I'll find a way to use the line in.
All I can say is... MAN!
-holden frost-

cproaudio · 01-28-2003, 10:14 PM

The audio headers on the FV24,25 mobo are for headphone out and Mic in. To my experience, the headphone out on the mobo's audio header sounds much cleaner and more bass than the line out at the rear of the board. This is what I use to connect to my stereo's AUX in. The Mic in shares the same ground as the headphone jack.

1 L speaker out
2 R speaker out
3 AGRD
4 MIC_VCC
5 MIC_IN

Pin 1 is the pin closest to the PCI slot.

CA 3000GT · 01-30-2003, 07:26 PM

Hey, let me know how that Dragon Naturally Speaking works out. I am trying to find good means of voice interface (thread in interface forum)