can't find cause of intermittant noise on playback

[permutations]

I went over the J&R and looked at USB sound cards. Then I casually mentioned that I had a Mac, in addition to the PC, and both sales people stared at me open-mouthed and said, "You have a Mac and you're using a PC for music... why??" They said that the sound hardware (and other hardware) on a Mac is far superior to the PC, and it also comes with a great audio program called GarageBand, which I just fired up. So I'm going to try that.

[kozikowski]

Yes....but.

The analog input of the Mac, the little circle with two black arrows is a world-class, line level audio connection. If you have a fiber audio connection, it will do that, too. I recorded a simple sound track for a Hollywood Movie on Wednesday using nothing more than a microphone, simple sound mixer, and my MacBook Pro.

However, the only native microphone services consist of that one little built-in microphone in the case if you have a laptop. That's it. There is no place to plug an external microphone in like there is on a PC (not that it's all that great, but still.....)

So for any good quality live recording, a microphone and some way to make it louder will be needed. The above shoot was conducted with a Shure SM-58 and a Sound Devices MicPre

http://www.zzounds.com/item--SHUSM58
http://www.sounddevices.com/products/mx2master.htm

That's overkill for most productions, but that is one working pipeline to capture live presentations. Most people opt for a much cheaper USB device, but a similar microphone.

I can write pages on finding a quiet room and shock mounting the microphone with rubber bands, etc.

Later.

Koz

[permutations]

I have a USB condenser microphone that I can use on the Mac. I bought it for the PC, but it will work on either. It's a Samson C01U. I got it refurbished at J&R so it was pretty cheap. It came with a nice little desk stand and the sound quality is great.

[kozikowski]

<<<It came with a nice little desk stand and the sound quality is great.>>>

Yes, but...

Desk stand microphones have problems with voice reflections from the desk and occasional noises being transmitted through the wood/Formica®. For excellent results cover the desk -- or at least the part under the mic and between the person and the mic with several layers of towel, blanket or flannel. Drop a spoon on the towels and it should make little or no noise when it hits.

I've been known to record on the top of my bed to get rid of harsh echoes and sound reflections.

Koz

[kozikowski]

I just had another idea I've never actually tried. Pile two Sunday New York Times' under the microphone and on the desk surface. I bet the spoon makes almost no noise if you drop it on that and it should kill most sound "slap" and reflections. Drop the spoon on the raw tabletop and then on the newspapers.

That's if you can't find enough towels to do the job.

Koz